National Education Policy 2020

The ability to read and write, and perform basic math, is essential for all future schooling and lifelong learning. There is no doubt that early literacy and numeracy are also correlated with a better quality of life, personal well-being, national stability, and prosperity.
NEP 2020 has therefore taken up the agenda to avert the learning crisis and help India become a global superpower by ensuring quality education to all students.

The MoE, Govt of India has launched the National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat) mission along with a detailed implementation guideline for the states to ensure that every child attains foundational literacy and numeracy by the end of Grade 3. For this, the learning outcomes have been defined for six years from Preschool to grade 3. It has also set the targets for each class from Balvatika onwards. The mission guidelines recommend shifting towards competency-based education and using school-based assessment for providing continuous guidance to teachers.

Teacher vacancies will be filled at the earliest, especially in disadvantaged areas and areas with large pupil-to-teacher ratios or high rates of illiteracy. A target of achieving a pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) of under 30:1 is set by NEP 2020.
To empower the teachers, a capacity development program for teachers and school heads, NISHTHA, FLN will be launched by the NCERT through DIKSHA online platform.

There will be an increased focus on foundational literacy and numeracy – and generally, on reading, writing, speaking, counting, arithmetic, and mathematical thinking – throughout the preparatory and middle school curriculum. A robust system of continuous formative/adaptive assessments will be developed to track and ensure each student’s learning.
Specific hours daily – and regular events over the year-on activities involving these subjects will be dedicated to encourage and enthuse students.

A robust IT system is recommended to be used for FLN Mission for big data analytics at the National, State, and School levels.
The FLN Guidelines also advocate engaging meaningfully with parents, families, and the community to create awareness among them also to engage them in the teaching-learning process of their children.