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.