Analysis of Yojana Magazine: NIPUN Bharat Mission

Relevance

”GS 2: Education, Government Policies & Interventions”

Introduction

• The Department of School Education and Literacy 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.
• The Mission Guidelines lays down priorities and actionable agendas for States and UTs to achieve the goal of proficiency in foundational literacy and numeracy for every child by grade 3.

Areas of Assessment

As per the NIPUN Bharat implementation guidelines, assessment during the foundational learning can be broadly categorized into two major areas, namely:

1. 1. School-Based Assessment (SBA) through qualitative observation based on performance of the child in a multitude of experiences and activities.
   2. Large-scale standardised assessment for assessment of the processes and functioning of the educational systems (such as NAS, SAS, and Third-Party Assessments). The assessment tools commonly used in conducting large scale assessment studies are multiple choice questions (MCQ) and constructed responses are usually avoided to bring in objectivity in the process.

What is National Achievement Survey (NAS)?

• National Achievement Survey (NAS) is a nationally representative large-scale survey of students’ learning undertaken by the Ministry of Education, Government of India.
• NAS gives a system-level reflection on the effectiveness of school education. Findings help compare the performance across the spectrum and across the population in order to find the desirable direction for improvements.
• These assessments are a mechanism to gauge how well learning is happening in their state, districts, and blocks.
• In this regard, the National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 has been carried out for assessing learning outcome of children in Grade III.

What is NISHTHA 3.0?

• It is a specialized National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA 3.0).
• It is for the foundational literacy and numeracy covering about 25 lakh teachers at the primary level across all states and UTs.
• It has been launched in September 2021.

How NEP 2020 sets Target for NIPUN Bharat

• One of the major recommendations of NEP 2020 is the emphasis on the universal acquisition of foundational skills by all children at the end of Grade III.
• The policy clearly states that until we take urgent steps for improving foundational learning, the whole policy will become irrelevant.
• In order to address the above challenges and achieve the goal of attaining foundational literacy as envisaged by NEP, the Department of School Education and Literacy has launched a National mission namely ‘NIPUN Bharat’ on 5 July 2021.
• The vision of the NIPUN Bharat Mission is to create an enabling environment to ensure the universal acquisition of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) so that every child achieves the desired learning competencies in reading, writing, and numeracy at the end of Grade III in the next five years.

Grades Covered by NIPUN Bharat

• The mission covers the learning needs of children in the age group of 3 to 9 years.
• Ir will create a strong linkage and smooth transition between the pre-school stage and Grade I.
• National Curriculum framework for ECCE being developed by NCERT will be followed by both Anganwadis and Pre-primary schools to ensure a smooth transition to Grade I.
• The NIPUN Bharat Mission will be executed across the nation through a five-tier implementation mechanism including the National State-District-Block-School level.

Emphasis on Holistic Development of Learners

• NIPUN Bharat Mission has been envisioned to make learning Holistic, Integrated, Inclusive, Enjoyable, and Engaging.
• Play and Activity based learning, comprising of alphabets, languages, numbers, counting, colours, shapes, indoor and outdoor play, puzzles and logical thinking, problem-solving, drawing, painting and other visual art, craft, drama, puppetry, music, and movement are going to be an integral part of innovative pedagogies being adopted for NIPUN Bharat Mission.
• The Mission keeps in mind the underlying theme of NEP 2020 and focuses on the holistic development of learners.
• Three developmental goals:

• • Developmental Goal 1: Children maintain good health and well-being
  • Developmental Goal 2: Children become effective communicators
  • Developmental Goal 3: Children become involved learners and connect with their immediate environment.

Conclusion

The time is now ripe for every citizen to understand the importance of foundational learning and participate wholeheartedly in the endeavours to make NIPUN Bharat Mission a grand and sustainable success.

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