The Ministry of Education will conduct a “FOUNDATION LEARNING STUDY”. MOE’s ‘Foundational Learning Study’ seeks to draw on a first-hand understanding of students’ learning levels at the basic learning level or at the end of Class 3. According to a statement, this study is the first of its kind. The goal is to set a benchmark for reading comprehension in 22 Indian languages in the world.
The Foundational Learning Study will be conducted by NCERT in sampled schools in all states and union territories in a window of four days between March 23 and March 26. More than 10,000 schools and one lakh students are expected to participate in this study.
One of the specific objectives of the “BASIC LEARNING STUDY” is to undertake a large-scale assessment of the basic learning of Class 3 students to establish a baseline for the “NIPUN BHARATA MISSION”. An assessment will also be made to establish reading proficiency benchmarks for comprehension as well as fluency for each language under study.
The statement further added – The focus on “LEARNING ACHIEVEMENT” in the foundation years is relevant to providing learners with the ability to make their later learning experiences more meaningful and absorbed.
The National Education Policy 2020 highlights that – the ability to write and read, is an essential foundation and to perform basic operations with numbers, an essential condition for all future schooling and lifelong learning.
The statement stated the objectives – to provide data for the SDGs, covering aspects of basic literacy and numeracy. While the dimensions of learning can be manifold, the basic ability to read, write and read with an understanding of basic numerical concepts (such as patterns, numbers etc.) is related to the basic learning goals at a baseline level.
The Foundational Learning Study will be able to set benchmarks in reading comprehension in various Indian languages for children at the Class 3 level or Standard. It will assess the ability to read age-appropriate known and unknown text at a certain speed, accurately, and with comprehension and will form a baseline for foundational numeracy skills and THE NIPUN INDIA GOALS.
