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Education is often measured through examination results, literacy, numeracy and progression to higher classes. Yet schooling is also about developing a child’s confidence, emotional stability, empathy, relationships and ability to deal with adversity. In this context, Uttarakhand’s Anandam Pathyacharya, introduced by the state government in 2019, represents an interesting attempt to place social-emotional learning within the regular government-school system.This initiative recently received international attention when Dr Bhagwati Prasad Maindoli, Staff Officer in Samagra Shiksha, School Education, Uttarakhand, presented the state’s experience of Anandam Pathyacharya at the Social Outcomes Conference 2026 at the University of Oxfordin a session titled “The Power of Ecosystem Orchestration for Social Change at Scale”, under the broader theme of transforming education through a policy-lab approach on 3–4 September 2026.
What is Anandam Pathyacharya?
Anandam is essentially a happiness and social-emotional learning curriculum for children. Rather than treating education as the accumulation of textbook knowledge alone, it seeks to help children understand themselves and others.The programme includes activities involving:mindfulness and quiet reflection; stories and storytelling; dialogue and discussion; games and experiential activities; expression of emotions; empathy and relationship-building;appreciation and gratitude and understanding one’s relationship with family, society and nature. The first 30–35 minutes of the school day are devoted to social-emotional development under Anandam. This is significant in a state such as Uttarakhand, where many children in hill areas face long journeys to school, geographical isolation and differing socio-economic circumstances. A curriculum that begins the school day by allowing children to settle emotionally and interact with teachers may have educational importance beyond what conventional examination statistics capture.
How far has Anandam reached?
A 2023–24 report of Dream a Dream, which has worked with the Uttarakhand education system, records 15,979 schools implementing Anandam Pathyacharya and 30,927 teachers trained, while 592,097 students in Classes I–VIII were reported within the programme’s reach.An independent academic review of system-level social-emotional learning programmes in India similarly records Uttarakhand’s programme across 15,979 schools and 30,927 teachers, and discusses the programme’s implementation and reported effects.Thus, Anandam should not be regarded merely as an experiment in a few model schools. It has become a sizeable component of Uttarakhand’s government-school educational framework.
What has been the effect on children?
The most interesting evidence concerns behavioural and relational changes, rather than marks alone.
The research literature and implementation reports describe improvements in areas such as:
- teacher-student interaction;
- children’s ability to express feelings;
- empathy;
- communication;
- confidence;
- resilience;
- relationship-building;
- willingness to share problems with teachers; and
- creating a more positive classroom environment.
The academic study on social-emotional learning in India reports observations from Uttarakhand of stronger teacher-student connections and greater openness among students. It also records reports of renewed enthusiasm and interaction in government schools.
An especially relevant observation concerns children in remote hill areas. Teachers reported that some children walk considerable distances to school or face difficult circumstances at home. Beginning the school day with Anandam activities is intended to help them settle and concentrate before proceeding to academic learning.
This suggests an important proposition:
A child who feels secure, heard and connected may be better placed to learn.
However, this should be treated as an educational hypothesis supported by encouraging implementation evidence—not as proof that Anandam alone caused improvements in academic achievement.
The crucial question: Has Anandam increased student strength?
This is where the discussion becomes more complicated.
If the success of Anandam is measured by student well-being and school experience, the evidence is encouraging.
If success is measured by the number of children enrolled in government schools, however, the available statistics require a more cautious interpretation.
UDISE data show that government-school enrolment in Uttarakhand was approximately 9.68 lakh in 2018–19. By 2023–24 it was approximately 8.70 lakh.
That represents a decline of roughly 10% over the period.
| Indicator | 2018–19 | 2023–24 |
| Government-school enrolment | ~9.68 lakh | ~8.70 lakh |
| Approximate change | — | −10% |
Therefore, it would be incorrect to claim that Anandam has already produced a measurable statewide increase in government-school enrolment.
There is an additional complication. The period includes the COVID-19 pandemic, demographic changes, migration, school closures/mergers, parental preferences, growth of private schooling and changes in the school-age population. Consequently, a simple comparison of enrolment before and after 2019 cannot isolate the effect of Anandam.
Indeed, a Ministry of Education review reported that in Uttarakhand government schools accounted for about 37% of total enrolment in 2023–24, compared with about 39% in 2018–19, while unaided-school enrolment increased over much of the period.
This presents an important paradox.
Anandam is improving the school experience—but is it improving the attractiveness of government schools?
This may be the most important question for the next stage of the programme.
