Why Emotional Intelligence is Just as Important as IQ in 2025?

A Story to Start

When she first walked into the Helen O'Grady Academy, Sara hardly uttered a word in class. She lingered at the back of the room with her mom and would simply extend her hand, just mouth a word or two to other children. 


She had few words; her eyes would be downcast. But something changed quietly over time. With drama, with story, with team sports and structured activity, she could talk about feelings she didn't even realize she had—fear, joy, uncertainty, excitement. She learned to hear not only what her friends were saying, but their uncertainty, their laughter, their silence. At eight, she was producing plays in school; at ten, she was instructing others who, like her, were introverted.


What shifted wasn't her IQ—it was her EQ. The ability to label her fear, handle stage fright, empathize with others, and work and lead with empathy. And by 2025, this type of development is more important than ever.


What Is Emotional Intelligence?

Emotional Intelligence is the ability of an individual to:

  • Label one's own emotions

  • Feel the source of the emotions

  • Regulate or control emotions so they don't become overwhelming

  • Sympathize—be sensitive to others' feelings

  • Manage social situations, relationships, and conflict


IQ tests problem-solving ability, memory, and logical reasoning. EQ adds to this by allowing individuals to apply these skills differently, especially in human situations.

Why EQ Is Just as Important as IQ in 2025

The more deeply we move into technology, diversity, and complexity, the more the importance of emotional intelligence has increased because:


Automation Doesn't Replace Feeling

Computers can fix equations, sort through data, and even translate language. What they still can't do is comfort a friend, broker conflict with empathy, or build trust between strangers. This is what emphasizes the importance of emotional intelligence.

Mental Health & Resilience

The past few years (social change, pandemic, economic uncertainty) have caused many to be anxious, stressed, or lonely. Good emotional intelligence empowers children and adults to cope with stress, bounce back from failure, and stay healthy.

Strong Relationships & Leadership

Firms, schools, and communities are getting increasingly racially diverse. Coping with someone else who is different from ourselves, whose ideas are different, takes more than smartness—it takes social skills, tolerance, and sensitivity. High EQ leaders can inspire, guide, and bring together.

Adaptability & Lifelong Learning

The world is evolving at warp speed: new is being learned, and old is becoming redundant. Knowers of what they feel can learn more quickly, adapt, absorb failures, and turn. This kind of flexibility is EQ-based.


In learning, not exams alone, but working together, creativity, communication—EQ enables children to be friends, get along with others, voice their opinions, and be themselves. 

How Helen O'Grady Builds EQ in Children

We build the head and the heart here at Helen O'Grady. This is how our curriculum focuses on the importance of emotional intelligence:


  • Group Activities & Team Work: Turn-taking, sharing, listening, and working in teams promote social ability.

  • Storytelling & Creative Expression: Facilitates children to recognize feelings, to picture others' feelings, and to consider incidents.

  • Safe Environment: We offer an environment where mistakes are okay, where children are heard, and where they learn to regulate feelings.

  • Feedback & Reflection: The teacher assists students in learning "why did I feel angry?" "How can I do better?" "What made me proud?"

Tips for Parents & Teachers to Build EQ at Home & in School

  • Train children to identify their feelings ("I feel sad/excited/scared") rather than suppressing them.

  • Model emotional self-regulation—show them how you calm down, apologize, and manage frustration.

  • Read plays or novels and make children pretend they were the characters and how they would feel, what they would do in the same situation.

  • Educate listening skills—stop, listen, do not interrupt, ask.

  • Reward being kind, sharing, being able to put oneself in another person's shoes, not marks.

FAQs

Q1. Can someone be high IQ and low EQ?

Yes. The adult or child may be great at book smarts, good at math computation, memorization of facts, logical thinking, but cannot relate to their own feelings, and relate to others in expressing themselves. That lack of relatedness will then lead to difficulties socially, emotionally, and even in the workplace.


Q2. Can EQ be taught?

