Project Aanandam responds to growing concerns around emotional distress, loneliness, performance pressure, and early vulnerability to substance use among school-going children. Rather than relying on fear-based warnings, Aanandam works through the school ecosystem — training student Happiness Ambassadors and Happy Teacher Ambassadors, promoting emotional literacy and kindness, and encouraging peer support.
The project is rooted in a life-course approach: when children learn dignity, happiness, empathy, self-regulation, and help-seeking early in life, they are more likely to grow into healthy, resilient, and socially responsible adults. This directly connects to CEDAC’s healthy ageing mission — the foundations of a good later life begin in childhood.
The Happy School model is replicable across schools and local self-government areas, with each school creating a culture of emotional safety, early identification of vulnerable students, and connection to appropriate support systems. The programme aligns substance abuse prevention with life-course wellbeing, not merely awareness campaigns.