The National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN) Bharat Mission has been launched by the Ministry of Education. This has been aimed to meet the learning needs of children aged 3-9.
Highlights
This initiative was launched as part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. This policy aims to make way for reforms which are transformative in nature in all higher education systems and national schools across the country. This guideline replaces the National Education Policy (NPE) created in the year 1986.
Objective of NIPUN Bharat Mission
The objective of this scheme is to create a supportive environment for the universal acquisition of basic literacy and numeracy skills for all children to achieve desired literacy and numeracy skills by the end of third grade by the year 2026-27.
It focuses on accessing and maintaining early school children. Build teacher abilities. Development of high quality and diverse resources and learning materials for students and teachers. It then tracks each child’s learning outcomes achievement progress.
Implementation of NIPUN Bharat Mission
Department of School Education and Literacy is implementing the NIPUN Bharat. With the support of the Centrally Assisted Samagra Shiksha Program, a five-tier implementation mechanism will be established at the nation-state block school level in all states and UTs. The Samagra Shiksha program has started. It consists of three existing programs which are Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Teacher Education (TE). The purpose of this program is to provide comprehensive education in schools from preschool to XII.
A special package of basic literacy skills under NISHTHA which stands for National Initiative for School Heads and Teachers Holistic Advancement has been developed by NCERT. This year, about 25,00,000 teachers who teach from kindergarten to primary education are being trained at the foundation. NISHTHA is a program which will help in capacity building and thus will help in improving the quality of education levels in school through various integrated teacher training programmes.
Outcomes which are expected
Basic skills allow children to stay in class, which reduces early graduation and increases the rate of transition from primary to secondary education. Activity-based learning and the learning environment that enables it improves the quality of education. Innovative teaching methods and experience-based learning are used in classroom transactions to make learning a fun and engaging activity. Intensive development of teachers empowers teachers and enables more autonomy in pedagogical choices. Overall development of children by focusing on various areas of development such as motor and physical development, reading and math skills, socio-emotional development, life skills and cognitive development. This can have a positive impact on later life outcomes and employment. Concentrating on this stage also benefits socio-economically disadvantaged groups, ensuring access to fair, comprehensive and quality education, as almost all children attend preschool.