Lok Sabha Question No. 4880 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-23
Subject: Current Status of Implementation of NIPUN Bharat
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Janardan Singh Sigriwal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-4880 ANSWERED ON-23/03/2026

## Current Status of Implementation of NIPUN Bharat

4880. Shri Janardan Singh Sigriwal:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the current status of implementation of NIPUN Bharat with regard to achieving the target of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) for every child by the end of class 3 by 202627, in all districts of the country, especially in Bihar;
- (b)  the  extent  to  which  the  Government  is  tracking  individual  learning  progress  of  children  under NIPUN Bharat, especially for classes 1-3;
- (c) the details of the mechanisms put in place to ensure that children who are lagging behind receive targeted support; and
- (d) the details of the success achieved by the Government in this regard, particularly in the State of Bihar?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (d) : The Department of School Education & Literacy (DoSE&L), Ministry of Education (MoE) has launched a National Mission called ' National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat Mission (NBM)) ' on 5 th July, 2021 for ensuring that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) by the end of Grade 2. This Mission aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, 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  including  State  of  Bihar  are implementing the NBM.

Under the NBM, a range of systemic interventions have been undertaken and the following progress has been made across the country including the State of Bihar:

- (i) 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  (Balvatika, Anganwadi Centers (AWCs), at home, private play schools etc.), to ensure a smooth transition of children to Grade-I. It provides play based, age and developmentally appropriate learning experiences  in  a  joyful  and  stimulating  environment  leading  to  holistic  development  to  bolster  a child's pre-literacy, pre-numeracy, cognitive and social skills. This programme is being implemented across the country, including Bihar. From 2022-23 till date, over 4.2 crore students in around 8.9 lakh schools have benefitted. The number of beneficiary students from the Vidya Pravesh module in state of Bihar is tabulated below.
- (ii) To improve the learning outcomes at foundational stage, the National Curricular 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.
- (iii)  The Jaadui  Pitara (JP),  a  set  of  53  play-based  learning-teaching  materials  for  ages  3-8  was launched on 20 th February 2023. Available in 22 Indian languages, JP includes toys, puzzles, story cards, flashcards, and teacher handbooks. Its digital extension, the e-Jaadui Pitara , launched on 10 th February  2024,  offers  multilingual  stories,  activities,  songs  in  22  Indian  languages,  and AI-based botsKatha  Sakhi,  Teacher  Tara,  and  Parent  Tara -to  support  children,  teachers,  and  parents.  As envisaged in NEP 2020, these initiatives are an integral part of the foundational stage.
- (iv)  Primers (launched in March, 2024) have been developed in 121 local and tribal languages for FLN in mother tongues spoken by populations of at least 10,000. The details of Primers for the state of Bihar are tabulated below:
- (v) Lakshyas or Targets for FLN starting from the Balvatika-3 upto Grade-2, based on the learning outcomes have been developed on the basis of national and international research.
- (vi)  The  Government  of  India  conducts  periodic  large-scale  assessments,  to  measure  learning  and education outcomes across the country, through PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis  of  Knowledge  for  Holistic  Development)  Rashtriya  Sarvekshan,  which  is  conducted  by National Assessment Centre, PARAKH under the aegis of the Ministry of Education. The primary objective of this survey is to evaluate the learning competencies of students at the end of each of the educational  stages  i.e.  Foundational,  Preparatory,  and  Middle. The  latest  PARAKH  Rashtriya Sarvekshan  was  conducted  on  December  4,  2024.  A  comparative  analysis  of  State-wise  average scores at foundational stage during National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 and PRS 2024 reflects the depth and impact of NIPUN Bharat Mission.

|          | No. of Schools Implemented   | No. of Schools Implemented   | No. of Schools Implemented   | Total Students covered   | Total Students covered   | Total Students covered   |
|----------|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|
| State/UT | 2022-23                      | 2023-24                      | 2024-25                      | 2022-2023                | 2023-2024                | 2024- 2025               |
| Bihar    | 65,920                       | 67,657                       | 65,309                       | 20,00,000                | 15,23,411                | 12,95,231                |

| State   |   State- wise Primers | Name of Primers   | Scheduled/Non Scheduled Language   | Tribal/Non Tribal Language   |
|---------|-----------------------|-------------------|------------------------------------|------------------------------|
| Bihar   |                     2 | Maithili Malto    | Scheduled Non-Scheduled            | Non-Tribal Tribal            |

There is an improvement in learning achievements of the students reflecting the success of NIPUN Bharat Mission across the country. It also shows that the performance of children in Grade 3 in rural and  government  schools  is  better  than  urban  and  private  schools,  indicating  clear improvement in learning outcomes from previous survey. This can be accessed at https://dashboard.parakh.ncert.gov.in/en.

- (vii) The Holistic Progress Card (HPC) has also been introduced as a formative assessment tool to provide  a  multidimensional  view  of  student  progress.  It  goes  beyond  academics  to  include  cocurricular and socio-emotional development. Insights from these assessments guide evidence-based interventions, ensuring uniform progress across all regions.

Bridging social category gaps at all levels of school education is one of the major objectives of  the  Samagra  Shiksha  scheme.  The  Scheme  reaches  out  to  children  belonging  to  SocioEconomically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs). The scheme is implemented on principles of equity and universal access for all. Under Samagra Shiksha scheme, education is imparted with equitable access to the highest-quality education for all learners regardless of social or economic background. The  states/UTs  at  their  own  level  are  also  providing  additional,  contextual  Teaching  Learning Material.  Under  Samagra  Shiksha,  financial  support  is  provided  for  the  Learning  Enhancement Programme (LEP) for weaker students/lagging behind children including CwSN, in grades 6 to 12, for individualized learning interventions, as proposed by the States/UTs in their Annual Work Plan.

As informed by the State government of Bihar, they have conducted a state-level Baseline Survey in 2022 and Midline Achievement Survey of Grade 2 students in 2025 across all 38 districts. The progress between the 2022 Baseline and the 2025 Midline Achievement Survey for Grade 2 in Bihar  highlights  a  clear  improvement  in  foundational  learning  outcomes,  with  the  proportion  of children able to fluently read grade-level text increasing from 27% to 42%, and those able to solve single-digit addition problems rising from 61% to 69%, reflecting the early positive impact of stateled FLN initiatives under NIPUN Bharat.

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