Latest news with #NIPUN
Time of India
11-07-2025
- Climate
- Time of India
Their uniforms soaked in rain, but classes go on — in open corridors at this Noida school
Noida: In the heart of Noida's Chhijarsi, over 1,200 students of classes 6 to 8 at a govt-run composite school on Friday sat on wet concrete floors, huddled in the open corridor, their uniforms soaked through amid the morning shower. The school, which has only 11 classrooms—eight of them dedicated to primary students—has no space left to accommodate the upper primary section. So, through rain, humidity and heat, students have no choice but to sit in the narrow passageway. You Can Also Check: Noida AQI | Weather in Noida | Bank Holidays in Noida | Public Holidays in Noida "On dry days, it's unbearably hot and humid. But when it rains, it feels like punishment," said a teacher at the school. "As the corridors are built at ground level, mud and water flow right in when it rains heavily." For the students, it's a daily challenge. "I have only one uniform. If it gets wet, I have to wear a soggy one again the next day," said a Class 8 student. Teachers say class sizes range from 40 to 60 students, and despite the difficult conditions, attendance remains remarkably high. "Even on rainy days, nearly 1,000 students turn up. Their enthusiasm for learning is incredible," the teacher said. The school, though recognised under the govt's NIPUN initiative and awarded for its high enrolment rates, has struggled to provide a basic learning environment for years. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Why seniors are rushing to get this Internet box – here's why! Techno Mag Learn More Undo In Oct 2023, after a TOI report highlighted how students of the composite school were attending classes in open ground under trees, it received a Rs 1.5 crore grant through CSR for the construction of an additional 12 classrooms. Work began in Feb but could not be completed before the monsoon. "The capacity of the existing classrooms isn't enough to accommodate everyone. We've even had to admit fewer students this academic year," the principal said. Previously, enrolment was closer to 1,500 students. District officials say construction should be completed by Aug. "The CSR-funded building is expected to be ready soon. The department is monitoring progress closely," basic education officer Rahul Panwar said. A groundwater harvesting system, also under construction, remains unfinished.
The Hindu
08-07-2025
- General
- The Hindu
NIPUN Haryana: From foundations to flight
Imagine a classroom where kids stumble over simple words or can't add two numbers together. For years, this has been the sobering reality for millions of children across India, leaving them lost before they even had a chance to dream big. This educational crisis threatened not only individual futures but also our nation's progress. The COVID-19 pandemic only deepened this crisis, amplifying fears of irreversible learning loss. When the National Education Policy 2020 highlighted foundational literacy and numeracy (reading, writing, and basic math), Haryana took measurable steps in alignment. In July 2021, following the launch of the National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN) Bharat mission, the State launched the NIPUN Haryana mission with a promise: that every child in a government school would gain the reading, writing, and Math skills. Four years later, the results of the sustained implementation of the mission have made its visibility significant at the national level. From early learning to Class 5 From the beginning, NIPUN Haryana mission brought preschool called Balvatika III into over 8,600 primary schools, enrolling more than 86,000 five-year-olds in 2024-25. Early learning is sought to be made fun through the use of tools such as learning kits, rhymes, and the Vidya Pravesh school readiness program. The state has also set up 119 model Balvatikas, one in every educational block, to serve as examples for high-quality early learning. The mission extends from these early learners all the way up to Grade 5, covering children between the ages of 5 and 11. Children receive fun, easy-to-use textbooks and workbooks each year, along with structured teaching and learning materials designed with inputs from the National Curriculum Framework and adapted for Haryana, making learning feel less like a chore and more like an adventure. Over 35,000 teachers have been trained face-to-face for over 140 hours, learning new ways to make lessons stick. They're not left on their own afterward either. Online asynchronous learning courses on platforms like DIKSHA keep them updated, and monthly meetups called Shala Sangams let them swap ideas with peers. Then there are the 'mentors', over 1,500 of them, who drop into classrooms each month. They watch, guide, and cheer teachers on, using a customised 'NIPUN Haryana' app to log what they see. Some 7,400 school visits and more than 1 lakh spot assessments of students a month have been logged, providing valuable feedback for improvement. So, how do we know it's working? In September 2024, a large-scale third-party NIPUN Haryana evaluation designed in alignment with international research standards assessed 22,708 students across 1,187 government schools. The findings revealed both gains and clear pathways for targeted improvement. Students in Grades 2 and 3 displayed strong proficiency in listening comprehension, sentence reading, and reading comprehension, with Grade 3 students particularly excelling in core numeracy competencies such as number identification, addition, and multiplication. At the same time, the assessment flagged areas requiring further attention: reading fluency, word problem solving, and number pattern recognition. These insights align closely with national data. According to the 2024 Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), the share of Haryana's