Blog
25th November 2023
The early years of a child is a crucial period as they have a long-term repercussion. This is because the growth of a child, both physical and mental, is very fast during this stage. The evolution of cognitive faculties in these years implies that an effective foundation is laid for a fruitful academic life. This is where foundational learning becomes vital. The UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training defines foundational learning as “Basic learning that supports further learning and that is intended to provide learning opportunities for the development of proficiency in one or more languages as well as in some form of mathematics or mathematical literacy.”
Education experts have stressed that in the absence of early learning opportunities in literacy and numeracy, a child ends up lagging in academic progress, motivation, and learning achievement. Once a child slips behind in foundational learning, then the child falls into a perpetual catch-up mode, leading to absenteeism and school dropout. The failure to achieve foundational learning skills results in a long-term adverse impact, which manifests in adulthood. This includes reduced employability and low chances of social mobility. At the national level, the potential to harness the young demographic advantage is reduced. This also contributes to driving inequality in society.
The National Policy on Education (NEP 2020) has highlighted the importance of strengthening foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) skills as scores of elementary school students have been found lacking in basic reading and comprehension skills and could not complete simple addition and subtraction by using Indian numerals. COVID-19 further exacerbated this situation as millions of children ended up missing school during the pandemic.
To remedy this situation, what the NEP 2020 refers to as a “learning crisis”, it underlines the need for efforts in a mission mode to enable children to acquire FLN skills. Hence, the Ministry of Education, Government of India commenced the National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat) Mission on 5 July 2021. The Mission’s goal is to ensure the achievement of FLN capability among children by the time they finish grade 3, by 2026-27 (extended due to COVID-19). The Mission encourages assessments in schools to provide appropriate guidance to teachers and make the learning experience inclusive, holistic, enjoyable, and engaging for the students. NIPUN Bharat has set learning outcomes from preschool to grade 3 (children in the age group of three to nine years). It has also come up with ‘Lakshyas’ (targets) for each class.
The Mission’s approach emphasizes the training and capacity building of the teachers. They are provided with instructional materials and resources. The Mission also places stress on early childhood education and ensuring universal access to high-quality education for children in the age group of three to six years. It calls for engaging the community to enhance awareness of FLN and garner support for the Mission. The progress is closely monitored and evaluated to ensure that the Mission stays on course to accomplish its goal. Besides, multilingualism is encouraged as it recognizes the need for proficiency in the mother language along with multilingual capabilities to augment communication skills in a linguistically diverse society.
While the states are working to ensure that the goals of the NIPUN Bharat Mission are accomplished, in this regard, an initiative has come up in Himachal Pradesh. The State has collaborated with Google with the support from Samagra Governance to develop a mobile app called ‘NIPUN Lakshya Abhyas’. This app assists students in acquiring FLN skills. The app allows the students to practice in a way that is fun and engaging for them as they are provided adaptive questions as per their capability level. The app gives instant feedback and recognition to promote motivation. Teachers can track the FLN levels of the students through a five-minute oral reading fluency and numeracy assessment. The assessment reports are readily available on the app and are also linked with the state’s management information system. Parents also have access to students’ FLN assessment reports which are discussed during the quarterly parent-teacher meeting. 80 percent of the primary schools in the state have undertaken NIPUN practice assessments for their students in the recent past. They have covered 75 percent of the student population. 50 percent of the students have gained “NIPUN Ready” status as of May 2023. With the success attained by the app, other states can potentially follow suit and introduce such an initiative.
If the provisions under the NIPUN Bharat Mission along with innovative steps as in the case of Himachal Pradesh are followed in the true spirit, the impediments in early child education can be addressed and the goal of equipping every child with FLN skills by the end of grade three is sure to be achieved. The success of the Mission is closely linked with better prospects for young children as well as a bright future for the nation.