Development of 'Coping with Stress 'Life Skill among NIOS Learners

The present paper includes empirical action research. The quantitative method was used to assess the development of life skill 'Coping with Stress' among NIOS learners. It was carried out in the Ludhiana city of Punjab state. The sample was comprised of 100 female learners of Ludhiana who were enrolled with NIOS at secondary level with Home Science as one of the subjects of their curriculum. They were approached in their homes, tuition centres, academies, NIOS Accredited Institutes and their work places. The sample was further divided into two equal groups as control and experimental group. The analysis of distribution of respondents showed that during the post learning phase percentage of learners possessing average and high level of coping with stress increased to 6 6 per cent from the earlier 58 per cent and 10 per cent to 14 per cent, respectively. It was also found that coping with stress was negatively related with intelligence. A significant shift was seen in high and low stress coping skill. The percentage of respondents in high stress coping skill increased fromjust 2 per cent to 14 per cent in the post learning phase showing the difference in distribution to be significant at (p<0.05) level. The respondents with average level of intelligence had shown the highest increase in the means scores of stress coping as compared to the learners having high or low level of intelligence. Therefore, it can be concluded that after learning the study material, learners were more enabled to recognize the sources of stress, understanding its effects, evolve strategies to reduce their stress and relax without making the situation worse.