Lok Sabha Question No. 1303 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-25
Subject: Learnig loss Due to Pandemic
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Sisir Kumar Adhikari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1303 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25th July, 2022

## Learning loss Due to Pandemic

1303.  SHRI SISIR KUMAR ADHIKARI:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether there is any proposal of the Government to compensate the learning loss of children on opening the schools and get children back in person for learning; and
- (b) if so, the details of the policy to regulate the children from online to fully offline mode of education?

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

(a)  and  (b):  Due  to  the  spread  of  the  COVID-19  pandemic,  schools  in  States  and Union  Territories  (UT)  were  closed  as  a  precautionary  measure  to  protect  the students.  This  has  interrupted  the  learning  of  students  from  pre-school  to  grade 12. During  the  pandemic,  the  Ministry  of  Education  has  held  several  consultations with the States and UTs to assess the various aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The  following  initiatives  have  been  taken  by  the  Government  of  India  to compensate learning loss of children:

-  To address the gaps and/or loss of learning among students, during and after the  lockdown, National Council of Education Research & Training (NCERT) has 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. Also links for e-resources have been provided for those learners who have access to the internet. NCERT has also developed bridge course modules for out-of-school children including various activities which are helpful for mitigating the learning loss and the States/UTs have  also  been  requested  to  prepare  and  implement  School  Readiness Module/Bridge  Course  in  classrooms  for  initial  one  or  two  months  for  each grade.

-  National Initiative for  Proficiency  in  Reading  with  Understanding  and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat) has been launched under Samagra Shiksha on 5th  July  2021,  for  ensuring  that  every  child  in  the  country  necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) by the end of Grade 3. 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.
-  A 3-month Play Based 'School Preparation Module' named  'Vidya Pravesh' has been developed, and launched on 29 th  July, 2021. This can be adapted or adopted  by  States  and  UTs  as  per  their  need.  The  module  is  essentially around 12 weeks of developmentally appropriate instruction for the children entering  of  Grade  I  to  bolster  a  child's  pre-literacy,  pre-numeracy,  cognitive and social skills.
-  The  Government  of  India  has  been  implementing  a  programme  of  sample based National Achievement Survey (NAS) aimed at classes III, V, VIII and X with  a  cycle  period  of  three  years.  The  last  round  of  NAS  was  held  on November 12, 2021 across India including UTs of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep covering students 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.
-  To  mitigate  the  learning  loss  and  to  ensure  continuity  of  education,  this Department has shared a comprehensive Learning Recovery Plan with all the states and Union Territories on 01.02.2022 describing the actions/ activities to
- be undertaken by all the stakeholders, indicative annual calendar of activities, existing interventions which can be utilized and additional support with funds as a one-time measure. The weblink for the same is https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload\_files/mhrd/files/lpr\_2023.pdf.
-  A  Standard  Operating  Procedure/  Guidelines  for  reopening  of  School  has been  released  by  the  Ministry  of  Education  in  the  light  of  subsequent guidelines  of  MHA  and  MoHFW  from  time  to  time  regarding  opening  up  of various activities, the SOP contains preventive measures to spread of Covid19  and  the  extensive  vaccination  coverage  of  people  above  the  age  of  18 years including teaching and non-teaching staff working in schools/education institutions. The guidelines have been prepared after consultation with states about the reopening of schools. These guidelines contain all SoP for attending classes. The weblink for the same is https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload\_files/mhrd/files/Modifications\_SoP. pdf.

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