Life Skill Education: A Cohesive Approach that Distangles the Challenges of Slow Learners

Children of today are the citizens of tomorrow; they are going to be the pillars of the country. Hence it is essential to ensure each pillar is as strong as the other. Teachers are the responsible person for making each pillar the strongest one. It is a fact that normal classrooms consist of a heterogeneous group of pupils. So, teachers are more vigilant to handle these differentially abled children. A very big problem that every school faces is the difficulty to deal with the slow learners. It is a challenging task for the teachers to tackle slow learners and to make them learn the academic subjects. These students do not fall into the category of special education, do well outside the classroom and show no evidence of having a medical problem. They simply do not do well in school or a particular subject. In the day before formal schooling these students would carry on productive lives working and doing tasks that did not require extensive reading, writing or math operations. However, today the emphasis is less on occupational learning and more on academic preparation. Thus, there is a growing need for help to remediate these students to provide them the best possible opportunities in a changing world. Life skills may include emotional skills, coping skills, health and hygiene skills and communication skills etc. It's beneficial as it makes students better members of the society. This enables them not only solve problems but also to think creatively. Having life skills knowledge enable slow learners to relate well with others in a friendly manner. It also influences academic performance as they are able to become judgmental. Life skills education in schools enables slow learners to be confident in solving day to day problems and fosters creativity, thus improving academic performance The present study is intended to explore the possibility of life skill training programmes to enhance the academic performance of the slow learners