Life skills are abilities for adaptive and
positive behavior that enable individuals to deal
with the demands and challenges of everyday
life. (WHO definition) In particular, life
skills are psychological competencies and
interpersonal skills that help people make
informed decisions, solve problems, think
critically and creatively, communicate
effectively, build healthy relationships,
empathies with others and cope with managing
their lives in a healthy and productive manner.
Life skills may be directed toward personal
actions or action toward others, or may be
applied to actions that alter the surrounding environment to make it conductive to health.
Ideally, life skills learning should occur at a
younger age, before negative patterns of
behavior and interaction had established. The
school is an appropriate place for the
introduction of life skills education. Life skills
programs can be developed for all ages of
children and adolescents in school. The
important age range for life skills learning is
6-16 years4.