(GIST OF KURUKSHETRA) Learning Recovery in School Education

[March-2022]

Learning Recovery in School Education

Context:

Several initiatives were taken by the Government of India in the year 2020-21 and these included guidelines on education of children of migrant labourers which delineated the process for identification, smooth admission process and continued education of migrant children.
On similar lines, comprehensive guidelines on steps to be taken by the Stales and UTs were also issued for out-of-school children and on mitigation of learning loss. Ministry of Education has been allotted Rs. 1,04,277.72 crores in Budget 2022-23 which is 11.86 percent more than the previous years’ allocation.

The important interventions were designed to support the students in case of inaccessibility to digital devices and some such key initiatives are illustrated below:

Alternative Academic Calendar (AAC): The AAC contains week-wise plan consisting of interesting and challenging activities, with reference to learning outcome, theme or chapter, taken from syllabus or textbook. It maps activities for children with access to devices as well as children with no access to devices. This can be used for giving weekly guidance to schools, parents, teachers and students to ensure continuity of education.

Use of Television: Since a large number of Indian households have access to a television, it is an effective means for delivering audio-visual content in households with or without internet access. In Uttar Pradesh, a 4-hour slot per day had been purchased by the Department of Basic Education from Prasar Bharti. The available time slot i.e., from 9 am to 1 pm, was divided into 8 slots of 30 minutes each to ensure that all grades are given equal importance in the dissemination strategy. Taking one step further, in-house administrators and technicians with expertise in broadcast media and TV were leveraged to support the speedy deployment of educative TV lessons for students in Telengana.

Use of Radio: Radio is believed to have extensive coverage across India, with government-owned All India Radio (AIR) claiming near-universal reach in rural areas. The state of Madhya Pradesh had launched a daily 1.5-hour radio programme during the pandemic for Grades 1-8, including one hour in the morning for academic inputs and half hour in the evening for co-curricular and Social-Emotional Learning content. Likewise, in Uttar Pradesh, a 30-minute slot per day was purchased on Akashwani, for playing ‘English Seekho’ audios from UNICEF. Also, few districts in the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra had placed loudspeakers in the community and other public spaces, which were used to narrate stories and rhymes for students.
100 Days Reading Campaign: A 100 days Reading Campaign has been launched by the Government of India for children studying in Balvatika to Class VIII on 1 January 2022, and one activity per week per group has been specifically designed with a focus on making reading enjoyable and building lifelong association with the joy of reading.

Budget 2022-23:

The Budget of 2022-23 for Education is also in continuum of previous year wherein various important initiatives such as 15,000 exemplar schools, capacity building of teachers through NISHTHA, National Professional Standards for Teacher (NPST), Indian Sign Language dictionary and initiation of Toy Based Pedagogy were announced.
Expansion of TV channels: The emphasis is on access of quality education through TV channels with particular focus on rural areas, and those all children. As teachers are required to be
hands-on with technological tools, integration of technology in teaching and learning process will be the game-changer in future as it will not only empower teachers but also provide them autonomy and promote innovative pedagogies.
Digital University: A Digital University in different Indian languages will be established to provide access to students across the country for world-class quality universal education with personalised learning experience at their doorsteps. This will be built on a networked hub-spoke model with cutting edge ICT expertise and the best public universities or institutions in the country will collaborate as a network of hub-spokes.
Learning Enhancement Package (LEP) for all students to combat the adverse effects of the pandemic will be provided in the beginning of the academic session of 2022-23.
Teacher Resource Package (TRP): To continue with the hybrid mode of learning, tablets will be provided to the 25 lakh teachers at the primary level to enable them to use the resources and content on various digital portals and show them to the students.
Oral Reading Fluency Study (ORF): Support will be provided to study the ability of children to read age-appropriate known as well as unknown text at a certain minimum pace, accurately, and with comprehension.
Information Communication Technology (ICT) Facility to each BRCs: Support for ICT including for tablets will be provided at Block Resource Centre (BRC) level to enable the resource persons to take up a substantial load of teachers’ capacity building with the help of face-to-face as well as online teaching-learning techniques, tools, content and resources aimed at improving the quality and efficiency of the teaching and learning process.
Strengthening of CRCs through mobility support to CRCs: Mobility support to CRCs (Cluster Resource Centres) will be provided to undertake regular visits and organise monthly meetings to discuss academic issues and design strategies for better school/student performance, to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.