Grade 3 government school children demonstrating grade-level numeracy rose from 26.1% in 2022 to 33.1% in 2024, outperforming the national average. Grade 5 students, too, are now reading and calculating at levels above national benchmarks. But beyond the numbers lies a deeper story. These data points translate into children reading aloud to their siblings, helping parents with calculations at local shops, and engaging with their studies with growing self-assurance. Technology has emerged as an enabler of Haryana's learning transformation. Under the state's e-Adhigam initiative, every teacher and mentor in government schools was equipped with internet-enabled smart tablets. These are being used to drive the implementation of NIPUN Haryana—from facilitating data-driven instruction to tracking student progress in real time. Complementing these are mobile apps that simplify classroom observations and lesson planning, facilitating teachers, parents, and administrators to work in concert. Looking ahead, the introduction of Holistic Progress Cards will provide families with a more complete picture of each child's development—not just academic scores, but also skills, strengths, and growth trajectories over time. Connecting with families Through initiatives like NIPUN Raftar (reading competitions) and NIPUN Ramleela (dramatisations of lessons), learning is sought to be part of dinner table conversations among families. Parents receive updates via key mission-related information via diverse channels, bridging the traditional gap between school and home. From local raginis and radio shows to school exhibitions and student-led storytelling, the mission has found creative ways to connect with families. As India works toward achieving the ambitious goals of NEP 2020, Haryana offers valuable lessons: start early, invest in teachers, use technology wisely, involve communities, and continuously measure results. As the State steps into NIPUN Haryana 2.0, the mission is shifting gear, from expanding access to deepening outcomes, from delivering content to unlocking learning. (Parmod Kumar is the State Programme Officer at Department of School Education, Haryana, and Sambhrant S is the Associate Director, State Reforms at Central Square Foundation)
The Hindu
05-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Five years of NEP 2020: Time to take stock of NIPUN Bharat, India's largest foundational learning mission
This July marks the fifth anniversary of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, a reform effort aimed at transforming India's education system. Over the past five years, paradigms have shifted, AI has entered classrooms and leading global institutions have set up campuses in India. But away from the spotlight, a steady and strong change in our children's learning trajectory is unfolding—the story of India's NIPUN Bharat Mission. Launched in July 2021, NIPUN Bharat operationalised NEP's vision for foundational learning into a nationwide mission to ensure every child in India can read with understanding and do basic math by Grade 2. With ₹2,700 crore in annual funding, it now reaches over 5 crore children and 17 lakh teachers across 6 lakh schools making it the world's largest foundational learning programme and a global benchmark for what strong prioritisation and action for foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) for all children can and should look like. A significant contributor to the success of NIPUN is how the funding is designed. Nearly 80% of State school education budgets are usually tied up in teacher and staff salaries and infrastructure, leaving very little flexibility for spending on quality initiatives. NIPUN earmarks ₹500/student per year for quality teaching-learning materials (TLMs) and ₹150/teacher for teacher resources and training. States like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Assam have leveraged these funds to roll out teacher guides with structured lesson plans, student workbooks for both language and maths, and hands-on training that is helping change classroom transaction and practice—all aligned with their FLN goals. Funding under NIPUN Bharat Mission is also strengthening implementation at the district level. States are now empowered to set-up district units for tracking of student learning to review progress of state's FLN mission. In 2023-24 alone, over 4 lakh spot assessments across Grades 1 to 3 were conducted by Academic Resource Persons in Uttar Pradesh, while Odisha's Cluster Resource Coordinators made 57,000 classroom visits to mentor teachers. The question on everyone's mind is whether the design and large scale deployment of NIPUN state missions has had a positive impact on student learning? The early evidence is showing positive results. State-run large-scale annual student assessments are showing positive trends in FLN competencies. In Madhya Pradesh, for example, the percentage of students who were NIPUN-competent in oral reading fluency went up by 10 percentage points between 2023 and 2024. Nationally, ASER 2024 recorded the strongest early learning gains in over two decades with the percentage of Grade 3 students proficient in literacy and numeracy increasing by 7 percentage points between 2022 and 2024. Looking ahead As India looks ahead to build on these early green shoots of progress under NIPUN, we need a bolder roadmap for sustained impact at scale. First, extending NIPUN Bharat for another five years, beyond its current deadline of 2027 will help India get the necessary runway to ensure early signs of impact grow strong roots for sustained learning gains. Nearly 100% of allocated funds to states are being utilised, showing clear evidence of demand and momentum. What's needed now is continuity. Second, NIPUN can be expanded to cover the foundational stage starting from Balvatika/Kindergarten for 5-year-olds to Grade 5. A full year Balvatika in schools