The Ministry of Education and the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) are conducting a joint National Achievement Survey on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) in select States to evaluate children’s progress and learning competencies as an indicator of the health of the education system, so as to take appropriate steps for remedial actions at different levels.
The four-day study is being conducted from March 23 and in Andhra Pradesh, 383 schools have been selected for the survey. Commissioner, School Education Suresh Kumar and State Project Director of Samagra Shiksha Vetri Selvi are coordinating the event. Of the 383 schools that are covered under the drive, 197 are government schools, 76 aided schools, 75 private recognised schools and 35 Kendriya Vidyalayas.
“The survey is being conducted in five languages — Telugu, English, Urdu, Kannada and Oriya. For smooth conduct of the survey, we have appointed two state coordinators, 26 district-level coordinators and 251 field investigators who would cover a total of 3830 students,” said B. Pratap Reddy, Director, State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT). He said a dry run was conducted to make the staff familiar with the survey procedure.
“The FLN is part of the National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat) launched under Samagra Shiksha for ensuring that every child necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy by the end of Grade 3,” he explained, adding that recognising the importance of early learning was imperative.