Lok Sabha Question No. 2566 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-17
Subject: Progress of NIPUN Programme
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Krishna Prasad Tenneti

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2566

ANSWERED ON 17/03/2025

## Progress of NIPUN Programme

2566. Shri Krishna Prasad Tenneti:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a)  the  percentage  of  children  with  Foundational  Literacy  and  Numeracy  (FLN)  Skills  in  the country, State and district-wise for Andhra Pradesh, especially in Bapatla Lok Sabha Constituency;

(b) the total budget outlay for the National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN) programme and increase/decrease over the last financial year;

(c) the details of all the indicators under the NIPUN program and their progress since the inception of  the  scheme,  State  and  district-wise  for  Andhra  Pradesh,  especially  in  Bapatla  Lok  Sabha Constituency;

(d) the target year fixed by the Government for saturation of the scheme and achieving universal foundational literacy and numeracy skills; and

(e) whether there is any mechanism exists to ensure corrective action for States falling behind and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

(a)  to  (e):  As  per  the  recommendation of NEP  2020, a dedicated mission 'National  Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy' (NIPUN) Bharat Mission was launched by the Government on 5 th July 2021, for ensuring that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy by Grade 2 by 2026. 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  NIPUNBharat Mission.

The Ministry of Education conducted a large-scale Foundational Learning Study (FLS) in March,  2022,  through  the  National  Council  of  Educational  Research  and  Training  (NCERT)  to collect  reliable  and  valid  data  about  Grade  3  students'  abilities  in  foundational  literacy  and numeracy  and  assess  the  extent  of  learning  outcomes  being  achieved. The  report  cards  for  all States/UTs may be accessed at https://nipunbharat.education.gov.in/fls/sList.aspx.   The percentage of students meeting the global proficiency level in basic literacy and numeracy in Andhra Pradesh as compared to National Average is given below:

| Subject   | Percentage of Students meeting Global Proficiency Level   | Percentage of Students meeting Global Proficiency Level   |
|-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|
| Subject   | Andhra Pradesh                                            | National Average                                          |
| English   | 36                                                        | 54                                                        |
| Telugu    | 46                                                        | 45                                                        |
| Numeracy  | 53                                                        | 52                                                        |

Further, 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.

The budget outlay under NIPUN-Bharat Mission for the year 2023-24 and 2024-25 are as under:

Rs. In crores

| Financial Year   |   National Outlay |
|------------------|-------------------|
| 2023-24          |           2685.28 |
| 2024-25          |           3029.26 |

Source: PRABANDH Portal

The  various  indicators  under  NIPUN  Bharat  Mission  are  3  Months  Play  Based  'School Preparation Module', Development of Learning Teaching Material (LTM), Training of Teachers, Age-appropriate workbooks for FLN learners, innovative pedagogical approaches like toy-based learning and storytelling etc. For effective implementation of NIPUN Bharat Mission following initiatives have been taken and the same are being implemented by all States/UTs including State of Andhra Pradesh:-

- A 3 Months Play Based 'School Preparation Module and Guidelines' for Grade  I named 'Vidya Pravesh' was launched on 29th July, 2021.The Vidya Pravesh program was implemented in 8,93,866 government and government-aided schools in 2024-25, benefiting more than 10 million students.

· JaaduiPitara (JP), meaning Magic Box is a collection of Learning Teaching Material (LTM) for 3 to 6 years age group. It was launched on 20th February, 2023. It is a box having 53 LTM for the  foundational  stage  like  toys,  games,  puzzles,  puppets,  posters,  flashcards,  story  cards,  play book  set  for  students,  and  handbooks  for  teachers.  The  user  manual  and  all  the  activity  cards, picture reading posters, story cards, and instructions of JP have been translated into 22 languages.

· The e-JaaduiPitara (e-JP), an app, was launched on 10.02.2024. This is in addition to the JaduiPitara earlier released which has physical components as LTM for children. e-JP has been developed as an exemplar of content that is needed in any school for the Foundational Stage.

· In  order  to  provide  continuous  learning  opportunities  to  the  pre-school  practitioners, 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. Over 15 lakh  teachers  have  been  trained  under  NISHTHA  FLN  &  ECCE  (  Early  Childhood  Care  and Education).

· Primers  in  child  friendly  manner  have  been  developed  in  104  local  languages  for  FLN learning in mother tongue. These are the languages spoken by at least 10000 population.

· National Curricular Framework for Foundational Stage (NCF-FS) covering children 3 to 8 years was Launched on 20th October 2022. It Provides guidance for curriculum preparation and teacher training.

A  new  concise  format  for  monitoring  of  NIPUN , NIPUN  Bharat  Mission  Planning  and Implementation Template (NBMPIT), was developed and shared with all States/UTs to understand the  progress  at  a  glance  and  for  better  monitoring.  The  progress  is  also  discussed  in  Review meetings held with States/UTs from time to time.

PARAKH (Performance  Assessment,  Review,  and  Analysis  of  Knowledge  for  Holistic Development)  has  been  setup  underNational  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.