10
Sat, Jan

Psychology

Uttar Pradesh has introduced a novel 10-day bagless school program for all its government schools as part of an effort to make learning fun and reduce the academic burden on their students in Classes 6 to 8.

This initiative supports the NEP and brings a shift from rote learning of lessons to activity-based, hands-on, and experiential learning, helping students understand concepts in a practical way.

For this, SCERT has developed guidelines under the title 'Anandam' or Joyful Learning. The idea behind the guidelines is to bring down the student's level of stress and make them learn through fun and games rather than just lessons inside classrooms. In this process, on 10 bagless days, students would go on educational tours, attend creative workshops, and participate in skill-based activities that would foster learning and development in a much healthier manner.

According to the Director General General of School Education, Monika Rani,  the particular initiative focussed on mental and physical development of students by improving their thinking capacity. 

What Will Students Do During the Bagless Days?

Skill-oriented learning activities for the students will take place, teaching practical knowledge that could be applied in real life.

They participate in different creative and thematic workshops: art, music, science, storytelling, and other playful activities. Schools will therefore arrange educative trips at appropriate places like museums, farms, industries, and science centres to help the students understand real-world applications.There will be group activities that encourage teamwork, communication, and collaboration among the students. 

According to TOI, The Anandam module contains 34 activities categorized into three broad areas  namely science, environment, and technology; public offices, local industries and businesses; and art, culture and history. To begin the programme smoothly, Monika Rani has instructed all basic education officers to ensure that block education officers give proper orientation to headmasters and teachers during their monthly meetings in upper primary schools, composite schools and KGBVs on the fourth Saturday of this month. The bagless day activities shall be conducted on 3rd and 4th Saturdays of November and January 2026, all Saturdays in December and the 1st and 2nd Saturdays of February. The head teachers have been instructed to arrange the labs, equipment, projectors and first aid kits as per the requirements besides working with local artisans, craftsmen, experts, and community members for successful conduct of these activities.

Following a series of incidents involving anger among students, including a shocking case in which one was killed inside the premises of a school, Ahmedabad launched a massive drive to bring back the lost emotional balance among children.

Recently, it has been reported that a student from Seventh Day School in Maninagar was killed by another student over a minor issue. This has brought great concerns about student behaviour and how impulsiveness is leading to a growth in violence. Reports even indicate that trivial issues now result in fights, clashes, and sometimes fatal attacks.

It was to tackle this increasing menace that the district education officer of Ahmedabad City introduced the "Billion Minutes of Peace Appeal Project". Under this program, students across around 1,800 schools in the city will do 10 minutes of meditation every day. Already, over 5 lakh students started participation. According to the officials, the increase in violence in children is partially because of excessive screentime and sedentric lifestyle. Hence this particular project is to regulate emotions and stress in children.

Meditation sessions will be conducted within the school premises by the teachers who have been so-trained. In addition to the silent practice, students will be taught how to resolve conflicts, to react in a reflective way to provocations, and to recognize signals indicating emotional distress.

The authorities hope that with this move, aggression in campuses would lessen and more tranquility would come in. The program would avoid impulsive actions among students through mindfulness and self-control, and make them think before acting.

The education department would monitor the progress of the program over time, expecting significant changes in behavior among the students.

Top-rated master's programs in counseling build an applied understanding among students regarding human development and diversity, the scope of the counseling profession, ethics, research methods, and group, individual, and vocational counseling techniques through classroom and experiential learning.

Course titles, and even the content covered, sometimes differ between programs. Following are some of the courses you likely would take in most master's in counseling curricula:

Counseling Theory and Practice The student is introduced to major theories and techniques pertaining to the area of counseling. Knowledge acquired is applied in the counseling setting as a personal style of counseling begins to develop.

HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 

  • Course Description: This course will explore current theories of human psychological, social, emotional and physiological development across the lifespan. 
  • Assessment in Counseling: This course outlines the way in which counselors use diagnostic testing and assessment with clients in a variety of professional settings. 
  • Multicultural counseling: This course imparts to the student the relevant skills, approaches, and models to suit cross-cultural counseling. 
  • Group Counseling: The class teaches students how to plan and conduct sessions with all different kinds of groups. Among other things, it discusses theories and ethical issues connected with group counseling.
  • Research methods in counseling: This course covers the qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method research designs used in counseling and the related legal and ethical considerations. 

