NIPUN Bharat Mission (2024): An Amazing Initiative in Education

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The Government of India has come up with an innovative initiative called “NIPUN Bharat Mission” where Education leads to positive externalities, and therefore the quality of education imparted is important, especially during the formative years. In India, a significant number of students are not able to read, write, and understand up to class 5th.

What do you think? Is this a good sign for India’s Education system?

Of course No, that’s why the Government of India has come up with a new Scheme – that is “NIPUN Bharat Mission“. NIPUN stands for National Initiative For Proficiency In Reading With Understanding And Numeracy. It is a part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and implemented by the Department of School Education and Literacy.

It was launched by the Ministry of Education, Government of India on 5th July 2021. The credit for starting Nipun Bharat scheme goes to former Education Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal.

For an effective implementation, a five-tier implementation mechanism will be set up at the National, State, District, Block level, and Schools in all states and Union Territories, under the aegis of the centrally sponsored scheme of Samagra Shiksha.

Things to remember for PGT aspirants regarding NIPUN BHARAT:

Children of 3 to 9 years, Preschool to Grade 3
NIPUN Bharat full form	National Initiative For Proficiency In Reading With Understanding And Numeracy
Mission Launched By	Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education
Focus Group	Children of 3 to 9 years, preschool to Grade 3
Launch Date	5th July 2021 Nipun Bharat
Initiated by	Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal
Major Amendment	Replacement of 10+2 structure by 5+3+3+4
NIPUN Bharat Mission Aim	To ensure that every class 3 child has foundational literacy and numeracy within the initial 5-year

Why NIPUN Bharat mission?: To pave the way for transformational reforms in the School and Higher Education system. Every child by 2026-27 at the age of 11 or Grade III, should be able to read with meaning and have a clear sense of Proficiency in numbers as well as life skills.

Through the NIPUN Bharat Mission, knowledge of foundational literacy and numeracy will be imparted to the students of up to class 3 to class 6. Due to this, their basic education will be strengthened. Both government and non-government schools will get the benefits of this Nipun Bharat mission.

Being literate means that they have the ability through which students can be able to read, write, speak, and interpret, and acquire the ability to use fundamental numerical methods and analysis to solve day-to-day problems. Based on this basic literacy and numeracy, a student can take any education in the future.

Vision of Nipun Bharat Mission :

Ensure Universal Foundational Literacy and Numeracy by 2026-27, so that every child achieves the desired learning competencies in reading, writing, and numeracy at the end of Grades III and V.

Nipun Bharat Mission

Every child by 2026-27 and at the age of 11 or Grade III, should be able to read with meaning and have a clear sense of Proficiency in numbers as well as life skills.

Nipun Bharat Mission Goals:

The learning outcomes for Foundational learning have been divided into three developmental goals:

Developmental Goal 1 (Good health and well-being): Nipun Bharat

• The foundational years are critical for laying the foundation for optimal physical, socio-emotional, and psychological health as well as the well-being of a child for life.
• These are the years when children, given the right opportunities and encouragement, develop the five senses, strengthen their larger and finer bones and muscles, and refine their eye-hand coordination.
• Nipun Bharat goal continues to provide experience for health and well-being, socio-emotional development, health, nutrition, hygienic practices, and safety from age group 3 to 9.

Developmental Goal 2 (Effective communicators): Nipun Bharat

• By the time, three-year-olds come into a preschool in monolingual cultures, they have typically already begun to communicate their needs, likes, and dislikes orally in their home language, which is also the school language.
• The experiences provided in this developmental goal are required to build on all these early experiences and exposure, and further enhance their communication skills so that they can orally share their thoughts and feelings or describe their experiences more effectively.
• The teachers must communicate with the child in their language in pre-school, once the child is comfortable and learns to express himself, the teacher may introduce the school language or language used in the state as a medium of instruction.

Developmental Goal 3 (Involved Learner and connect with Environment):

Children become involved learners and connect with their immediate environment

• A major goal of foundational years of education is, to help children move towards more logical thinking by helping them graduate from their perception bound to more concept-based understanding.
• Children notice and explore patterns, shapes, and other mathematical dimensions in their immediate world. Children begin to understand the world around them by making sense of it as they “see” it.
• Children’s learning in the cognitive domain needs to be facilitated through the development of their five senses and the encouragement of 3E’s. i.e. Exploration, Experimentation, and Enquiry.

