Lok Sabha Question No. 203 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-11-25
Subject: Lack of Foundation Skills, Basic Knowledge and Skills among Children
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Mani A

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.203

ANSWERED ON 25/11/2024

## Lack of Foundation Skills, Basic Knowledge and Skills among Children

203  Shri Mani A:

Will the Minister of Education be pleased to state:

- (a) whether it is a fact that many primary students have limited foundational numeracy skills and also lack basic knowledge and skills, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (b) the steps taken by the Government in this regard;
- (c)  whether  the  Government  intends  to  reassess  the  teaching  methods  and  curriculum,  if  so,  the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (d) whether the lack of proper training to teachers affected education of children drastically;
- (e) whether the Government provides more trainings to teachers and evaluate their performance by holding regular test to improve the quality of education given by them; and
- (f)  the  details  of  other  steps  taken  by  the  Government  in  order  to  provide  quality  education  in schools?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

## (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

(a)  to  (f):  To  evaluate  children's  progress  and  learning  competencies,  Department  of  School Education  and  Literacy  (DoSE&L),  Ministry  of  Education  has  been  implementing  a  rolling programme of sample based National Achievement Survey (NAS) aimed at classes III, V, VIII and X with an interval of  three years. It acts as an indicator of the health of the education system, so as to take appropriate steps for remedial actions at different levels. About 34 lakh students of 1.18 lakh schools  of  720  districts  from  both  rural  and  urban  areas  were  assessed  from  Government  and Private  Schools.  Further,  National,  State  and  District  report  card  of  NAS  21  demonstrating  the performance  of  students  from  each  type  of  schools  have  been  released  in  public  domain  on 25.05.2022 at http://nas.gov.in.

PARAKH (Performance  Assessment,  Review,  and  Analysis  of  Knowledge  for  Holistic Development)  has  been  setup  under National  Council  of  Educational  Research  and  Training (NCERT) by the DoSE&L . It has conducted State Educational Achievement Survey (SEAS) 2023. The  primary  objective  of  this  survey  is  to  evaluate  the  learning  competencies  of  students  in Foundational Literacy, Foundational Numeracy, Language and Mathematics at the end of each of the  educational  stages  i.e.  Foundational,  Preparatory,  and  Middle.  The  SEAS-23  has  included blocks  in  the  sample  to  cover  of  students  to  understand  the  learning  gaps  at  the  block  level,  a strategic  shift  from  district.  Approximately  8.4  million  students  and  6  lakh  teachers,  of  4  lakh schools of 6416 educational blocks were assessed in SEAS-23.

The  Department  of  School  Education  and  Literacy  (DoSE&L)  is  implementing  an integrated centrally sponsored scheme for School Education- Samagra Shiksha since 2018-19.The scheme of Samagra Shiksha has been aligned with National Education Policy, 2020 with focus on improving  the  quality  of  education  through  various  measures  such  as  introduction  of  new pedagogical  and  curricular  structure  (5+3+3+4),  Early  Childhood  Care  and  Education  and Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, among others and covers the entire continuum of Education from 3 years of Balvatika (preschool) to class 12.

A National Mission called 'National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat)' has been launched on 5 th July, 2021 for ensuring that every child in the country attains foundational literacy and numeracy by the end of Grade 2. This  Mission  has  been  set  up  under  the  aegis  of  the  centrally  sponsored  scheme  of  Samagra Shiksha- an integrated scheme for School Education.  Under Samagra Shiksha, all 36 States/Union Territories are implementing NIPUN-Bharat Mission.

The National Education Policy (NEP 2020) emphasizes on developing the relevant concepts and attaining  requisite  competencies  to  facilitate  optimal  learning  when  children  start  schooling. Keeping in focus the holistic development, a 3 Months Play Based 'School Preparation Module and Guidelines' for Grade I named 'Vidya Pravesh' was launched on 29 th July, 2021. The goal of Vidya Pravesh  programme  is  to  promote  school  preparedness  in  all  children  coming  to  Grade-  I  from diverse backgrounds, to ensure a smooth transition of children to Grade-I, to provide play based, age and developmentally appropriate learning experiences in a joyful and stimulating environment leading  to  holistic  development.  The  12-week  module  contains  developmentally  appropriate instructions  for  the  children  entering  Grade  1  to  bolster  a  child's  pre-literacy,  pre-numeracy, cognitive and social skills. All States/UTs are implementing Vidya Pravesh programme.

To improve the Learning Outcomes in Foundational Stage (3 years of Balvatika and Grade 1  &  2),  the  NationalCurricular  Framework  for  Foundational  Stage  (NCF-FS)  was  released  on 20 th October, 2022 providing a structure for the syllabus, Training of Teachers, Learning Teaching Material (LTM), etc. Accordingly, Jaadui Pitara for Balvatika (3 years of preschool) and Books for Grade 1 & 2 have been provided by NCERT for use by States/UTs.

Jaadui Pitara -a Collection of learning- teaching material for 3 to 6 years age group has been developed  and  launched  on  20 th February,  2023.  The  Jaadui  Pitara  is  a  box  having  53  Learning Teaching Materials (LTM) for the foundational stage. It has toys, games, puzzles, puppets, posters, flashcards, story cards, play book set for students and handbooks for teachers.

The  e-Jaadui  Pitara  (e-JP)  was  launched  on  10 th February  2024.  The  e-JP  is  an  app  and website  with  integration  of  the  latest  technology  with  play-based  pedagogy  and  a  way  to disseminate the learning of Jaadui Pitara and transcend it beyond the four walls of the classroom.

In order to provide continuous learning opportunities to the teachers, NISHTHA (National Initiative  for  School  Heads'  and  Teachers'  Holistic  Advancement)  online  was  launched  using DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing) platform in October 2020 to reach out to elementary teachers and its further extension to all level of teachers. It includes multiple approaches for  interaction  i.e.,  Text  Modules  along  with  videos.  All  these  content  are  aligned  to  the  three developmental goals and learning outcomes of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN).

To  prepare  an  initial  cadre  of  high  quality  ECCE  Teachers  in  Anganwadis,  NISHTHAECCE and  FLN  have  been  launched  in  July,  2022.  It  is  aimed  towards  sensitization  of  master trainers on developmentally appropriate pedagogy for holistic development of children which will contribute  for  enhancing  quality  education  at  Foundational  level.  These  cater  to  both  training  of Anganwadi workers and preschool teachers.

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