Psychopathology and diagnosis, lifestyle and career development, substance abuse, trauma-informed practice, social justice, and marriage, couple, and family counseling are some additional topics that are frequently taught in master's programs in counseling.  In addition to coursework, the programs also must include practicum and internship work to fulfill licensing requirements. At some counseling degree schools, the students also complete a counseling portfolio or capstone project.

Consider Your Future Goals

The choice of school and associate program should be related to your career goals. If you expect to enter an entry-level career upon graduation, a program with a practical component, or at least one with strong career support should be considered.

Many students use associate degrees as a steppingstone toward a bachelor’s program. Associate degree transfer programs are helpful in this capacity by offering guaranteed admission and transfer credits to four-year programs, such as Cerritos College's Transfer Program.

Some programs have pathways toward specializations in the future, like KVCC has a mental health rehabilitation pathway. These specialized tracks can introduce students into new fields and give students a head start on their eventual bachelor's degree concentration.

Understand Your Expenses and Financing Options

Tuition for associate degrees varies significantly; programs on our list range from $46 to $294 per credit. Because there is some variation in the credit requirements, total tuition rates among our top 10 programs vary from $2,760 to $18,228.

Half of the programs on our list have less than the average annual tuition of $3,885 at two-year colleges, or $7,770 total for two years, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

To further make these programs affordable, you can complete the FAFSA to determine your eligibility for federal grants, low-interest federal loans, and/or scholarships. Your FAFSA information might also be used if you apply to any institutional scholarships or work study programs.

Accreditation of Online Associate Degree in Psychology Programs

For the purpose of accreditation, you will be mostly concerned with institutional accreditation as it affects your eligibility to receive federal financial aid and also your future transfer credits.

If you are wondering if there are associate degrees in psychology that have been accredited online, the answer is no. The American Psychological Association only recognizes graduate-level programs in psychology, not associate degree programs.

What to Expect From an Online Associate Degree in Psychology

Most online psychology associate degrees outline the basics of human behavior, including cognition and development. Further emphasis is placed on fostering critical thinking within communicative skills, research methods, and analysis. Most of the programs consist of roughly 60 credits and take two years to complete for students who study full-time.

In many cases, associate programs in psychology help students build a foundation for further study, be it a bachelor's or master's degree.

Admission Requirements

Admission requirements vary, but the associate programs tend to make the process open and accessible for many types of students. In fact, each of the schools in our top 10 has an open admission policy which accepts students.               

Who are 18 years of age or older Possess a high school diploma or equivalent qualification Common Courses Every program in psychology has its own curriculum, but the following courses are some of the more common topics in this discipline. Introduction to psychology Abnormal psychology Social psychology Behavioral sciences Marriage and family Lifespan development

After years of planning stalled by various hurdles, the much-awaited Diploma in Happiness will be introduced from the ensuing academic session at Gangadhar Meher University.

The six-month program has been specifically designed to help students cope with stress, form emotional balance, and build up self-confidence in view of growing crises in mental health and increasing rates of stress among Odisha's youth.

The course would touch upon different dimensions of happiness and their applications related to aspects of emotional intelligence, stress management, mindfulness, and decision-making, said Deputy Registrar Uma Charan Pati.

"The present education system should not be confined to academics only; it needs to promote moral, intellectual, and personality development as well. The six-month course will aim mainly at helping students achieve mental stability, cope with stress effectively, and strengthen their decision-making abilities," he said.

Pati said that the unbridled use of social media, fast-changing life, and academic pressures seriously affect the mental health of the youth. The diploma course will offset these with interactive lessons, group activities, and participatory workshops to breed optimism and self-reflection.

“A meeting regarding the syllabus of the course was held on Monday. Once the course is launched, the university may extend its duration and upgrade it into a full-fledged degree programme in future depending on the feedback and overall response,” added Pati.

The proposed program focuses on students at GMU and external participants who seek to attain better mental well-being. It would be team-taught by an interdisciplinary team from the departments of psychology, philosophy, and sociology.

This would make GMU the first state-run institution in Odisha to offer such a course. The university also proposes to initiate a Gender Studies program with certificate and diploma streams, which would take up issues of gender equality, gender stereotyping, and empowerment from both male and female standpoints.

University insiders said space shortages were the main hindrance, but this obstacle has since been removed with the complete operationalization of the Basantpur campus.

Page 2 of 2