Online Course on Developing Life Skills
ONLINE COURSE ON
DEVELOPING LIFE SKILLS
MODULE NO. 5
CONTRIBUTIONS OF INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES
TO LIFE SKILLS EDUCATION
EMMRC Calicut
University of Calicut
CREDITS
Core Team Module Contributor
Prof. (Dr.) Mohamedunni Alias Musthafa Ms. Rejuna CA
Professor, Assistant Professor
Department of Education, Department of Economics
Director IQAC
Government College Kasaragod
Central University of Kerala
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Online Course on Developing Life Skills
CONTRIBUTIONS OF INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES TO
LIFE SKILLS EDUCATION
OBJECTIVES
1. To know the different international agencies related to life skills education
2. To understand the contributions of international agencies of Life skills education
3. To analyze how different international agencies paved the way for the growth of Life
skills education
Introduction
Life skills education is considered to accelerate the practice and reinforcement of
psychosocial skills in a socially and developmentally appropriate way; it contributes to the
elevation of personal and social development, the deterrence of health and social problems,
and the safeguard of human rights. When we make deeper discussion on life skills education,
it is then good to understand the history of it. Life-Skills Education (LSBE) has a long history
and metamorphosed in to the present shape by the several international agencies. And these
agencies are the result and outcome of initiatives for supporting developmental, educational
programmes and health promotion. Some of those agencies which are having very
noteworthy role is treated in this module.
International agencies related to Life Skills Education
If we analyze the history of life skills education down through the decades, we can find out
many international agencies who have paved the way and contributed to the development and
growth of life skills. When we name some of the international agencies related to life skills, it
is World Health Organizations, popularly known as WHO, is the popular one in the list.
UNESCO, UNICEF, OECD, Partnership 21 and USAID are few of the renowned agencies
which contributed to the development of the life skills education. Let us discuss each one in
detail.
1. Contributions of World Health Organization
Around the world there are many initiatives and resources to develop and implement life
skills education in schools and colleges. The demand for life skills education is emphasized,
directly and indirectly at the Convention of the Rights of the Child and a good many number
of international recommendations through various reports. Life skills education is meant at
facilitating the growth of psychosocial skills which are required to deal with the demands and
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challenges of everyday life. It involves the application of life skills in the context of particular
risk situations and in situations in which children and adolescents need to be empowered and
strengthened to promote and protect their rights. WHO, Department of Mental Health
acknowledged five basic areas of life skills consisting 10 core life skills that are relevant
across cultures:
• Decision-making and problem-solving;
• Creative thinking and critical thinking;
• Communication and interpersonal skills;
• Self-awareness and empathy;
• Coping with emotions and coping with stress.
Department of Substance Abuse, Geneva, promotes life skill learning emphasises as a part of
an overarching approach to the avoidance of health and social problems related to substance
abuses, by incorporating knowledge about life skill training programmes.
Department of Child and adolescent Health and Development, Geneva, promotes life skill
training as part of effective learning programme for adolescent health, to indorse positive
health behaviour.
Department of Health Promotion, Geneva and WHO regional offices promotes the
development of life skills education as an indispensable component of health promoting
schools.
Thus, through the involvement of the World Health Organisation, life skill programmes have
come to play an important role with regard to health in both the developing and the developed
countries. The ten core life skills which we refer to the life skills education is itself is a major
contribution of WHO.
2. Contributions of UNICEF:
UNICEF has been one of the dominant performers in bringing life skills education onto the
agendas of government ministries at policy and programming levels. Hence it acts as an
trend-setter in the advancement and introduction of novel ideas and approaches around life
skills training. In many context it has efficaciously supported the growth of national
ownership and capacity of life skills training through strong partnerships, and have taken the
opportunity to familiarise life skills education within a broader restructuring approach aimed
at refining the quality of education. It has developed an improvement and expertise in
providing and sourcing practical expertise for design and development of an effective
curriculum and teaching-learning materials, teacher training for life skills education, and
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deliver initial and ongoing monetary support for the introduction and development of life
skills education into education systems.
To strengthen life skills education, UNICEF has made numerous recommendations:
• UNICEF has taken a lead to develop the taxonomy of the learning outcomes of life
skills training interventions that contains both the psycho-social skills and the
information associated with the major themes.
• UNICEF has developed standards for estimated results and outcomes at individual,
school, community and national level. UNICEF has also established a framework
which is result/outcome oriented for life skills education in its target countries.
• UNICEF has measured the possibilities of integrating life skills education into the
Child-friendly Schools and developed programming strategy, child-friendly schools
which are being the vehicle to carry UNICEF’s rights mandate into education.