will give our children the necessary preparedness to start their grade 1 learning journey. Support in Grade 3 to 5 will ensure year on year learning gains are sustained for successful onward learning journeys in middle school and high school. Third, district-level FLN units can be strengthened with continued funding and strong accountability through state reviews. Districts have been the critical link for deployment of state programmes across all schools and classrooms in the state. Hence setting up district level FLN units will ensure high fidelity implementation of the state's FLN mission leading to all children learning. Fourth, the health of our education system can be regularly assessed by institutionalising annual system level diagnostics like the 2022 Foundational Learning Study which was an oral assessment. Such assessments will help benchmark progress, identify learning deficits early, and inform timely interventions so that every child achieves FLN competencies. Finally, build political and community ownership. Strong political sponsorship of NIPUN will ensure momentum from NEP and NIPUN Bharat is sustained through to NIPUN 2.0. India's social change campaigns like Swachh Bharat and Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao gained momentum through widespread community engagement and strong political ownership. Community ownership for NIPUN can involve panchayats organising NIPUN Gram Sabhas to spread awareness about the mission, materials being distributed by schools to parents for at-home learning, and local leaders celebrating learning milestones of students. Given that our vision of a Viksit Bharat rests on realising the full potential of our young population, FLN warrants similar visibility. The last four years have shown what's possible when the system puts learning first. As Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam once said, 'Learning gives creativity, creativity leads to thinking, thinking provides knowledge, and knowledge makes you great.' In many ways, NIPUN Bharat has laid out the foundational tracks for this journey for all our children. What's needed now is to sustain and strengthen this momentum. (Shaveta Sharma-Kukreja is the CEO & MD, Central Square Foundation. Romonika D. Sharan is a Senior Retd. Bureaucrat and Project Director, Policy & Communications, Central Square Foundation)
Time of India
04-07-2025
- General
- Time of India
Now, NIPUN plus app to assess students till class 8
Lucknow: Now, children enrolled in govt primary schools up to class 8 will undergo the NIPUN (National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy) test to measure their learning outcomes through the NIPUN Plus app, recently launched by the education department. The app has been upgraded to ensure spot assessments are conducted for children up to class 8. Previously, the app was used to assess the learning outcomes of children up to class 4. The upgraded app will quickly assess the learning level of students and collect evidence for necessary improvements in the teaching-learning process. It will also provide need-based immediate support to the student based on their performance and will develop a competency-based integrated plan for class teaching. Through the app, teachers and parents will also be able to know the learning level of children. During assessment through the app, it will be mandatory to upload selfies with students on a random basis.
Time of India
23-06-2025
- General
- Time of India
NIPUN Bharat mission introduces reward system to improve foundational learning
1 2 3 Prayagraj: In a significant push to improve foundational literacy and numeracy among young learners, the NIPUN Bharat Mission is being implemented with renewed vigour in the basic schools of Prayagraj. As part of this initiative, the education department has introduced a reward-based system to motivate teachers and schools to achieve defined learning outcomes. Teachers who successfully meet the NIPUN goals—set for students from Bal Vatika (pre-primary) to Class 2—within the given timeline will be honoured with the title of 'NIPUN Champion Head Master of the District'. The state has set a target to select 400 such exemplary teachers from across Uttar Pradesh. These selected teachers will not only receive a cash reward of Rs 25,000 but will also be offered educational tours to different states, helping them gain broader exposure and enhance their teaching skills. In addition, they will be provided with specialised training modules to further develop their professional competencies. According to Debvart Singh, the in-charge Basic Shiksha Adhikari, once students enrolled in a school attain the expected competencies as per the NIPUN goals, the headmaster, in consultation with other teachers, will register the school for evaluation on the Prerna Portal. This step will be followed by detailed instructions issued by the state project director of 'Samagra Shiksha'. The evaluation process will be carried out under guidance of DIET (District Institute of Education and Training) principals, assisted by Academic Resource Persons (ARPs) and DIET mentors from other development blocks. Critical data, such as student enrolment from Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) and attendance records from Prerna Portal's digital registers, will be used in the assessment process. Once the DIET principal confirms the school's status as 'NIPUN', a 100% student evaluation will be conducted by DElEd trainees under the supervision of the State Project Office and SCERT (State Council of Educational Research and Training). The assessment will utilise transparent IT-enabled systems to ensure accuracy and fairness. This rigorous and structured approach is expected to not only uplift educational standards but also inspire a culture of performance, recognition, and continuous improvement in primary education across Prayagraj and beyond.
