NEP 2020 in the classroom, from policy to practice

‘Learning levels at the foundational stage have improved across the country, a change mostly driven by government schools’
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The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 frames the universal acquisition of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) as an urgent national mission. Since the release of the policy, the central and State governments have put in enormous efforts into programmes intended to meet the goal of ensuring that every child acquires FLN by Class two, the end of the newly designated ‘foundational stage’ of education for three to eight year olds.

Findings from the nationwide Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2024 survey that was released recently provide some indicators of the percolation of these policy pushes to individual schools. For example, more than 80% of the 15,728 rural schools across the country that were visited as a part of the survey reported having received a directive from the government to implement FLN activities for Classes one to three. In over 75% of these schools, at least one teacher had received in-person training on FLN.

There is an awareness

A deep dive into 24 Class two classrooms in eight States earlier this year provided glimpses of how these changes are translating into practice on the ground. The first conclusion that was clear from observations of the teaching practice of these teachers, and subsequent conversations with them, is that the rationale for why FLN is important appears to have been communicated clearly and on scale.

In the eight States and in most of the schools that the writers of this article visited, teachers articulated this new focus and, for the most part, approved of it. Aspects of the new approach that required attitudinal shifts rather than new pedagogical practices were visible in their classrooms.

However, the challenges and opportunities facing teachers vary substantially, depending on the local context. For example, a classroom that comprises a large number of Class two students with limited space to move about requires a different approach than one with students from several different grades sitting outdoors. Several teachers said that they have limited opportunities to identify and discuss these challenges during training workshops. Creating spaces for practice, discussion and adaptation may be the key to increasing uptake.

Support for teachers

Consequently, post-training support systems for teachers are of vital importance. Here, States differ markedly in the amount and the type of support that they provide. In some States, the teachers we spoke to were unable to name any form of support available to them post training. In others, trainers were available to be consulted if teachers wished to do so. In still others, regular “monitoring” visits from officials ensured that the focus on FLN was not lost, but the focus was on compliance with data collection protocols rather than teaching-learning in the classroom. In just a couple of cases, teachers spoke about block- or district-level officials actually demonstrating how to do a particular activity in the classroom.

Without the space to practise and then adapt the new methods and materials as needed, teachers are often unable to make full use of the guidelines and materials provided to them. For example, even though the focus on using teaching-learning materials (TLM) in the classroom was clear to all the teachers, in every case where some form of TLM was observed, it was evident in ‘demonstration’ mode — meaning that in all but one case it was the teacher using the TLM, and not the students. Getting TLM into students’ hands requires more thought and flexibility, very often about practical, rather than pedagogical, questions. For example, in States where teachers are given funds to make their own TLM rather than provided with ready-to-use kits, teachers were worried about the material getting damaged (torn or broken) as they would have to remake them. Others had no space to store TLM in the classroom, while the rest who had been provided with TLM kits were unclear about how and when to use them.

Issue of syllabus completion

Perhaps, most crucially, decisions on what and how to teach are still based primarily on syllabus completion. At the State level, continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) often takes the form of formative and summative assessments of curriculum content, conducted in traditional pen-and-paper format. Although teachers in several States talked about monthly FLN-specific assessments, almost none spoke about using FLN assessment results to inform their classroom practice. Resolving the inherent contradiction between ensuring universal FLN and syllabus completion is a question that the system has yet to reckon with in a systematic way.

There is little doubt that some things have changed for the better since the rollout of National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN) Bharat — the mission that lays out detailed guidelines on how FLN goals should be met on the ground and adaptations across the country. The clear focus on FLN and its resultant visibility in schools and among teachers, is in itself a step forward. This is reflected in the fact that for the first time since the ASER survey began 20 years ago, learning levels at the foundational stage have improved across the country, a change mostly driven by government schools. This focus must be maintained in the years ahead to ensure that all children in India acquire these basic skills.

Suman Bhattacharjea is the Director of Research at the ASER Centre. Shweta Bhutada is the Senior Project Lead at the ASER Centre. Akanksha Bisht is a Content and Research Associate at the ASER Centre