Lok Sabha Question No. 886 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-12
Subject: Learning Gap Due to COVID
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Sanjeev Kumar Singari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

## DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO - 886 ANSWERED ON 12/12/2022

## Learning Gap Due to COVID

## 886. DR. SANJEEV KUMAR SINGARI:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION  be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  it  is  true  that  India's  learning  poverty  i.e.  inability  to  read  and  understand  short sentences by the age the of 10 has increased from 54 percent to 70 percent after lockdown as per the World Bank data;
- (b) if so, the reasons thereof;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  investigated  the  full  effects  of  closure  of  schools  due  to lockdown;
- (d) is there any scheme within the New Education Policy to bridge the learning gap created due to 2 years of no school; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SMT. ANNPURNA DEVI)

(a) to (c) The  Ministry  of  Education,  Department  of  School  Education  and  Literacy  has conducted    National  Achievement  Survey  (NAS)  on  12.11.2021  in  717  districts  of  the  country  to assess learning levels of sampled children of grades 3, 5, 8 and 10. The aim and objective of NAS is to evaluate children's progress and learning competencies as an indicator of the health of the education system, so as to take appropriate steps for remedial actions at different levels. National, State/UT and District Reports for NAS 2021 have been released on 25.05.2022 and are available at http://nas.gov.in. The World Bank has published a report titled 'The State of Global Learning Poverty: 2022 Update', which can be accessed at:- https://www.unicef.org/media/122921/file/StateofLearningPoverty2022.pdf.

The  spread  of  COVID-19  pandemic  has  impacted  school  education.  Schools  in  States  and Union Territories were closed as a precautionary measure to protect the students from Novel COVID19  (Corona)  virus.  This  has  interrupted  the  learning  of  students  from  pre-  school  to  grade  12. Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools are under the domain of respective State and UT Governments. During COVID-19 Pandemic, Ministry of Education held continuous consultations with the States and UTs at various levels to assess the various aspects of the COVID-19  pandemic.  National  Council  of  Educational  Research  and  Training  (NCERT)  has conducted a survey in the month of July, 2020 with the help of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to understand the scenario of Online Learning of school students in COVID-19 pandemic situation.

(d) & (e) The Department of School Education and Literacy vide letter dated 4th May, 2021 has shared a comprehensive Covid Action plan with States/UTs and other stakeholders for mitigating the loss of learning. This Department has also developed an online module for compiling the data of Out of  School  Children  (OOSC)  identified  by  each  State/UT  and  their  mapping  with  Special  Training Centres  (STC)  on  the  PRABANDH  Portal  (http://samagrashiksha.in).   The  portal  requires  the concerned State/UT to validate the child wise information of the identified OOSC and STC uploaded by the concerned Block Resource Centre of the State for monitoring the progress of mainstreaming of OOSC. Also, Bridge Course Modules have been developed for bridging the learning gaps of Out of School Children studying in Special Training Centers (STC) under the provision of RTE Act, 2009.

Department of School Education and Literacy is implementing a centrally sponsored scheme of Samagra  Shiksha  which  is  an  integrated  scheme  of  school  education  covering  from  Pre-School  to Senior Secondary level. Samagra Shiksha has been aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020  in  order  to  ensure  inclusive  and  equitable,  quality  and  holistic  school  education.  The  major interventions,  across  all  levels  of  school  education,  proposed  under  the  scheme  are:  (i)  Universal Access including Infrastructure Development and Retention; (ii) Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, (iii) Gender and Equity; (iv) Inclusive Education; (v) Quality and Innovation; (vi) Financial support for Teacher Salary;  (vii) Digital initiatives; (viii) RTE Entitlements including uniforms, textbooks etc.; (ix) Support  for ECCE;  (x)  Vocational  Education;  (xi)  Sports  and  Physical  Education;  (xii) Strengthening of Teacher Education and Training; (xiii) Monitoring; (xiv) Programme Management; and (xv) National Component. Samagra Shiksha also has a clear focus on bridging and eliminating gender differences in enrolment, retention and quality of learning.

A  National  Mission  on  Foundational  Literacy  and  Numeracy  called  'National  Initiative  for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat)' has been launched by the Ministry of Education (MoE) on 5th July 2021 under the aegis of the centrally sponsored scheme of Samagra Shiksha. The National Mission lays down priorities and actionable agendas for States/UTs to achieve the goal of proficiency in foundational literacy and numeracy for every child by grade 3.

A  comprehensive  initiative  called  PM  eVIDYA  has  been  initiated  which  unifies  all  efforts related  to  digital/online/on-air  education  to  enable  multi-mode  access  to  education.  The  initiative includes, where work is in progress:

- DIKSHA the nation's digital infrastructure  for providing quality  e-content for school education in states/UTs:  and QR coded Energized Textbooks for all grades (one nation, one digital platform)
- One  earmarked  Swayam  Prabha  TV  channel  per  class  from  1  to  12  (one  class,  one channel)
- Extensive use of Radio, Community radio and CBSE Podcast- Shiksha Vani
- Special e-content for visually and hearing impaired developed on Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY) and in sign language on NIOS website/ YouTube

To address the gaps and/or loss  of  learning  among  students,  during  and  after  the  lockdown, National Council of Education Research & Training (NCERT) had prepared 'Alternative Academic Calendar', which is a week-wise learning plan for grades 1 to 12. It consists of interesting activities and challenges  related  to  topics/themes  in  the  syllabus.  It  maps  the  topics/themes  with  the  learning outcomes & facilitates teachers/parents to assess the progress in students' learning in a variety of ways

In  view  of  the  COVID-19  challenges  and  in  order  to  provide  continuous  professional development  opportunities  to  the  teachers,  this  Department  launched  the  NISHTHA  online  training programme  using  DIKSHA  platform  in  October  2020.  NISHTHA  online  training  has  also  been initiated  for  Elementary  level  teachers,  Secondary  level  teachers,  teachers  teaching  at  foundational level and for NIPUN Bharat.