In fact. Just because someone may be born with some degree of empathy or social skills, emotional intelligence is not something that one is born with; it is learned by the practice of living, systematic research, self-awareness, and supportive environments. Helen O'Grady classes are available for the exact same reason.

Conclusion

It's not what you know in 2025—it's how you feel, how you connect, how you respond. IQ gets you through the door, but EQ constructs the bridge: from classmate to classmate, family to family, classroom to classroom, and the world.


We don't churn out students at Helen O'Grady. We raise compassionate human beings. For it is a heart that knows its own potential that truly makes a person stand out—not in exams alone, but in life itself.


 You don't know a person until you've walked a mile in their shoes.

Empathy is becoming a stealth superpower in our rapidly accelerating, screen-driven world, and it's more crucial to begin teaching it to children earlier than ever.

Teaching empathy to children


Picture this: A group of children is doing an exercise at Helen O'Grady Academy. One of them is pretending to be injured; the other one falls over beside her and says, "Are you okay? Do you need help?"


It may look like just another role-play session, but something remarkable is happening. These kids are learning to listen for and notice feelings, to be gentle in their response, and to connect as human beings. Empathy is in the making here.

Why Empathy Matters in Childhood?

Empathy is not nice business; it's smart business, social business, and responsive business. It's about being able to put yourself in someone else's shoes and feel as they feel. The importance of empathy in children is due to:

  • Form better relationships

  • Decrease bullying and rejection

  • Enhance communication skills

  • Help manage emotions better

  • Increase collaboration and achievement in the classroom


Overall, empathetic children grow up to be better reflective, stronger, and nicer adults.

The Helen O'Grady Method

One of the most powerful methods of building empathy and focusing on the importance of empathy in children is real-life exposure, and it's something we're passionate about at Helen O'Grady. With our classes, children are continually being asked to "be somebody else", to be a teacher, a shopkeeper, or a character who is facing a challenge.

By getting inside someone else's story, children get to ask themselves:

  • How does this person feel?

  • Why are they behaving like this?

  • How can I be nice back?


These questions naturally develop emotional intelligence, allowing children to feel the world around them.

A Real Story: A Little Help Goes a Long Way

One day in our class, 8-year-old Fatima sensed that classmate Daniyal was in his shell mode. When their teacher paired them for an improv exercise, she playfully poked him, brainstormed with him, and pushed him out of his zone. Daniyal told us afterwards that it was the first time someone in school actually "saw" him.

That wasn't scripted. That wasn't rehearsed.

That was the importance of empathy in children, and that's what lingers with them.

Why Now? A Contemporary Requirement

We are presently residing in an era where children are over-entertained with immediate content, digital diversions, and social pressures. Actions are more and more being done with screens instead of face-to-face, and emotional connection becomes secondary. That is the reason why empathy training is more important now than ever before.

Empathy has been demonstrated to lead to:

  • Enhanced academic performance

  • Lower levels of stress and anxiety

  • More compassionate and respectful societies

And the ideal place to start? Early childhood.

FAQs 

Q1: Can empathy even be taught?

Yes! Empathy can be taught. With directed experience such as role play, storytelling, and discussion, children naturally become more compassionate and understanding.


Q2: How old should a child be when they learn about empathy?

As young as preschool age. Even toddlers empathize when they observe others in pain. Guided learning through drama or emotional coaching reinforces this quality.


Q3: How does drama assist in building empathy?

Drama gets kids to become other people and feel what they might be feeling. It gets them to think things through from more than one point of view, and therefore, it's easier to feel for other people in the world around them.

Last Thoughts

Empathy isn't politeness; it's connecting with others on a deep, human level. In a world that cries out for more kindness, compassion, and humanity, empathy is the solution to every healthy relationship and community.


We don't simply show kids how to perform at Helen O'Grady, but also how to feel, react, and develop. Through emotional intelligence and creative expression, we equip children to be not only confident performers but empathetic human beings.


Learn more about our courses at https://helenogrady.com.pk/ 

Ready to enroll your child in a program that treasures their voice and heart? Call us today!


