Saturday, 05 Oct, 2024
By: Nikita Gupta
Image source: Freepik
As Rabindra Nath Tagore – “Language, mother’s tongue and mother’s milk go hand in hand.” Education plays a pivotal role in a child’s life and a country’s growth trajectory. Amidst this, as per recent studies, 55% of India’s school-going children cannot read and understand short age-appropriate text by the time they reach grade 5.
Approx. 13-18% of students from grades 3,5 and 8 fall below basic learning levels while only 39-53% have achieved proficiency. The quality of India’s education is ranked 90th in the world. Skills such as critical thinking and problem-solving are ranked among the lowest. (Source: WEF, 2021)
To tackle the problem, the Union Minister for Education, Government of India launched the NIPUN Bharat Programme on 5th July 2021 under National Education Policy 2020. The fullform of NIPUN is the National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding & Numeracy. Its primary aim is to ensure every child in the country attains foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) by the end of Grade 3 by 2026-27.
How India eyes at achieving Universal Literacy through NIPUN Bharat?
NIPUN Bharat Mission focuses on children aged 3 to 9 between pre-school and Grade 3. The children in Grades 4 and 5 who have not attained the foundational skills will be provided with individual teacher guidance, peer support, age-appropriate, and supplementary graded learning materials to acquire the necessary competencies.
The goals of the NIPUN Bharat Mission are set in the form of Lakshya Soochi or Targets for Foundational Literacy and Numeracy. To achieve greater levels of awareness among key stakeholders such as parents, community, and staff the Lakshyashas are developed from Balvatika to Grade 3. The Lakshyas are chalked out based on the desired learning outcomes as developed by the NCERT, international research, and studies conducted by ORF. For instance, from an age-appropriate unseen text, a child is expected to read 45 to 60 words per minute as he/she completes Grade 2 while a child should be able to read 60 words correctly as he/she completes Grade 3.
95% of brain development takes place by the time a child attains the age of 6. Keeping this as a central idea, the outcomes of NIPUN Bharat can be deemed favorable if the Governments of the State and Centre are contributing adequately. Foundational skills which are building blocks of reading will facilitate student retention and better transition from primary to upper primary and secondary stages. Activity-based and conducive learning environments shall improve the quality of education, innovative teaching pedagogies, intensive capacity building of teaching staff, and holistic development of the child by focusing on different domains and functional literacy that can boost employment, and children enrolment in early grades is highest which can ensure access to equitable and inclusive quality education. NIPUN Bharat Mission is an ambitious programme that is crafted for the future of the country i.e. children.
