The Umang Life Skills Education Program was launched in 2017 by the School Education Department of Madhya Pradesh in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and its implementation partner, Bhartiya Grameen Mahila Sangh (BGMS). Originally designed to instil essential life skills in students, Umang has evolved as a comprehensive programmeto meet the growing needs of young people.
In 2022, Umang transformed into the Umang School Health & Wellness Program (Umang SHWP), as part of national level School Health and Wellness Programme under Ayushman Bharat. This integration has expanded Umang’s impact, offering adolescents a wider range of skills along with adolescent friendly health services to support their personal development, health, and resilience.
Umang SHWP is being implemented in 9,270 government high and higher secondary schools across Madhya Pradeshas a collaborative effort between the Department of Education, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Madhya Pradesh with technical support from United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Bhartiya Grameen Mahila Sangh (BGMS), UNFPA’s implementation partner.
Similarly, the Jeevan Tarang Life Skills Education Programme extends life skills education to government-run Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in Madhya Pradesh, as a collaborative effort between theDirectorate of Skill Development, UNFPA and BGMS. Jeevan Tarang Programme ensures that students at ITIs are equipped with critical life skills to succeed in both their personal and professional lives.
Bharatiya Grameen Mahila Sangh, a state level NGO established in 1961 and its unit – State Resource Center, Indore have been working on imparting life skills education since 1993. Starting with imparting life skills education to out of school adolescent girls of 10 villages, the organization has successfully developed a replicable model of a scalable life skills education for in-school adolescents in collaboration with various local, national and international bodies. The organization with the support of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has been providing technical resource support to the School Education Department, Government of Madhya Pradesh in implementing Life Skills Education Program with students of 9th to 12th standard in State Board Schools of MP since 2017 to reach out to nearly 2.5 million students in 9228 Govt Schools and 40000 students in Govt ITIs of MP in collaboration with the Directorate of Skill Development, Govt. of MP.
Bhartiya Grameen Mahila Sangh (BGMS) through its sub-unit State Resource Centre, Indore have been working in collaboration with UNFPA and RMSA to integrate life skills education into the school education system in the state of Madhya Pradesh since the year 2017.. The project is implementing the basic Umang manual (developed for 9 th , 10 th , and 11 th grade) in all 9228 government high and higher secondary schools. Thereby, the program impacts approximately 2.5 million adolescents enrolled in schools.
Similarly, the Directorate of Skill Development, MP also initiated the integration of LSE in all the government ITIs from the year 2018. The present thrust is at providing support in institutionalizing Life Skills Education in all Government High Schools and Higher Secondary Schools in the state by making use of standard-specific modules for class 9th till class 12th and also, in all the Industrial Training Institutes, ITIs, by way of a manual specially developed in order to promote an enabling teaching-learning environment in schools and ITIs that results in informed, responsible and healthy behavior among adolescents and youth.
The School Education Department owns and implements with sheer determination the Umang program in high and higher secondary schools across the state of Madhya Pradesh.
In collaboration with School Education Department, the Department of Health & Family Welfare is supporting the School Health & Wellness Programme under Ayushman Bharatacross the state of Madhya Pradesh.
In collaboration with School Education Department, the Department of Health & Family Welfare is supporting the School Health & Wellness Programme under Ayushman Bharatacross the state of Madhya Pradesh.
The Directorate of Skill Development is actively implementing the Jeevan Tarang program in all the Government Industrial Training Institutes of Madhya Pradesh.
UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. UNFPA has been playing a pivotal role by providing technical and financial support for institutionalization of the Life Skills Education program in Madhya Pradesh.
BGMS is a state level social development organisation based in Indore in Madhya Pradesh, India. BGMS is the implementing partner of UNFPA in MP working as the technical support agency for LSE programme in the state.
Director, BGMS
Anjali is a development professional working in the development sector for the last 35 years and in the field of life skills education for adolescents for the last over 25 years. She did her Masters in Social Work from Delhi School of Social Work, Delhi University. Her passion for life skills education and adolescent development defines her. She has been instrumental in institutionalizing life skills education in State Board Schools of Madhya Pradesh. She has expertise in curriculum development and training on life skills education.
Project Coordinator
Jyoti has 33 years of experience in the field of Health, Social welfare and Education sector specially, Life Skills education. Jyoti is a trainer and a counsellor. She likes interacting and spending time with students and teachers during her field visits. She was very much involved with development of graded Umang curriculum and Jeevan Tarang curriculum. Her hobbies include listening to Gazals and doing meditation.
Program Implementation Officer
Somesh has 7 years of experience in monitoring and evaluation, data analysis, documentation, and program implementation across life skills education, skill development, and natural resource management and livelihood generation. Somesh is an Engineering graduate from SRM University and holds a MA in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences. Somesh likes to interact and spend time with school students during his field visits and during non-office hours you can find him wandering in the city with his 2 forever companions - bicycle and camera.
Monitoring Officer
Nilesh has 8 years of experience of working in social sector. He has worked on program implementation, program management, training in various disciplines. His work areas in the social sector are gender, sexual and reproductive health, adolescence, drug de-addiction, livelihood, financial planning. Nilesh’s hobbies are cooking, traveling and learning new things.
Accounts Officer
Dushyant is a Chartered Accountant Final aspirant and possesses vast experience in the field of Accounts, Audit, Taxation, Legal compliances, etc. He has served for 15 years in NGOs and private sectors. He specialises in SHG based accounting and related software design.
Training & Monitoring Associate
Kushal is a post graduate in Social Work (MSW) and has work experience of more than 9 years in sector of Public Cooperation and Women and Child Development where he worked on programme monitoring, Training , Research & Documentation, data analysis. etc. His hobbies include Reading, Learning of New Things and Helping of Poor and Needy People.
Office Assistant cum Data Entry Operator
Born into a farming family in Chalisgaon in Maharashtra, Sanjay has paved a way for himself. Prior to joining BGMS, Sanjay has worked as Sales Trainee in Reliance Assets Management Limited for 12 years. Sanjay frequently goes on religious trips and likes to help people.
