At SMF, our focus on life skills education was deeply rooted in our mission to foster the all- round development of children by equipping them with essential 21st-century skills.
LIFE SKILLS EDUCATION
Fostering 21st-Century Skills Through Life Skills Education
Key Initiatives in Life Skills Education
1. Collaboration with the Life Skills Collaborative
SMF played an active role in the Life Skills Collaborative, working to promote life skills education and integrate it into the broader education ecosystem.
2. Empowering Adolescent Girls
As a technical support partner to Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana, SMF contributed to an intersectional life skills programme specifically designed for adolescent girls, addressing their unique needs and challenges.
Through these initiatives, SMF remained committed to nurturing critical skills like problem-solving, communication, empathy, and resilience, enabling children to thrive in an ever-changing world while ensuring holistic development.
Smart Girl
This was a programme at the intersectionality of gender and life skills education. It aimed to empower adolescent girls (from 13-24 years) with social-emotional skills, attitudes and abilities through life-skills education to enable them to make informed, responsible decisions and choices for a dignified life and promote the overall development of girls in India.
SMF collaborated with Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana to implement this programme in communities and more importantly in the government schools across multiple states from 2017-2019 touching the lives of over 600,000 girls.
Across Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Gujarat, the Smart Girl programme reached 4,381 schools, trained 544 master trainers and 7,698 teachers, and conducted 13,648 workshops, empowering 6,46,742 girls.
In Maharashtra, the programme spanned five districts and covered 4,059 schools, where 460 master trainers and 6,722 teachers delivered 12,071 workshops, impacting 5,84,753 girls.
In Andhra Pradesh, it reached 107 Social Welfare Residential Institutes, conducting 713 workshops for 28,891 girls.
In Surat, Gujarat, it supported 215 schools, with 92 master trainers, 858 teachers, and 864 workshops, empowering 33,098 girls.
Beyond the numbers, the programme fostered lasting shifts in confidence, decision-making, and self-belief. Each workshop became a safe space, each teacher an enabler, and each girl a voice of change, reflecting the spirit of Smart Girl.
LIFE SKILL COLLABORATIVE (LSC)
SMF had been a part of the LSC since its inception in 2020 when it began as a collaboration of 18 organizations during its first phase (2020-2023), gradually expanding into 40 organizations in the second phase (2024 and beyond).
The collaborating organizations brought a wealth of collective experience in designing and implementing programmes, and working alongside the government to co-create impactful solutions.
They offered diverse and global expertise in education, skill development, health, and gender.
Through collaborative efforts, SMF aspired to drive positive change necessary to strengthen the life skills ecosystem in India. As an LSC partner, SMF played a key role in developing the India Glossary of Life Skills, a comprehensive vocabulary of life skills in the Indian context.
SMF also supported the development of Life Skills Assessment Tools that were made available as public resources, including the Social Emotional Wellbeing Tool, Future Readiness Tool (for adolescents), Teacher Tool (for educators), and System Assessment Tools (to assess readiness of the system to implement life skills-related interventions).
As a Government Engagement partner for LSC, SMF worked closely with the Government of Maharashtra to contextualise and validate the tools for large-scale implementation. It supported the government in implementing the assessment tools across five districts (Thane, Solapur, Washim, Jalna, Nagpur) reaching out to 10,000 students, 250 teachers, and 50 government officials.
As LSC continues its journey, SMF contributed to the collaborative’s efforts by helping to develop effective advocacy channels that promoted integration of life skills across multiple sectors in India.
This was achieved through impactful narrative strategies and generation of evidence from grassroots initiatives.
Shaping the Life Skills Ecosystem in India
The Life Skills Collaborative (LSC) began as a coalition of 18 organizations during its first phase (2020–2023) and later expanded to include 40 organizations in its second phase (2024 and beyond). United by a shared vision, LSC aimed to strengthen India’s life skills ecosystem and drive meaningful, systemic change.
Collaborative Expertise
- Together, the LSC partners brought a wealth of collective experience across domains such as education, skill development, health, and gender.
- The collaborative worked closely with the government to co-create impactful, evidence- based solutions tailored to India’s unique needs.
Through these initiatives, SMF remained committed to nurturing critical skills like problem-solving, communication, empathy, and resilience, enabling children to thrive in an ever-changing world while ensuring holistic development.
SMF’s Role in LSC
As a founding partner of LSC, Shantilal Muttha Foundation (SMF) was instrumental in several key initiatives:
India Glossary of Life Skills
- SMF played a pivotal role in developing a comprehensive vocabulary of life skills contextualised for India, ensuring cultural relevance and inclusivity.
Life Skills Assessment Tools
Supported the creation of publicly available tools such as:
- Social Emotional Wellbeing Tool
- Future Readiness Tool (for adolescents)
- Teacher Tool (for educators)
- System Assessment Tools (to evaluate the readiness of systems to implement life skills programme)
Collaborated with the Government of Maharashtra to implement these tools across five districts, impacting:
- 10,000 students
- 250 teachers
- 50 government officials
Advocacy and Evidence-Based Impact
- SMF contributed to LSC’s advocacy efforts to promote the integration of life skills across sectors.
- It focused on creating compelling narratives and generating grassroots evidence to inform policies and strengthen the life skills agenda in India.
By combining its expertise with the collective strength of LSC, SMF continued to drive transformative change in equipping individuals with essential life skills, shaping a brighter future for India.