DOI: https://doi.org/10.36344/ccijhss.2025.v11i03.004

Pages: 32-36

Background: Life skills education (LSE) has increasingly been recognized to be an important pedagogical intervention in promoting emotional intelligence, interpersonal skills, and ethical behaviour among school-going children. The integration of LSE in the curriculum is advocated for within the Indian educational context by national policy frameworks, yet, to date, the extent to which these are being implemented in semi-urban contexts such as Dharashiv, Maharashtra, or producing a behaviour change to prevent NCDs and injuries remains unexplored. Objectives: The first aim of this study was to explore the integration of LSE within the school curriculum in Dharashiv and to analyse the impact of this on student behaviour. More specifically, the study sought to understand the type of behaviour change, that is, emotional regulation, empathy, and conflict resolution changes among students exposed to LSE and the factors that influence its delivery. Methods: The research was conducted using a qualitative-descriptive approach involving 70 purposefully selected participants—students, teachers, school staff, and parents—drawn from five secondary schools in Dharashiv. Semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, classroom observations, and reflective journals were used to collect data. Thematic analysis concerning NVivo software was employed to assess main themes and understandings. Results: Results showed that more than 70% of children exhibited significantly enhanced emotion identification, peer cooperation, and classroom behavior. When trends were disaggregated by gender, girls demonstrated larger increases in empathy, whereas boys appeared to benefit more from structured group leadership. However, a lack of teacher training, assessment frameworks, and community engagement obstructed the uniform adoption and effectiveness. Conclusion: The research suggests that LSE, when deigned to context and implemented consistently, has the potential to change not just the ARTICULA