• UNICEF has also developed guidelines and norms for understanding and addressing
social standards and religious contexts which are likely to affect application, to raise
awareness of the obstacles and risks arising and inform advocacy.
• UNICEF has suggested that guidance on participation of parents and community, that
recognises and addresses the potential strains between life skills education aims and
practices and social norms be strengthened to support practitioners to mediate
concerns and provide life skills education which meets children’s needs.
• UNICEF has accepted and supported national and international strategy which plan to
form capacity at institutional, organisational and personal level to support life skills
education.
• UNICEF has recommended that in design and application, and specially in going to
scale, the opportunities for children to influence the content and procedure of life
skills education be prioritised, from national to institutional levels.
• The integration of life skills education into the education system has extended its
reach significantly, but there has been limited care and attention to how this
integration can be accommodated to satisfy the interests of the most vulnerable groups
of learners. In this context UNICEF has recommended specific emphasis to identify
and address the needs of these groups in curricula and learning materials.
• UNICEF has supported national and international plans to assimilate quality
assurance, monitor and evaluate the processes and tools for life skills education
among the partners who are implementing non-formal interventions.
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• Non-formal life skills education interventions are playing significant role in the
extension out-of-school children and to an all-inclusive approach. It is suggested that
provision be given to improving coordination for non-formal life skills education
interventions at national and local levels.
• UNICEF based on the experience gained in life skills education curriculum
development, continues to support curriculum framework that are more child-friendly,
focused on equity and meet the real life needs of all children.
UNICEF still continues its valuable support and contribution for institutionalising school-
based HIV and sexual and reproductive health life skills education in generalised epidemics
and that they include HIV and stigma prevention among young vulnerable populations in
concentrated epidemics. By emphasising life skills education, UNICEF plays a vital role in
constructing a society which is self-sufficient and complete.
3. Contributions of UNESCO
Since its foundation, UNESCO has led the international community’s work to stimulate
peace and sustainable development through instructional programe, sciences, and cultural
diversity and life skills education. ICT, including freedom of expression, media development
and universal access to information and knowledge, have been at the central part of that
work. It has recognized the critical importance of knowledge for social and economic
development, by developing the prominent concept of inclusive Knowledge Societies
constructed around human skills and capabilities together with rapidly changing technology.
It is the leading United Nations agency which is concerned with the improvement in the life
skills in the Information Society.
4. Contributions of USAID
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent
agency of the United States federal government which is primarily responsible for
administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. USAID is one of the major
official support agencies in the world, and accounts for more than half of all U.S. foreign
assistance—the highest in the world in absolute dollar terms.
USAID education maintenance activities fall to cover six major areas: basic education,
learning technologies, higher education, workforce development, participant training, and
telecommunications reform. The USAID Education Policy, which is launched in November
2018, puts significances and gives direction specifically for USAID’s investments in
education. The prime purpose of USAID training programming is to accomplish sustained,
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measurable improvements in learning outcomes and skills improvement. Its priorities are
that:
• Students, who are the most marginalized and vulnerable, have increased access to
quality education which is safe, relevant, and stimulates social well-being.
• Children and youth attain literacy, numeracy, and social-emotional skills which are
basic to future learning and success.
• Youth gain the skills they need to lead productive lives, gain employment, and
positively contribute to society.
• Higher education institutions have the ability to be central actors in development by
leading and applying research, providing quality education, and engaging with
communities.
USAID also funds Education Links, a website to help international education practitioners
design and manage effective education programs. Education Links shares innovations and
lessons learned on implementation of the USAID Education Policy.
5. Bangladeshi Association for Life Skills, Income, and Knowledge for
Adolescents (BALIKA)
The BALIKA project is to evaluate whether three skills-building approaches to enable
girls - education support, gender-rights awareness training, and livelihoods training –
which can efficiently delay the age at marriage among girls aged 12–18 in Bengladesh.
The purpose of the programme is to make change in girls' lives and their status in the
community as a result they are perceived as assets rather than as burdens to their families
and to society.
Intervention activities were designed to test the impact of three different interactive,
interpersonal approaches to delaying marriage and childbearing using safe spaces to
provide basic skills and access to information and communication technology (ICT) -
sometimes using entertainment-education strategies.
The basic life skills curriculum - which prepared girls with an integrated set of thinking,
personal, and interpersonal capabilities needed to lead creative and enjoyable lives - was
provided across all three of the intervention groups. All girls were given basic sexual and
reproductive health information in a safe space environment. A total of 44 hours of
sessions comprised knowing oneself and others, creative thinking, decision-making,
learning to know how to say no, learning to compromise with others, physical and
emotional changes in adolescence, menstrual hygiene, food and nutrition, reproductive
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health, HIV/AIDS, child marriage, and family planning. Life-skills topics were discussed
for the first hour of weekly two-hour sessions, using interactive learning materials and
small-group activities. The life-skills module has step-by-step guidelines for leading the
sessions and contains interactive games and group exercises. It guides the teacher and
mentors in generating novel ideas and in how to make learning entertaining.
