Basic skills poor in Hindi but poorer in regional languages: NCERT

Basic skills poor in Hindi but poorer in regional languages: NCERT

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According to NCERT survey foundational learning of students in Hindi is poor but their performance in regional languages in some States was even worse.

Survey provides baseline for government’s NIPUN mission to improve foundational learning

NIPUN mission

• Ministry of Education has launched a National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat), for ensuring that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) by the end of Grade 3, by 2026-27.
• The National Mission which has been launched under the aegis of the centrally sponsored scheme of Samagra Shiksha, will focus on providing access and retaining children in foundational years of schooling; teacher capacity building; development of high quality and diversified Student and Teacher Resources/Learning Materials; and tracking the progress of each child in achieving learning outcomes.
• 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.
• The mission will focus on children of age group of 3 to 9 years including pre-school to Grade 3.
• The children who are in Class 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.
• The goals and objectives of the mission are required to be achieved by all Govt., Govt. Aided and Private Schools so that universal acquisition of FLN skills can be achieved by 2026-27.
• The unique feature is that the goals of the Mission are set in the form of LakshyaSoochi or Targets for Foundational Literacy and Numeracy. The Laskhyas are based on the learning outcomes developed by the NCERT and international research and ORF studies.
• A special package for foundational literacy and Numeracy under NISHTHA is being developed by NCERT and around 25 lakh teachers teaching at pre-primary to primary grade will be trained this year on FLN.

What is Foundational Literacy and Numeracy?

• 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 recognise 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;