Page 14 - EducationWorld March 2023

Education News

DELHI of Educational Research and Train-
FLN Report 2022 ing (NCERT), and supported by Uni-

cef. It measures learning outcomes of
class III students based on National
Achievement Survey (NAS) data. ICI
uses the FLS data to prepare and
publish an annual FLN Report and
FLN index.
The FLN index is based on five
pillars — educational infrastructure,
access to education, basic health,
leaning outcomes and governance,
subdivided into 36 indicators. These
pillars align with the UN Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) 2030.
The first edition of the State of FLN
was published in December 2021.
The second FLN Report 2022 is
based on an FLS 2022 study which
assessed learning outcomes in 20
languages of 86,000 class III chil-
dren in 10,000 schools countrywide.
Primary children in Punjab: learning outcomes #1 It awards Punjab #1 rank with the
state awarded a top score of 96.36
he second edition of the State Shiksha Mission increased by almost on learning outcomes. The state’s #1
of Foundational Literacy 20 percent, from Rs.31,050 crore in position in FLN Report 2022 is the
Tand Numeracy (FLN) Report 2022-23 to Rs.37,383 crore. Post- outcome of its excellent performance
2022, released on February 24, in- pandemic, after the humanitarian in all subjects in NAS 2021.
dicates that India’s journey towards and health crisis, the Central govern- At the same time, the ICI Report
universalisation of FLN is likely to be ment merged various schemes like highlights poor FLN progress in
arduous, but possible. Scheme for Adolescent Girls and other states. Countrywide, only 42
While the impact of pandemic Poshan Abhiyaan and re-aligned percent of class III children attained
school closures and resultant learn- them as Saksham Anganwadi and global minimum proficiency levels in
ing loss of two years for children has Poshan 2.0 for increasing outcomes.” numeracy and 37 percent in math-
contributed to the disappointing The National Education Policy ematics. For foundational literacy,
conclusions of the report, its overall (NEP) 2020, which for the first time Punjab is ranked #1 with 51 percent
tone is positive and it provides a acknowledged the criticality of ECCE of its class III children exceeding
roadmap for FLN implementation. (early childhood care & education), global proficiency level in Punjabi
Published independently by the provides a firm foundation for urgent language. On the other hand, Tamil
Gurugram-based Institute for Com- implementation of FLN. The Cen- Nadu fared the worst with only 9
petitiveness India (ICI), the Indian tral government launched NIPUN percent of its school children exceed-
unit of the global network of the (National Initiative for Proficiency ing global proficiency level.
Institute for Strategy and Competi- in Reading with Understanding and FLN reports published annually
tiveness of Harvard Business School, Numeracy) Bharat Mission on July discharge a very important function.
the FLN Report 2022 has been 5, 2021 to attain universal FLN by They assess the progress of India’s
greenlighted by the Economic Advi- 2026. In addition, to build FLN in- 28 states towards achieving the
sory Council to the Prime Minister frastructure in all states of the Indian universal FLN target by 2026-27.
(EAC-PM). Union and identify implementation Moreover, the Foundational Learn-
Expressing optimism about the bottlenecks, EAC-PM mandated pub- ing Index included in FLN Report
FLN mission, the report says: “The lication of the State of Foundational 2022 presents evidence backed profi-
goal of universal FLN by 2026-27 is Literacy and Numeracy in India ciency levels for class III children. It
achievable, considering the rigorous Report based on the government’s goes far beyond teacher absenteeism
and constant efforts of the govern- Foundational Learning Study (FLS). and other routine factors.
ment. Additionally, the recent Bud- The FLS study is conducted by the “It also measures the core
get allocation towards the Samagra education ministry, National Council domains of education, health and

16 EDUCATIONWORLD MARCH 2023