To draw a first-hand understanding of students’ learning levels at the foundation learning stage, which is till grade 3 level, the Ministry of Education (MoE) will be conducting a ‘foundational learning study’. The study aims to set up benchmarks for reading with comprehension in 22 Indian languages.
The foundation learning study will be conducted across all states and union territories by the NCERT over four days from March 23 to 26, 2022, in all sampled schools. Approximately 10,000 schools and one lakh students are expected to participate in the study.
The objectives of the foundational learning study include conducting a large-scale assessment of the foundational learning of grade 3 students to establish a baseline for the NIPUN Bharat mission, to establish reading proficiency benchmarks for fluency with comprehension for each of the languages being assessed under the study, to provide the data for sustainable development goals (SDG), covering aspects of foundational literacy and numeracy.
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has highlighted that “the ability to read, write, and perform basic operations with numbers, is a necessary foundation and an indispensable prerequisite for all future schooling and lifelong learning”. The dimensions of learning can be manifold, but the basic ability to read with comprehension, writing and an understanding of the basic numeracy concepts (such as numbers, patterns etc.) relate to core learning goals at the foundational stage. Therefore, focusing on ‘learning achievement’ in the foundational years is essential to empower learners with capabilities to make their subsequent learning experiences more meaningful and absorbing.
Ministry of Education (MoE) has launched the ‘National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy’ (NIPUN Bharat ) mission to provide the roadmap for strengthening the domain of foundational learning at the national level.
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MoE to benchmark reading with comprehension in 22 Indian languages through ‘foundational learning study’
The foundation learning study will be conducted across all states and union territories by the NCERT over a period of four days from March 23 to 26, 2022 in all sampled schools, approximately 10,000 schools and one lakh students are expected to participate.
