NEP: Principle-2

According the highest priority to achieving Foundational Literacy and Numeracy by all students by Grade 3;

Instead of deliberating on whether or not the government will be able to implement the policy, we, who are interested in the betterment of education in the country need to collectively focus on finding ways to make the policy beneficial for our students, our teachers, and our schools.

In the NEP principle Foundational Literacy and Numeracy refers to building adequate literacy and numeracy skills during the foundational stage of school education. These are the first 5 years of education up to class 2 when the child is between 3 – 7 years. Since the majority of the brain development happens during this time, cognitive abilities in language and mathematics must be developed during these years.

In the policy the intent of the government to recruit and continuously train a large number of teachers to ensure a pupil-teacher ratio of 30:1 is also mentioned. Now Private schools may face challenges to recruit and retain good teachers. To become a preferred employer, private schools will need to provide better salaries, work environment, and employee benefits. Two explicitly mentioned new aspects of the policy are: Emphasis on mathematical thinking during the foundational years.

Advocacy of continuous formative and adaptive assessment to individualize learning “A 3- month school preparation module” for all grade 1 students created by NCERT and SCERTs is also suggested.

In a progressive move the policy allows schools to introduce and implement structured programs for peer-tutoring and recruiting volunteers to assist teachers. what are the school’s going to do to improve the quality of foundation literacy and numeracy in our country?

The aim of education in ancient India was not just the acquisition of knowledge as preparation for life in this world, or life beyond schooling, but for the complete realization and liberation of the self. World-class institutions of ancient India such as Takshashila, Nalanda,Vikramshila, Vallabhi , set the highest standards of multidisciplinary teaching and research and hosted scholars and students from across backgrounds and countries

The debate currently raging on about NEP’s recommendation on using mother tongue and local languages as the medium of instruction in primary schools, is linked to foundational learning inextricably.

It would be erroneous on our part to see this through the lens of language politics or put it in terms of ambitious English-medium education versus local-language instruction.

The foundational learning crisis gets intensified when early learners just entering the system suddenly find themselves in an environment where learning happens in a language that has no similarity with what they use at home. There is now enormous evidence that instruction in a familiar language works much better in the early years of education than an unfamiliar language, especially English.

So, what can schools do? Especially the schools that are located in small towns and villages of India?

My suggestion is that they should be provided scaffolded support. Learning starts with what the individual student already knows and can do. From this point, the teacher provides instruction and scaffolded support (breaking learning up into chunks and providing a concrete structure for each.) aimed at moving the student along a developmental continuum to new literacy learning and growing independence.

Teachers should respond to the diverse cultural, linguistic, academic, and personal learning needs of the students by artfully tailoring their instruction to build on each student’s strengths and interests. Differentiated teaching strategies, resources, topics, and supports help to ensure that all students have a point of entry and a successful journey from their current level of understanding towards new skills, strategies, and competencies that will equip them to handle increasingly complex texts and literacy/numeracy activities.

Also, students are motivated to learn when they encounter interesting and meaningful texts on topics that matter to them. Teachers must capitalize on the natural curiosity and social nature of early learners by offering learning activities that require collaboration, problem solving, and a search for new information, new ideas, and alternatives.

Successful foundation learning in early years is a team effort, requiring the support of the whole learning community – including teachers at all grade levels, school administrators, support staff, the board, parents, and community members. It takes a whole school community to help early learners become skilled and confident readers, writers, talkers, listeners, and thinkers who can use literacy and numeracy to enhance their own lives and the lives of others.

The aim must be for India to have an education system by 2040 that is second to none, with equitable access to the highest-quality education for all learners regardless of social or economic background.