Extending the Promise of Foundational Learning - The Case for NIPUN 2.0
02-02-2025
03:34 PM

Context:
- The latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) offers a ray of hope, indicating significant improvement in foundational learning outcomes, particularly in Grade III.
- This progress is largely attributed to the Indian government’s focused efforts to enhance education quality, with the NIPUN Bharat Mission playing a crucial role.
Government Initiatives and Their Impact:
- National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and its role:
- NEP laid the foundation for prioritizing Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN).
- It emphasized early learning as a critical step toward overall educational development.
- NIPUN Bharat Mission:
- A game changer: Launched in 2021, National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN) Bharat is a mission by the Ministry of Education.
- Goals of NIPUN Bharat:
- Improve reading, writing, and arithmetic skills for children ages 3–9.
- Achieve universal foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) by 2026–2027.
- Components of NIPUN Bharat:
- Oral language: Improve listening comprehension, vocabulary, and conversation skills.
- Decoding: Learn to decipher written words by understanding the relationship between symbols and sounds.
- Reading fluency: Read accurately, quickly, with expression, and with comprehension.
- Reading comprehension: Construct meaning from a text and think critically about it.
- Writing: Write words and expressions.
- Foundational numeracy: Apply simple numerical concepts to solve daily problems.
- Implementation of NIPUN Bharat:
- The Department of School Education and Literacy is the national implementing agency.
- State and UT governments prepare implementation plans.
- The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) conducts Foundational Learning Studies to understand learning levels.
- Salient features of the NIPUN Bharat:
- It allocates Rs 500 per child for teaching-learning materials, making lessons engaging.
- It provides Rs 5,000 per teacher for capacity-building workshops and Rs 150 for resource materials.
- It empowers states with Rs 10–20 lakh for student assessments and Rs 25 lakh to Rs 1 crore for Project Management Units at state and district levels.
- Real-life impact stories of NIPUN Bharat initiative:
- Uttar Pradesh: Teachers use songs to make mathematics engaging; ASER 2024 reports a rise in Grade III students’ reading ability (from 24% to 34%) and subtraction skills (from 29% to 41%).
- Odisha: The use of colorful and contextualized workbooks has led to better literacy outcomes, exemplified by young readers like Shragatika Ghosh.
Challenges and the Need for NIPUN 2.0:
- Transition challenges: Foundational learning remains fragile, with many children struggling as they transition to advanced concepts.
- Challenges faced by vulnerable groups: Marginalized communities face additional challenges due to lack of early preparedness.
- Need for NIPUN 2.0: Systemic change requires sustained efforts, as seen in the four-year journey of NIPUN Bharat.
Proposed Enhancements for NIPUN 2.0:
- Extension till 2030: Ensuring deeper, long-term impact.
- Expansion to Grades III–V: Bridging the gap between foundational skills and higher-order learning.
- Focus on Early Childhood Education (ECE): Strengthening preschool education to build readiness for primary school.
Conclusion - A Call for Action:
- The ASER results highlight that progress is possible with the right policies and resources.
- Extending NIPUN Bharat is not just about improving numbers but about transforming lives.
- By committing to NIPUN 2.0 now, India has the opportunity to set a global benchmark in foundational learning and ensure quality education for every child.
Q1. What is the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)?
Ans. The ASER is a nationwide rural household-based survey (by NGO Pratham), which tests the schooling status for children in the age group of 3-16.
Q2. How does the ASER impact policy making in India?
Ans. The ASER significantly impacts policy making in India by providing crucial data on children's learning outcomes across the country, and prioritising areas needing urgent attention.
Q3. What are the determinants of foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) in India?
Ans. The five pillars of FLN in India are: Educational Infrastructure, Access to Education, Basic Health, Learning Outcomes and Governance.
Q4. How prioritizing Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) helps India achieve SDGs?
Ans. Prioritizing FLN significantly helps India achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 1, 3, 4, 5, and 8) by laying the groundwork for quality education, enabling individuals to access better employment opportunities, and contributing to overall economic development.
Q5. What is the initiative toward capacity building of school teachers in India?
Ans. The Ministry of Education's Innovation Cell at AICTE in collaboration with CBSE launched the “Innovation Ambassador Programme” germinating the seeds of inventions in young minds.
Source:IE