State of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy in India Report
Recently, the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister has released the report on the status of Basic Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) in India.
The report underscores the importance of the early education years in the overall development of the child.
Foundational Literacy and Numeracy: FLN refers to basic skills in reading, writing, and math. It also refers to the ability to read and understand a basic text and perform simple mathematical calculations by the end of Class 3.
The National Policy on Education (2020) and the ‘National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy: NIPUN’ India guidelines also highlight the importance of FLN.
An index on the overall status of FLN in children under ten years of age was presented.
The index consists of five columns:
- Educational infrastructure, access to education, basic health, learning outcomes and governance.
Recommendations:
- Increasing budget allocation with investments focused on FLN.
- Alignment of coordination between Ministry of Women and Child Development and Education (Curriculum, appropriate classes etc.) To do basic literacy and numeracy.
- Implementation of a two Anganwadi worker model, with one worker dedicated to the education component. Restructuring the curriculum for elementary grades in the current COVID scenario.
Source – The Hindu
