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World Bank study found that 56.1% indicates a pressing need to improve FLN skills.
of children in India under the age of
10 struggled to read simple text. This Can This Change?
is concerning, as strong Foundational Programs like the Integrated Child Development
A acy and Numeracy (FLN) skills are Schemes (ICDS), the Right to Education Act, Samagra
er
Lit
crucial for keeping children in school and fostering Shiksha Abhiyan, and the recent NEP 2020 emphasize
social responsibility. Despite high enrollment rates, over the importance of foundational skills. Additionally,
innovative experiments by various stakeholders in
75% of Grade 3 learners lack foundational skills, making
Reshaping retention difficult. education are showing promising results in improving
FLN skills.
The Foundational Learning Study (FLS) by NCERT in
One such promising initiative is the ALfA (Accelerating
2022, which assessed 86,000 Grade 3 students from
Gandhi, an economist, educationist, and founder of
students did not meet global proficiency levels. This
Children are attending Foundational 10,000 schools in 20 languages, revealed that Indian Learning for All) Programme, the brainchild of Dr. Sunita
school but not learning
effectively. Quick
action and innovative Learning
teaching methods
are crucial in today’s
educational context. for Better
The ALfA Programme
is one such pioneering
method, aiming Knowledge
to revolutionize
how children learn
foundational skills. Through
ALfA
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