 Building Confidence, Communication, and Creativity 


Helen O'Grady Academic Programme


Education at Helen O'Grady Academy Pakistan goes beyond reading textbooks. It's about tapping the confidence, creativity, and communication of a child, skills necessary not only for academic excellence but for life itself.


Our world-renowned Academic Programme for Speech and Language Development is a forward-thinking, age-suitable curriculum that has been changing the lives of children in more than 40 nations, and it's here in Pakistan too.


Here in this blog, we deconstruct our entire academic curriculum at Helen O'Grady Academy, discussing each level's purpose and composition, and how it enables your child to thrive through the use of drama.


What sets Our Curriculum apart?

Contrary to conventional academic models, the Helen O'Grady curriculum for Speech and language development employs speech as learning tools to cultivate:


  • Verbal and non-verbal communication

  • Confidence in public speaking

  • Creative thinking

  • Emotional intelligence

  • Teamwork and collaboration


Each level is designed to correspond to the child's developmental stage, ensuring learning is fun and meaningful.

The Helen O'Grady Academic Programme: A Stage-by-Stage Guide

1. Kindy Programme (3–5 years)

Learning through play and imagination

This foundation level introduces toddlers to group play, voice control, and body movement, all in imaginative and fun ways.


Key areas of focus:

  • Developing social skills

  • Learning to take instructions

  • Building motor coordination

  • Introduction to storytelling and expression


Activities include: drama games, mime, music and movement, and short role-playing.

2. Lower Primary (Ages 5–8)

Fostering  early Speech and language development 

At this level, children start constructing ordered ideas and stating them confidently.


Key areas of focus:

  • Developing vocabulary

  • Building sentence construction

  • Simple acting and improvisation

  • Building confidence in group situations


Activities include: short scripted plays, creative movement, expression games, and storytelling.

3. Upper Primary (Age 9–12)

Becoming more independent in thinking

This stage hones their capacity for speaking clearly, performing confidently, and innovating under pressure.


Key focus areas:

  • Modulation and clearness of voice

  • Role-playing and character development

  • Delivery of speeches and dialogue

  • Emotional and social intelligence


Activities include: full-length improvisations, brief monologues, drama exercises, and speech practice.

4. Youth Theatre (Ages 13–18)

Refining stagecraft and personality development

This is an advanced level that is for teenagers who want to develop their personality, leadership, and stage presence.


Key focus areas:

  • Communication and presentation skills

  • Advanced acting and script analysis

  • Group leadership and collaboration

  • Use of drama for career and personal development


Activities include: drama performances, debates, character studies, and mock interviews.

5. Adult Programmes (18+)

Drama for life skills and professional Speech and language development 

Tailored for students of the university, professionals, and even parents, this program provides soft skill enhancement through interactive drama techniques.


Key focus areas:

  • Communication in the workplace

  • Overcoming stage fear

  • Interview and presentation skills

  • Emotional awareness and body language

Why Choose Helen O'Grady in Pakistan?

Helen O'Grady Academy is not about becoming a better performer; it's about becoming a more confident, expressive, and empowered person.


Here's why parents, schools, and students throughout Pakistan choose our program for Speech and language development:

  • Internationally recognized curriculum

  • Trained drama teachers

  • Safe, creative, and inclusive classroom environment

  • Fun-learning that develops real-life skills

  • We have partner schools in major cities and also conduct private studio classes.

FAQs

1. Does Helen O'Grady provide any certification?

Yes, students are given performance reports and certificates after each term, and they get chances to perform in showcases and productions.


2. Do I need some prior acting experience to join?

In no way at all! Our program caters to all levels of experience,  from complete beginners to confident performers.

Ready to See Your Child Thrive?

We are the best place your child can grow emotionally, socially as well and intellectually. Helen O'Grady Academy Pakistan can be your best choice.

Visit our academic programme page: 

https://helenogrady.com.pk/the-academic-programme/ 

Call us today to register or collaborate with us for your school's program