Enhancing Educational Governance
Developing Children’s Scale for Social-Emotional Learning (CHISSEL)
The CHISSEL project, co-published by Leadership for Equity (LFE) and FLAME University, focuses on creating a reliable and culturally relevant tool to measure social-emotional learning (SEL) competencies among middle school students in Maharashtra.
Key Learnings
The CHISSEL report offers deep insights into the current state of social-emotional learning (SEL) among middle school students in Maharashtra’s government schools. It highlights the role of SEL in fostering holistic student development, beyond academic achievement.
CHISSEL was initiated to address the gap in culturally relevant, scalable SEL assessment tools in India. By developing the CHISSEL tool, this study aimed to provide data-driven insights into students' SEL competencies, crucial for shaping future policies and interventions in government schools.
The key learnings include:
Social-emotional learning (SEL) is vital for students' overall development, fostering skills like emotional regulation, decision-making, and empathy, which significantly influence their academic and personal success.
While students displayed strong social awareness and relationship skills, self-awareness remains underdeveloped, highlighting the need for focused programs to enhance students' understanding of their own emotions and capacities.
Social awareness and relationship skills scored the highest, emphasizing the importance of nurturing empathy and community engagement in school settings.
Gender differences in SEL competencies were observed, with girls generally scoring higher in emotional development and social awareness, indicating a need for gender-sensitive approaches to SEL interventions.

Theme
Building the next generation of resilient and emotionally aware individuals in India.
The Hope
The CHISSEL project has had significant implications for policy and practice in India’s education sector, particularly concerning the integration of SEL into school curricula. This report directly supports the goals of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which emphasizes holistic child development.