Lok Sabha Question No. 3911 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-28
Subject: Language Improvement Programme
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Maddila  Gurumoorthy

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  3911 TO BE ANSWERED ON 28 th  MARCH, 2022

## Language Improvement Programme

## 3911.  SHRI MADDILA GURUMOORTHY:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government plans to take initiatives in vocabulary improvement of children, similar to Language  Improvement  programme  (LIP)  under  Jagananna  Vidya  Kanuka  (JVK)  implemented  by Andhra Pradesh;

(b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and

(c) the steps taken by the Government to ensure filling of learning gaps among children to enhance their multilingual capacity?

## A N S W E R

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

(a) to (c):  Department School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, Government of India has launched a 100 days Nation Wide Reading Campaign called Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat starting from 1st January 2022 so that each child learns to read with comprehension, in a joyful manner, as per the vision of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Children studying in Balvatika to Grade 8 are part of this campaign. Detailed guideline has been shared with class wise weekly calendar of activities which are to be done by children with the help of teachers, parents, peers, siblings or other family members. The link of the guidelines is https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload\_files/mhrd/files/Guidelines\_on\_Reading\_Campaign.pdf . The  reading  campaign  aims  to  have  participation  of  all  stakeholders  at  national  and  state  level including children, teachers, parents, community, educational administrators etc.

National Education  Policy  (NEP)  2020,  while  deliberating  on  language  education  in school underscores  the  need  for  recognising  and  promoting  multilingualism  as  a  path  to  realising  the fundamental aims of education and schooling. In this regard, Bhasha Sangam has been launched by the  NCERT  which  enables  learners  to  learn  and  use  100  sentences  in  the  22  language  aiming  to promote  language  learning  and  understanding  others  through  schooling.  The  guidelines  of  Bhasha Sangam can be accessed at https://ncert.nic.in/bs-2021.php

Further,  National  Initiative  for  School  Heads  and  Teachers  for  Holistic  Advancement  NISHTHA 3.0 has been launched to train  the  teachers  from  ECCE  to  grade  V.  It  has  12  training modules including a module on Multilingual teaching in foundational years, which also covers usage of mother tongue / home language in teaching.

In  addition,  The  Department  of  School  Education  and  Literacy,  Ministry  of  Education, Government  of  India  has  launched  the  National  Mission  on  Foundational  Literacy  and  Numeracy called  National  Initiative  for  Proficiency  in  Reading  with  Understanding  and  Numeracy  (NIPUN Bharat) on 5th July 2021 under the aegis of Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha.

The mission aims to achieve universal foundational literacy and numeracy in primary classes and to ensure that all children attain grade level competencies in reading, writing and numeracy. The 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.

Detailed  guidelines  have  been  developed  for  implementation  of  the  NIPUN  Bharat  Mission which  includes  the  Lakshya  or  Targets  for  Foundational  Literacy  and  Numeracy  starting  from  the Balvatika  upto  age  group  9.  The  guidelines  for  implementation  of  the  NIPUN  Bharat  mission  has been uploaded on the Department's website under the link mentioned below:

https://dsel.education.gov.in/sites/default/files/NIPUN\_BHARAT\_GUIDELINES\_EN.pdf

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