As once-hallowed social institutions strain under the burden of changing norms, parents, governments and the corporate world are increasingly looking to schools to help equip the new generation with problem-solving skills for daily living. Skills that will help them effectively negotiate the constantly evolving environment at work, at home and in the community. The good news is that many educational institutions are convinced that life skills education should no longer be a mere afterthought.

However, both early adopters and the cynics are looking for hard evidence to substantiate the touted benefits of life skills education.

The impact of a life skills education program on students of two secondary schools was assessed through comparison with matched adolescents from neighbouring schools in the district that did not have the life skills education program.

Assessment tools included the Rosenberg Scale of Self-Esteem (RSES, Rosenberg 1965), Preadolescent Adjustment Scale (PAAS, Pareek et al. 1975), Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES Jerusalem and Schwarzer 1995), Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire – Self-Report Version (SDQ SRV Goodman et al. 1998) and teacher feedback on observable changes in student behaviour in the classroom.

Results showed that the adolescents in the program had significantly better self-esteem, perceived adequate coping, better adjustment generally, specifically with teachers, in school, and prosocial behavior.