Features of Nipun Bharat Mission:

• Initiative as a part of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
• Special focus at the primary level to benefit children from socio-economically disadvantaged groups.
• Incorporates innovative learning activities such as toy-based and experiential learning.
• Establishment of implementation mechanism at National-State-District-Block-School level (5 tier) in all states and union territories.
• A special package for Foundational Literacy and Numeracy by NCERT under NISHTHA.

Objectives of Nipun Bharat Mission:

• Ensure high-quality teaching-learning material: One of the components of the mission is to provide teaching-learning materials (TLM) that are based on innovative competency-based pedagogy and create a joyful learning environment in the classroom. These include Instructional Design, worksheets, Conversation Charts, Benjanbarna charts, Grids (with vowel symbols and without vowel symbols), Letter Cards, Barnawali charts, Barnawali cards, Sentence cards, Word cards, Work cards (Numeracy), Posters (Numeracy).
• Ensure proper learning outcomes: All children achieve grade-level proficiency in reading, writing, and numeracy. Develop a learning matrix of simple measurable learning outcomes by mapping them with the grade-wise curriculum.
• Ensure proper learning assessment: Learning assessment in NIPUN is a process of evaluating the progress and outcomes of the foundational literacy and numeracy skills of the students in primary schools. These are: School Based Assessment (SBA), and National Achievement Survey (NAS).
• Ensure proper school modules: 68 modules have been developed for NIPUN Bharat, covering various topics such as curriculum, inclusive education, ICT, Art, Health, School Leadership, Vocational Education, Gender Issues, Toy-based Pedagogy, and School-based Assessment. These modules are available on the DIKSHA FLN portal1 and the NISHTHA FLN portal3 for teachers and school heads of preschool to grade V. The NIPUN Bharat mission also involves conducting a Foundational Learning Study (FLS) to assess the learning outcome of students.
• Ensure Inclusive classroom environment: Ensuring an inclusive classroom environment with emphasis on activity, strengthening teaching-based learning, and linking to the daily life situation of children.
• Ensure Experiential and Competency-Based Learning: Experiential and competency-based learning are two important aspects of the National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat) launched by the Ministry of Education in 2021. NIPUN Bharat aims to ensure that every child in India attains foundational literacy and numeracy by the end of Grade III.
• Engagement of all Stakeholders(communities, parents, teachers): Engagement of all stakeholders (communities, parents, teachers) in NIPUN Bharat is a key factor for the success of the mission.

These are: Nipun Bharat

• Communities: Communities can play an important role in creating a conducive and supportive environment for learning, especially for children from disadvantaged and marginalized groups. Such as NIPUN Pakhwada, Bal Sabhas, and Community Libraries.
• Parents: Parents are the first and most influential teachers of their children. They can provide a stimulating and nurturing home learning environment for their children, which can complement and reinforce school learning.
• Teachers: Teachers are the main facilitators and implementers of the NIPUN Bharat Mission. Therefore they need to be encouraged by Teachers Training, Teachers Learning Communities, and Teachers Awards.

Nipun Bharat Mission under NEP 2020:

As per NEP 2020, the highest priority of the education system is to be achieved by universal foundational literacy and numeracy in primary school by 2025.

• The initiative NIPUN Bharat Mission aims to cover the learning needs of children in the age group of 3 to 9 years.
• To honor the best practices of teachers in classroom transformation and print-rich environment.
• Supporting teachers with quality mentoring visits.
• Promoting peer-to-peer learning in cluster meetings.
• Data-based collaboration gives main instructions for the effective use of a smart class.
• Shikshak prashikshan will be organized to teach teachers, how to implement NIPUN’s academic strategy.
• 12 registrations are being digitalized through Prerna App and magazines are being published in schools through Prerna App.
• Development of Vidya Pravesh guidelines and modules for Grade I.
• Development of guidelines for parent’s participation in home-based learning and for community engagement in foundational learning.