6. International Youth Foundation (IYF)
The IYF, a US-based not-for-profit organisation, constructs worldwide multi-sector
enterprises to enable young people to be healthy, productive and promised citizens. It targets
helpless youth 14 to 24-year-olds both in-school youngsters who are at risk of dropping out,
and those out of school, out of work. Critical skills taught includes self-confidence,
teamwork, and communication, interpersonal skills, problem-solving and decision-making.
International Youth Foundation connects young people with opportunities to transform their
lives. Its all-inclusive approach emphasizes life skills in amalgamation with a mix of
technical, vocational, and entrepreneurship training. As a result, young people who are
prepared to enter the workforce, generate their own opportunities, and become agents of
change in their communities.
Together with their partners, they build effective, sustainable, and scalable initiatives in three
thematic areas:
• Education & Employment: IYF is preparing young people for the jobs employers are
looking to fill.
• Entrepreneurship: Its self-employment initiatives enable young people to build,
scale, and lead small and micro-enterprises.
• Social Innovation: IYF cultivates young leaders and the institutes that support these
change-makers.
7. Partnership for 21st (P21) Century Skills
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (now the Partnership for 21st Century Learning,
or P21) was founded in 2002 as an NGO by a partnership which included members of the
national business community, education leaders, and policymakers. To nurture a national
conversation on "the importance of 21st century skills for all students" and "position 21st
century readiness at the center of US K-12 education".
The six skills of 21st century learning in which P21 focuses are:
o Stress on core subjects
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Online Course on Developing Life Skills
o Stress on learning skills
o Use 21st century tools to develop learning skills
o Teach and learn in a 21st century context
o Teach and learn new 21st century content
o Use 21st century assessments that measure core subjects and 21st century skills
P21 emphasizes on progresses in society and economy which require educational
improvements of young people with new skills and competencies, which allow them to
benefit from the emerging new forms of socialization and to participate actively to economic
development under a system where the main asset is knowledge. These skills and
competencies are often referred to as life skills and competencies, to specify that they are
more related to the needs of the emerging models of economic and social growth than with
those of the past century, which were suited to an industrial mode of production.
8. Contributions of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD)
In 1997, member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development launched the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to
evaluate "the extent to which students near the end of compulsory schooling have acquired
the knowledge and skills essential for full participation in society". In 2005 they identified
three "Competency Categories to highlight delivery related, interpersonal, and strategic
competencies.”
• Using Tools Interactively
• Interacting in Heterogeneous Groups
• Acting Autonomously
OECD groups skills and competencies into three different categories as follows:
• ICT functional skills, that contains skills pertinent to mastering the use of different
ICT applications;
• ICT skills for learning, which embrace skills that combine both cognitive skills or
higher-order thinking skills with functional skills for the use and management of ICT
applications; and
• 21st century skills which bring together skills considered necessary in the knowledge
society but where the use of ICT is not a necessary condition.
OECD by highlighting on life skills education highpoints that it can prepare learners with
agency and a sense of purpose, and the capabilities they need, to form their own lives and
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Online Course on Developing Life Skills
contribute to the lives of others. To find out how best to do so, the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has even launched The Future of
Education and Skills 2030 project. The aim of the project is to help countries find answers
to two far-reaching questions:
● What knowledge, skills, attitudes and values will today's students need to prosper
and shape their world?
● How can instructional systems develop these knowledge, skills, attitudes and values
effectively?
Working with policy makers, academic experts, school networks, teachers, education leaders,
students and social partners, OECD delivers a space in which to exchange ideas, compare
proven and promising practices, discover cutting-edge research and contribute to a new
ecosystem of life skills education.
Conclusion
Life Skills Education has a dynamic role to play in developing the knowledge, attitudes and
values that empower people to contribute to and take advantage from an inclusive and
sustainable future. Learning to form clear and focused goals, work with others with different
perspectives, find untouched opportunities and recognize multiple solutions to big problems
will be indispensable in the coming years. Life Skills Education aim to do more than
arranging young people for the world of work; it is preparing students with the skills they
need to become active, responsible and engaged citizens. Hence we can say that students who
are best prepared for the future are change agents and they can have a positive impact on their
surroundings, influence the future, understand others' intentions, actions and feelings, and
anticipate the short and long-term consequences of what they do. In developing and shaping
life skills training and educational strategies, the role and significance of various international
agencies like WHO, UNICEF and many other are highly praiseworthy.
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