Basic skills are poor in Hindi, but poorer in regional languages

GS paper 2

Syllabus: Issues related to the development of the social sector involving education etc

Source: The Hindu, The Hindu

Direction: There are too many data and points. No need to remember those. Just understand the crux of the issues.

Context:

• • • Foundational learning of students in Hindi is poor but their performance in regional languages in some States was even worse, according to a survey by the Union Ministry of Education and the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

Key Highlights:

• • • National Report on Benchmarking of Oral Reading Fluency
      • Aim: It aims to assess the foundational learning of children at the end of class 3.
    • Hindi: Around 53% of class 3 students in 18 States surveyed either lacked or had limited knowledge and skills in reading and comprehending the Hindi language.

Proficiency in regional language:

• • • Kannada: Analyzed in the States of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala-59% of students either lacked or displayed limited skills.
    • Assamese: 67% of students couldn’t perform well in Assam and Meghalaya.
    • Malayalam: 56% of students couldn’t read or comprehend Malayalam properly
    • Khasi: 61% of students couldn’t perform well
    • Urdu: Assessed in 13 States, 65% of learners couldn’t perform well.
    • Skills in math: The study found that the most basic knowledge and skills in numeracy were either lacking or limited in 48% of Class 3 students.
    • Worst performers: Among the States, Tamil Nadu was the worst performer, followed by Nagaland and Jammu & Kashmir.
    • Limited skills with numbers: In all, there were 11 States with more than 50% of students who either lacked or had limited skills with numbers.

Knowledge and skills: The survey divides learners on the basis of their knowledge and skills into four categories:

• • • Those who lack them
    • Have limited proficiency
    • Sufficient competency
    • Those who are superior

• • • The sample included:
      • State government schools
      • Government-aided schools
      • Private recognised
      • Central government schools.

National Education Policy 2022:

• • • Three-language formula: It advocates for a three-language formula where two of the languages are native to India
    • Mother tongue as a medium: It says that the medium of instruction till at least class 5 or preferably till class 8 should be in the mother tongue, after which it can be taught as a language.
    • Foundational learning: It also emphasizes the importance of foundational learning.

NIPUN Scheme:

• • • It is a national mission to enable all children at the end of class 3 to attain foundational skills by the year 2026-2027.
    • It aims to cover the learning needs of children in the age group of 3 to 9 years.

Importance of Multilingualism:

• • • Equal status: It gives equal status to all languages and there’s enough work, history and research on this.
    • First-generation learners: Children come from different backgrounds, and in some cases, they are first-generation learners with not much support at home.
    • Democratic: It accepts that the teacher is not coming from a place of authority and is only correcting spellings and pronunciations.

Insta Links:

NEP 2020

Mains Link:

Q. National Education Policy 2020 is in line with Sustainable Development Goals-4 (2030). It intended to restructure and re-orient the education system in India. Critically examine the statement(UPSC 2020)

Prelims links: