Beyond Intelligence Quotient: The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Academic Achievement among Senior Secondary School Students

This paper examines the relevance of emotional intelligence (EI) to academic performance among senior secondary school students with specific reference to the comprehensive education system espoused in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The study used a descriptive co-relational research design to investigate the connection between EI and academic performance. The population size was 100 senior secondary students who were chosen by simple random sampling. The measure of EI was Emotional Intelligence Scale which was a standardized tool designed by Arun Kumar Singh & Shruti Narain and academic achievement was in terms of percentage of previous year examination. To conduct data analysis, descriptive statistics were calculated (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistical tests (t -tests, one-way ANOVA, correlation with the help of Pearson) were utilized. The outcomes showed that the general state of EI in the group of students was average. There were no significant differences in EI and academic achievements based on gender and academic stream making it possible that these variables have no substantial impact on the emotional competence or academic performance. Nevertheless, there were notable variations in terms of locale, which denotes that environmental and contextual influences are influential in determining EI and academic performance of students. The correlation showed that there is a strong and positive correlation between EI and academic achievement which makes EI a very important determinant of academic success. These results support the earlier studies that highlighted the role of EI in promoting successful learning, motivation, and emotional management. Similar to NEP 2020, the study also discusses the necessity of incorporating socio-emotional education in the learning process in schools to ensure whole-person development, academic achievement, and emotional health of senior secondary schools.