Taking classes at Thompson Rivers University shed a different light on the problem I faced as a teacher at my home in Mumbai. Several courses talked about integrating emotional intelligence into the curriculum. One course in particular caught my attention, and that was History and Philosophy of Education. It was through this particular course and the course readings that I began to reflect on my experiences as a teacher in Mumbai. I think Indian schools often place too much emphasis on test scores in defining the purpose of education. This is a mistake because, to me, the purpose of education involves more than a test score. “. . . the countless hours we spent absorbing material in an existentially meaningless and forced way that competes for good grades and, presumably, future security and happiness. »Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay I believe that the purpose of education is to try to instill a desire to learn and to teach children how to think for themselves rather than what to think. Throughout the master's program, I was exposed to the concepts of social and emotional learning (SEL) and their inclusion in the curriculum. I realize the importance of SEL and how essential it is to integrate it into primary schools in India. I strongly believe that developing SEL in students from an early age cultivates effective leadership skills, also leads to the development of social interaction skills and awareness of self and others. It is therefore essential that it is integrated into the Indian education system, especially at the elementary level, as young children are quite impressionable and imbibe new qualities easily. Mayer and Salovey (1997), in their research on emotional intelligence, found that teachers struggle to identify the exact skills and knowledge students need to succeed in life. It is very common to consider intelligence quotient (IQ) rather than EI to determine a student's success rate. Mayer and Salovey (1997) argue that other factors, including emotional intelligence, play a more important role in determining a person's success or failure. Unfortunately, Indian schools focus very little on those other factors, like emotional intelligence, that contribute to a person's success in life. My experience as a teacher made it very clear that students' social and/or emotional needs were not being met. How could I expect them to focus on the mission at hand? And a bigger question loomed. How could these students learn the social and emotional skills needed to reach their full potential and become contributing members of society if they had not learned them at home or at school? Indian society and education have always focused on the best in social and emotional development. . Since the Vedic era, emphasis was placed on forming good habits, developing traits such as respect, love, caring, friendship, bravery, courage, sharing and cooperation . In the past, people had a great ability to control their emotions, but they were weak in their expression, because expressing too much emotion was considered a sign of weakness. Today, with the changing times, children's social and emotional development is.