Initiatives have been taken under NIPUN:

The Initiative is being launched as a part of NEP 2020, Followings are the initiatives:

Nipun Bharat

• DIKSHA FLN: Diksha Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN), which is aligned with the Nipun Bharat mission launched by the Ministry of Education, focuses on the early years of learning, which are crucial for the holistic development of children. FLN helps children learn joyfully through play, stories, rhymes, local arts, and crafts, and music.
• NISHTHA FLN AND ECCE: NISHTHA FLN and ECCE are two online courses offered by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) for teachers and school heads. NISHTHA FLN is a course on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) for Nipun Bharat, which is a national mission for proficiency in reading with understanding and numeracy. NISHTHA ECCE is a course on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), which is the foundation of learning for children.
• NBM (NIPUN Bharat Monitoring): Nipun Bharat Monitoring, a platform for monitoring the progress of the National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat), a program launched by the Ministry of Education to ensure universal foundational literacy and numeracy in primary school by 2025.
• FLS (Foundational Learning Study): It is a large-scale study conducted by NCERT in March 2022 to assess the learning outcomes of Grade 3 students in foundational literacy and numeracy skills across 20 languages. The study aims to provide reliable and valid data to set a baseline and benchmarks for the NIPUN Bharat mission, which was launched by the Ministry of Education in July 2021. It will enable all children at the end of Grade 3 to attain foundational skills by the year 2026-2027.

Nipun Bharat Mission Planning and Implementation:

NIPUN Bharat will be implemented by the Department of School Education and Literacy. A five-tier implementation mechanism will be set up at the National-State-District-Block-School Level in all states and Union Territories under the aegis of the centrally sponsored scheme of Samagra Shiksha.

Skill India 2023: Implementation Process: Nipun Bharat

Nipun Bharat

Nipun Bharat

Nipun Bharat Mission in CBSE:

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has adopted Nipun Bharat Mission and has issued guidelines for its implementation in its affiliated schools. The CBSE has instructed its schools to conduct a baseline assessment of the student’s learning levels and prepare an action plan for improving their foundational skills.

The steps taken by CBSE: Nipun Bharat

Class	Age	Numeracy	Literacy
Balvatika	3 to 6 years	● Read and write numbers up to 10 ● Recognize numbers up to 10	● Read and write Alphabet. ● Recognize letters up to 2 to 3 words.
Grade I	6 to 7 years	● Read and write numbers up to 99 ● Subtract and Add numbers up to 9	● Recognize and read letters up to a minimum of 5 words. ● Framing sentences up to 5 words.
Grade II	7 to 8 years	● Read and write numbers up to 999 ● Subtract and Add numbers up to 99	● Recognize and read letters up to a minimum of 45 to 60 words ● Framing sentences with meaning up to 60 words.
Grade III	8 to 9 years	● Read and write numbers up to 9999 ● Subtract and Add numbers up to 999 ● Solve multiplication problem	● Read with meaning at least 60 words per unit. ● Write a paragraph with a minimum of 60 to 65 words.

• CBSE focuses on 3 to 9 years (Pre-school to Grade III) under NIPUN Bharat Mission
• Assessment in class 4th to 8th through Nipun Lakshya App.
• Development of online assessment and interesting teaching methods related to Science, Maths, and English.
• Students should be encouraged to use the library to maintain the habit of reading and playing materials regularly.
• Multiple desktops and 65.4k resolution interactive panels have been provided in the ICT Lab, which will enable the teachers to practice the use of multimedia content.
• CBSE Launches Mobile App for students counseling and mental health. These counseling sessions shall be provided to students of classes 9 to 12 by 83 volunteer counselors.
• E-Learning App Diksha chatbot, Jio Embibe, Sandarshika (संदर्शिका), and Tata Studi launches Campaign for CBSE Students.

Advantages of Nipun Bharat Mission:

• Reduction in dropout due to basic skill development in children.
• Improvement in transition rate from primary to upper primary and secondary level.
• Activity-based learning and a conducive learning environment will improve the quality of education.
• Holistic development of children through focus on various areas of development.
• Helpful in ensuring equitable and inclusive access to quality education.

Frequently Asked Questions: Nipun Bharat

What is the NIPUN Bharat Scheme?

There are two different schemes with the name NIPUN in India. One is related to education and the other is related to construction. NIPUN Bharat Mission is a scheme launched by the Ministry of Education to improve proficiency and understanding in reading and numeracy.

What is FLN and NIPUN Bharat Mission?

FLN stands for Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, which refers to a child’s ability to read with comprehension and solve basic maths problems by Class. NIPUN Bharat Mission is a National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy launched by the Ministry of Education, Govt. of India as per the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

What is the full form of “NIPUN” in Nipun Bharat Mission?

National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy under Nipun Barat.

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