NIPUN Bharat Mission |Foundational Literacy and Numeracy

NIPUN Bharat

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Context:

To ensure the implementation of recommendation of National Education Policy 2020, that by the time children reach Grade 3, they have acquired foundational literacy and numeracy skills, Centre launched the NIPUN (National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy) Bharat Mission on July 5, 2021.

NIPUN (National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy) Bharat Mission

About	●The Ministry of Education has launched NIPUN Bharat, on July 5, 2021, for ensuring that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) by the end of Grade 3, by 2026-27.
Nodal Ministry	●Ministry of Education
Focus	●The mission will focus on children of the age group of 3 to 9 years including preschool to Grade 3. ●The children who are in Classes 4 and 5 and have not attained the foundational skills will be provided individual teacher guidance and support, peer support and age-appropriate and supplementary graded learning materials to acquire the necessary competencies.
Implementation	●The Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education (MoE) will be the implementing agency at the national level and will be headed by a Mission Director.
Objectives	●To give children access to and keep them in school during their early years, strengthening teacher capacity, creating high-quality, diversified student and teacher resources/learning materials, and monitoring each child's progress in achieving learning outcomes. ●All public, government-aided, and private schools must fulfil the mission's aims and objectives by 2026–27. ●To create an inclusive learning environment in the classroom by integrating play, discovery, and activity-based pedagogies, connecting them to the children's daily lives, and formally embracing their native languages. ●To help kids develop a passion for reading, independence, and engagement in their writing, as well as comprehension and long-lasting reading and writing abilities. ●To make children understand the reasoning in the domains of numbers, measurement and shapes; and enable them to become independent in problem-solving by way of numeracy and spatial understanding skills.

National Education Policy of India 2020 (NEP 2020)

The National Education Policy of India 2020 (NEP 2020), which was started by the Union Cabinet of India on 29 July 2020, outlines the vision of the new education system of India.
The new policy replaces the previous National Policy on Education, 1986. The policy is a comprehensive framework for elementary education to higher as well as vocational training in both rural and urban India.
The policy aims to transform India's education system by 2030.

Measurable impact of National Education Policy on literacy

School enrollment levels (between ages 6-14) have shown a remarkable rise in the last few decades.
With the launch of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in 2001, school levels reached well above 90% in rural India by the early 2000s.
Apart from increased enrollment, an increasingly higher proportion of each batchis completing elementary education.

Mother’s education

The data on education levels of mothers with children between ages 4 and 8 — the target age of the NIPUN mission — show a steep rise over the last decade.
According to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) surveys, between 2010 and 2022, the number of such mothers to have studied beyond Grade 5 jumped from 35% to nearly 60%.
In 2010, less than 10% of young rural mothers had completed more than 10 years of schooling. By 2022, this number was well over 20%.

State wise data

In states like Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Punjab, and Haryana, 30-40% of mothers of young children have had schooling beyond Grade 10.
In Tamil Nadu, this figure is close to 43%, while in Himachal, it is higher than 54%. Kerala tops this list with almost 72% of these mothers receiving high school education.

Low Labour Force Participation

Young women in India are not joining the labour force at a rate comparable to the rest of the educated world.
According to latest data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2022-23, the over-all female labour force participation rate — LFPR shows the percentage of the population which is looking for a job — in India is only 37% (41.5% in rural, 25.4% in urban India).
For women in the 15-29 age-group, the LFPR is even lower at 24.5% (25.8% in rural, 20.8% in urban India).

How did the pandemic help in improving foundational literacy?

The pandemic, which was difficult and disruptive, has already laid the ground for this higher engagement.
With schools closed for more than a year, parents, regardless of their own education levels, had to get involved in their children’s education.
Before the pandemic, parents largely left the business of learning to schools.

Why is the education of mothers important?

More time with children

Educated mothers provide a uniquely positioned resource for supporting young children’s learning.
The 65.5% of young men (ages 15-29) in rural India are a part of the workforce, and thus, not as available to be with children.