A parent does not select a school merely because children are happy there. Parents generally consider several factors:
Academic performance + English/language skills + discipline + infrastructure + teacher availability + technology + transport + safety + extracurricular opportunities + peer environment + future opportunities.
Anandam addresses an important part of this equation—the emotional and social environment—but it cannot by itself solve all the structural problems facing government schools.
A government school can have an excellent happiness curriculum and still lose students if:
- teachers are unavailable;
- a school has very few students;
- secondary classes are absent;
- infrastructure is poor;
- parents perceive private schools as offering better opportunities;
- transportation is difficult;
- migration has emptied villages; or
- learning outcomes remain weak.
Therefore, Anandam should be viewed as one component of government-school reform, rather than as a stand-alone solution to declining enrolment.
Uttarakhand’s special challenge: the emptying village
This question becomes particularly important in the Himalayan districts.
Migration from hill villages has changed the demographic foundation upon which government schools operate. In some villages, declining child population itself can produce falling enrolment regardless of the quality of teaching.
Consequently, a reduction in student strength should not automatically be interpreted as evidence of poor schooling.
Conversely, an increase in enrolment should not automatically be attributed to Anandam.
What Uttarakhand needs is a school-level longitudinal study.
For example, the government could identify 500 Anandam schools and compare them with 500 comparable schools over five years, measuring:
- enrolment;
- attendance;
- dropout;
- transition from primary to upper primary;
- transition to secondary education;
- learning outcomes;
- student confidence;
- teacher-student relationships;
- parental satisfaction;
- migration-related changes; and
- transfers from government to private schools.
Such a study could answer a much more meaningful question:
Does Anandam make government schools more attractive to children and parents when other conditions are held reasonably constant?
From happiness to learning
There is another dimension that deserves attention.
Anandam should not be regarded as an alternative to academic education. Its real strength could lie in supporting academic learning.
A child who is anxious, isolated or afraid to communicate may find it difficult to participate actively in class. Conversely, confidence, curiosity, emotional regulation and a positive relationship with teachers can create conditions conducive to learning.
The programme therefore represents a shift from:
“What did the child learn?”
to a broader question:
“What kind of person is the child becoming through education?”
That philosophy is consistent with the broader emphasis of contemporary education policy on holistic development and social-emotional competencies.
The Oxford recognition: an opportunity, not the final certificate
The Oxford presentation is certainly an important milestone for Uttarakhand’s education system. But international recognition should be treated as the beginning of a deeper evaluation, not the end of it.
The real test of Anandam will not be whether it is appreciated at Oxford.
The real test will be whether, five or ten years from now, a child in a remote Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Pithoragarh or Pauri school is:
- happier in school;
- more confident;
- less likely to drop out;
- more willing to communicate with teachers;
- performing better academically;
- developing stronger social skills; and
- choosing to remain in the government-school system.
The way forward
Uttarakhand could now take Anandam to the next level by creating an “Anandam Impact Index” for government schools.
It could combine:
Emotional well-being + attendance + retention + learning outcomes + teacher interaction + parental satisfaction + student enrolment.
Every district could publish an annual report showing these indicators.
This would transform Anandam from a curriculum into an evidence-based education reform model.
It would also allow policymakers to answer an important question that has so far remained largely unanswered:
Can a happier government school also become a more attractive government school?
Conclusion
Anandam Pathyacharya is an interesting experiment in rethinking the purpose of schooling. Its emphasis on mindfulness, empathy, emotional expression, relationships and happiness gives Uttarakhand’s government schools a dimension that conventional academic curricula often overlook.
Its presentation at Oxford by Dr Bhagwati Prasad Maindoli has brought international attention to an initiative that has already reached thousands of schools and teachers.
But Uttarakhand should resist the temptation to equate international appreciation with measurable educational success.
The available enrolment figures show that government-school student strength has not increased statewide since Anandam’s introduction; in fact, overall government enrolment declined between 2018–19 and 2023–24.
That does not mean Anandam has failed. It means that its impact needs to be measured against the right indicators.
The larger opportunity is to combine Anandam with better teaching, stronger learning outcomes, infrastructure, teacher availability, technology, career guidance and measures to address migration.
If this combination succeeds, Uttarakhand could offer something more valuable than merely a “Happiness Curriculum”: a model of government schooling in which children want to come to school, parents want to send them there, teachers want to teach there, and learning remains at the centre of the experience.
That would be the real measure of Anandam.
Dr Prashant Thapliyal
Associate Professor
Army Cadet College
Indian Military AcademyDehradun
