In classrooms across the country, students are achieving high grades, excelling in extracurriculars, and proudly meeting academic milestones. But behind these visible successes lies a silent crisis—one marked by stress, anxiety, and emotional strain. The World Health Organization’s 2025 report highlights a stark reality: one in seven adolescents aged 10 to 19 battles a mental disorder. It’s a wake-up call, revealing that while schools are preparing students for tests, they may be failing to prepare them for life. This raises a crucial question—can academic achievement alone define success?

For decades, the education system revolved around IQ, the traditional measure of intelligence. The emergence of Emotional Quotient (EQ) brought long-overdue attention to human traits like empathy, self-awareness, and emotional regulation. Today, two more vital components—Social Quotient (SQ) and Adversity Quotient (AQ)—are increasingly recognized as essential in navigating a rapidly changing and unpredictable world.

EQ acts as an internal compass, guiding students to understand their emotions and regulate their responses. SQ governs how they connect with others, build relationships, and collaborate. But AQ stands at the forefront—our ability to withstand hardship, recover from setbacks, and emerge stronger.

With rising student suicides and emotional breakdowns making headlines, the absence of AQ is glaring. Students aren’t struggling due to intellectual deficiencies, but because they lack the emotional and psychological tools to process failure and change.

Modern education now expands beyond these four pillars, with Digital Quotient (DQ) and Learning Quotient (LQ) gaining prominence. DQ ensures responsible, creative, and safe use of technology, while LQ equips students to continuously learn, unlearn, and relearn in an ever-evolving world.

It is time education moves beyond textbooks and deliberately integrates these essential life skills. Emotional, social, and adversity quotients are not extras; they are survival skills shaping how students think, interact, and respond to the world around them.

Research strengthens this case. UNICEF’s 2017 report emphasized the importance of childhood and adolescence in emotional development, while Epstein’s 1986 study highlighted brain growth peaks at ages seven, twelve, and fifteen—precisely when emotional management, collaboration, and resilience should be actively developed.

Yet, the current model prioritizes grades over growth. We teach children how to solve equations but not how to resolve conflicts. They learn to win trophies but not how to cope with loss. The result? Some of the brightest minds struggle silently with anxiety, burnout, and emotional exhaustion.

To bridge this emotional gap, schools must embed emotional intelligence into the curriculum. For younger children, play-based learning helps them naturally express and manage emotions. Older students benefit from experiential and project-based learning, which promotes teamwork, empathy, and emotional reflection.

A Socio-Emotional Mindfulness Learning (SEML) curriculum spanning nursery to high school equips students to master conflict resolution, relationship building, and emotional self-management—skills as vital as math or science. Wellbeing classes during adolescence further help students set personal boundaries, understand safety, and address sexuality and gender-related issues, fostering emotional maturity.

But emotional education cannot stop with students. Teachers and parents are the emotional anchors in a child’s life. When they feel aware, supported, and emotionally grounded, they create environments that nurture empathy, resilience, and emotional stability. True holistic education requires collective participation from students, teachers, staff, and parents alike.

Globally, schools are turning to Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), a proactive framework offering universal support for all, targeted interventions for emerging concerns, and intensive help for those in crisis. This model prioritizes prevention, reduces stigma, and integrates mental wellbeing into everyday school life—replacing crisis response with resilience building.

It’s time to redefine what it truly means to be educated. Teaching empathy, resilience, and self-regulation is not optional—it is central to preparing young people for the world ahead. When schools empower children to understand themselves and others, cope with setbacks, and create meaningful connections, they are not just producing achievers—they are shaping balanced, compassionate individuals ready to lead with both their head and their heart.

By Shikha Sehgal, Head–Counselling & Student Support Services, Heritage International Xperiential School, Gurugram