Foundational Learning Study (FLS)

In News: A nationwide study has been carried out jointly by the Union Ministry of Education and the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

• With a sample size of 86,000 students in 10,000 schools, the study — the largest ever in terms of scale at the foundational level
• Assessment done: Literacy skills of students in 20 languages including English.
• Methodology: Unlike the National Achievement Survey (NAS), which evaluates learning outcomes of students in Classes III, V, VIII and X through a test based on multiple choice questions (MCQs) every three years, the findings of the were based on one-to-one interviews with each participant.
• Interactions of the students with the field investigators were standardised to remove discrepancy.

Depending on their performance, the students were categorised into four groups:

• Those who lacked the most basic knowledge and skills
• Those who had limited knowledge and skills
• Those who had developed sufficient knowledge and skills
• Those who had developed superior knowledge and skills.

Key Findings:

• 37 per cent of students enrolled in Class III have “limited” foundational numeracy skills, such as identifying numbers, while 11 per cent “lack the most basic knowledge and skills”.
• While 15 per cent lacked “basic skills” in English, 30 per cent were found to have “limited skills”, 21 per cent had sufficient skills, while 34 per cent had fairly superior skills.
• At the national level, 11 per cent did not have the basic grade-level skills; 37 per cent had limited skills; 42 per cent had sufficient skills; and 10 per cent had superior skills.
• In numeracy, Tamil Nadu, at 29 per cent, had the maximum number of students who could not complete the most basic grade-level tasks, followed by Jammu and Kashmir (28 per cent), Assam, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat (18 per cent).
• Among other Indian languages, the proportion of students who lacked basic skills was: 17 per cent in Marathi, 20 per cent in Bengali, 17 per cent in Gujarati, 17 per cent in Malayalam, 42 per cent in Tamil, and 25 per cent in Urdu.

Utility of the Findings:

• The findings will set the baseline for NIPUN Bharat (National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy), the Centre’s scheme to improve foundational learning.

National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat)

• Aims to achieve universal foundational literacy and numeracy in primary classes and to ensure that all children attain grade-level competencies in reading, writing and numeracy.
• Lays down priorities and actionable agendas for States/UTs to achieve the goal of proficiency in foundational literacy and numeracy for every child by grade 3.
• Detailed guidelines have been developed for implementation of the NIPUN Bharat Mission which includes the Lakshya or Targets for Foundational Literacy and Numeracy starting from the Balvatika upto age group 9.

Source: The Indian Express

Previous Year Question

Q.1) ‘SWAYAM’, an initiative of the Government of India, aims at (2016)

1. promoting the Self Help Groups in rural areas
2. providing financial and technical assistance to young start-up entrepreneurs
3. promoting the education and health of adolescent girls
4. providing affordable and quality education to the citizens for free