Parliament Question: Role of NIPUN Bharat in Early Childhood Care and Education

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5880 ANSWERED ON 30/03/2026 Role of NIPUN Bharat in Early Childhood Care and Education 5880. Shri Dushyant Singh: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) the details of interventions undertaken under NIPUN Bharat to strengthen Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) curriculum, pedagogy and learning materials in schools and Anganwadi centres to achieve Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) by Grade 3 by 2026-27; (b) the details of the steps taken for training and capacity building of Anganwadi workers and teachers to align with FLN objectives; (c) the details of mechanisms for convergence between the Ministries of Education and Women & Child Development to ensure a smooth transition from ECCE to primary education; (d) the details of monitoring framework adopted for periodic review of ECCE implementation, particularly in aspirational and underserved regions such as the Jhalawar- Baran Lok Sabha Parliamentary Constituency; and (e) whether any assessment of learning readiness and outcomes has been conducted and the details thereof, district-wise? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY) (a) The Department of School Education & Literacy (DoSE&L), Ministry of Education (MoE) has launched a National Mission called “National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat Mission (NBM))” on 5th July, 2021 for ensuring that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) by the end of Grade 2. Under the NBM, the following systemic interventions have been undertaken to strengthen curriculum, pedagogy and learning materials in schools and Anganwadi centers (AWCs): (i) A 3-months play based ‘School Preparation Module and Guidelines’ for Grade I named ‘Vidya Pravesh’ was launched on 29th July, 2021. The goal of Vidya Pravesh programme is to promote school preparedness in all children coming to Grade-I from diverse backgrounds (Balvatika, AWCs, at home, private play schools etc.), to ensure a smooth transition of children to Grade-I. It provides play based, age and developmentally appropriate learning experiences in a joyful and stimulating environment leading to holistic development to bolster a child’s pre-literacy, pre-numeracy, cognitive and social skills. Thisprogramme is implemented across the country. From 2022-23 till date, over 4.20 crore students in around 8.90 lakh schools have benefitted. (ii) To improve the learning outcomes at foundational stage, the National Curricular Framework for Foundational Stage (NCF-FS) was released on 20th October, 2022 providing a structure for the syllabus, training of teachers, Learning Teaching Material (LTM), etc. (iii) The Jaadui Pitara (JP), a set of 53 play-based learning-teaching materials for ages 3-8 was launched on 20th February 2023. Available in 22 Indian languages, JP includes toys, puzzles, story cards, flashcards, and teacher handbooks. Its digital extension, the e- Jaadui Pitara, launched on 10th February 2024, offers multilingual stories, activities, songs in 22 Indian languages, and AI-based bots-Katha Sakhi, Teacher Tara, and Parent Tara-to support children, teachers, and parents. As envisaged in NEP 2020, these initiatives are an integral part of the foundational stage. (iv) Primers (launched in March, 2024) have been developed in 121 local and tribal languages for FLN in mother tongues spoken by populations of at least 10,000. (v) Lakshyas or Targets for FLN starting from the Balvatika-3 upto Grade-2, based on the learning outcomes have been developed on the basis of national and international research. (b) Pre-service teacher education programmes are regulated by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), with emphasis on teacher preparation for the foundational stage. In this context, the Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) has been introduced as a four-year integrated degree programme that prepares teachers for school education, including the foundational stage, by integrating child development, early childhood care and education (ECCE), play-based and activity-based pedagogy, and FLN, along with early and continuous school internships. In addition, the DoSE&L has launched a national initiative to improve learning outcomes through an integrated teacher training programme called the National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA) under Samagra Shiksha. NISHTHA supports large-scale in- service teacher capacity building and includes training modules for primary teachers focusing on pedagogy, FLN, inclusive education and classroom practices, and is implemented in coordination with the States and Union Territories through face-to-face and online modes. More than 15.57 lakh users including pre-primary teachers, master trainers and Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) have