Role Model and Influence:

Educated mothers often serve as positive role models for their children, inspiring them to value education and strive for academic success.

Health and Nutrition:

Educated mothers are more likely to have knowledge about healthcare practices, nutrition, and hygiene, which directly impacts the child's well-being and growth.

Social and Emotional Development:

Education empowers mothers with better communication skills and emotional intelligence, allowing them to give a supportive and nurturing environment for their children.

Advocacy and Support:

Educated mothers are more likely to advocate for their children's educational needs, participate in their schooling, and engage with teachers and educational institutions.

What is Foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN)

●It is the ability to read, write, and perform basic maths operations. It also includes skills like identifying letters and words, reading words fluently, and solving basic maths problems.

●FLN can also include improved listening comprehension, oral vocabulary, and extended conversation skills.

●FLN is important because it can: Ensure equal opportunity for success, Improve employability, Improve life outcomes, Improve a country's GDP, and Improve long term equity and growth.

●Children should attain FLN skills by class 3. If they don't, they may struggle to catch up and risk dropping out of school. According to the National Sample Survey (NSS), a lack of basic skills is one of the primary reasons why students drop out of school too early.

Foundational literacy: The pre-existing knowledge of language helps in building literacy skills in languages. The key components in Foundational Language and Literacy are:

●Oral Language: Development Includes improved listening comprehension; oral vocabulary and extended conversation skills. The experiences in oral language are important for developing skills of reading and writing.

●Decoding: Involves deciphering written words based on understanding the relationship between symbols and their sounds.

●Reading Fluency: Refers to the ability to read a text with accuracy, speed (automaticity), expression (prosody), and comprehension that allows children to make meaning from the text. Many children recognize aksharas, but read them laboriously, one-by-one.

●Reading Comprehension: Involves constructing meaning from a text and thinking critically about it. This domain covers the competencies of understanding texts and retrieving information from them, as well as interpreting texts.

●Writing: This domain includes the competencies of writing aksharas and words as well as writing for expression.

Foundational Numeracy: Foundational Numeracy means the ability to reason and to apply simple numerical concepts in daily life problem solving. The major aspects and components of early mathematics are:

●Pre-number concepts: Count and understand the number system.

●Numbers and operations on numbers: Learn conventions needed for mastery of Mathematical techniques such as the use of a base ten system to represent numbers.

●Shapes and Spatial Understanding: Perform simple computations in her/his own way up to three-digit numbers and apply these to their day to life activities in different contexts.

●Measurement: Understand and use standard algorithms to perform operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division on numbers up to three digits.

●Data Handling: Identify and extend simple patterns starting from repeating shapes to patterns in numbers, interpret simple data/information in his/her daily life activities.

Conclusion

The data outlined above suggests that due to the push towards universal elementary education, India today is in a unique position to use young mothers’ schooling levels as a resource in their children’s journey to acquire foundational literacy and numeracy.
The active participation of families, especially mothers, should be further encouraged to meet the goals of the NIPUN Bharat Mission. For young children to grow and thrive, nothing can be more powerful than teachers and mothers joining hands.

Important articles for reference :

ASER Beyond The Basics

Sources:

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q.Consider the following statement about “NIPUN Bharat India Initiative”

It will focus on children of the age group of 6 to 14 years.
It aims to ensure that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) by the end of Grade 3, by 2030.
The Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education (MoE) is its implementing agency.

Which of the above is/are incorrect?

(a) 1 and 2

(b) 2 and 3

(d) 1,2 and 3

Answer: a

Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect

●The mission will focus on children of the age group of 3 to 9 years including preschool to Grade 3.

●The children who are in Classes 4 and 5 and have not attained the foundational skills will be provided individual teacher guidance and support, peer support and age-appropriate and supplementary graded learning materials to acquire the necessary competencies.

Statement 2 is incorrect

●The Ministry of Education launched NIPUN Bharat, on July 5, 2021, for ensuring that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) by the end of Grade 3, by 2026-27.

Statement 3 is correct

●The Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education (MoE) will be the implementing agency at the national level and will be headed by a Mission Director.