completed NISHTHA online training program for FLN & ECCE. Besides, these states are also conducting physical trainings of teachers at State level. Further, as informed by the Ministry of Women & Child Development (MoWCD), under the Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi (PBPB) initiative, training is imparted to AWWs to strengthen their capacities for effective delivery of ECCE through Aadharshila ECCE curriculum for children of 3-6 years of age. As on 24th March 2026, 10,54,814 AWWs have been trained under round 1 of the PBPB. Besides, a joint advisory was issued by the Ministry of Education and MoWCD on 2nd April 2025 wherein States/Unition Territories (UTs) were advised to promote joint training of AWWs and pre-primary teachers in collaboration with National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), State Councils of Educational Research andTraining (SCERTs), District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs), and Savitribai Phule National Institute of Women and Children (SPNIWCD). (c) In the new 5+3+3+4 structure of the National Education Policy 2020, for the first time, 3 years of pre-schools (3-6 years of age) including Balvatikas and AWCs, is recognized as a continuum of education. The Government is adopting a whole-of- government approach to ensure convergence in the implementation of initiatives related to ECCE. As part of the whole-of-government approach, the DoSE&L and the MoWCD have jointly launched the “Guidelines for co-location of Anganwadi Centres with schools” on 03.09.2025. These guidelines ensure school preparedness and smooth transition of children from the AWC to Grade I in primary schools. They also provide for better linkages and convergence between AWCs and primary schools. As per UDISE+ 2024-25, out of 9,11,035 Government and Government-aided schools with Grade 1, more than 4.81 lakh schools have some form of preschool education facilities, either AWC or Balvatika or both. Through various communications like joint advisories, letters, video conferences etc., all States/UTs have been advised to work together for ECCE along with the Department of Health at ground level. (d) The Government of India has introduced the ‘Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR)’ as part of the academic framework to strengthen the monitoring of actual learning outcomes. This initiative is part of the ‘One Nation, One Student ID’ initiative in line with the NEP 2020, and serves as a unique, lifelong academic ID for every student. It records their academic journey from the foundational stage onwards, including academic achievements, co-curricular activities, skill development, assessments, and basic health records. This digital system ensures continuity of learning, aids dropout recovery, and enables timely academic updates for parents, teachers, and institutions. Further, APAAR is integrated with the Holistic Progress Card (HPC), which captures a 360-degree view of a student’s development through competency-based and formative assessment. HPC is a multidimensional report of progress, that reflects in detail the progress as well as the uniqueness of each learner in the cognitive, affective, socio- emotional, and psychomotor domains. It helps to map the status of each child's learning for FLN skills. The data from the HPC is linked to Vidya Samiksha Kendra (VSK), a centralized data analytics platform that monitors student progress, identifies learning gaps, and supports targeted interventions. Together, APAAR, HPC, and VSK create a digital, data-driven ecosystem supporting digital transformation goals of NIPUN Bharat Mission, and the broader Samagra Shiksha initiative allowing continuous tracking of each student’s progress, ensuring accountability and improved learning outcomes across all stages of education. Moreover, as per the information received from the State Government of Rajasthan, ECCE has been institutionalized as a key agenda in district review meetings, where progress on implementation, availability of learning materials, training status, and classroom practices are regularly assessed. ECCE has also been regularly discussed in the district review meetings of Jhalawar and Baran.(e) PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan (PRS), 2024 has been conducted to evaluate the learning competencies/outcomes of students in FLN, Language and Mathematics at the end of each of the educational stages i.e. Foundational, Preparatory and Middle in Grades 3, 6 & 9. The latest PRS, 2024 was conducted on 4th December, 2024. The state/district-wise PRS 2024 report has been officially released in public domain on 2nd July, 2025. This can be accessed at https://dashboard.parakh.ncert.gov.in/en. PRS 2024 reflects that the performance of children in Grade 3 in rural schools is better than urban schools and government schools have outperformed the private schools at foundational stage, indicating early success and impact of NBM. ****