Foundational Learning is an essential building block for the future knowledge we are yet to attain, for it provides the essential fundamentals of reading, writing, vocabulary, mathematics and literacy skills needed by school-aged children. If children fall behind in the early years of schooling, they are likely to underperform and fail to achieve their full potential. 

In India, many children do not have access to a preschool or childcare program, and there are very few pre-primary schools that focus on the needs of very young children. To ensure all children are on the same playing field with respect to learning, it is crucial to prioritize education during these early years.

The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) released a report on the State of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) in India, highlighting the importance of FLN in the Indian context. The report establishes a composite index on the five key domains that govern the learning environment for children aged below ten across 41 indicators. These domains include:

1. Education infrastructure 
2. Access to education 
3. Basic health 
4. Learning outcomes, and 
5. Governance. 

The methodology adopted to assign the weight in the index is Principal Component Analysis (PCA).

The study indicates that some states lagged behind in the Governance pillar, with over half of the states scored below the national average—the lowest across all pillars. This data helps states assess their budgetary measures and identify any gaps hampering progress in education.

Following are some key takeaways from the report:

• Kerala leads the pack as the top-scoring region among smaller states, with a score of 67.95
• West Bengal is the top-scoring region among large states, with a score of 58.95. 
• Lakshadweep is the leading Union Territory with a score of 52.69, while Mizoram is the highest ranked state in the Northeast state category, with 51.64%. 
• Some states score higher than others on the issue of access to education. Rajasthan and Gujarat score 25.67 and 22.28, respectively, whereas Bihar scores 18.23%. By contrast, the northeastern states as a whole do significantly better in terms of access to education. The states in this region average 51.3%.
• The educational standards in Kerala are vastly different from the rest of the country. This significant variation has been noticed in the learning outcomes and educational infrastructure, which needs immediate attention from all the states. There is a marked difference in the percentage of literacy in various states. The highest literacy rate was recorded in Kerala, with 96.2%. The lowest was registered in Rajasthan, with 69.7%.
• The findings in the report reveal a literacy gap between males and females. While the national literacy rate for males is 84.7%, the literacy rate for females is only 70.3%.
• Although all states can gain critical insights from high performers, they can also learn from each other, even if some are lower performers. Finding out what is working in other states when addressing challenges might be a helpful starting point. 

Speaking at the report’s release, Dr. Bibek Debroy, Chairman, EAC-PM, said, “Education leads to positive externalities, and the quality of education imparted is essential, especially during the formative years. The present attainments in literacy and numeracy and the variations among states should be the focus for remedial action.”

Offering his perspective, Square Panda India MD Ashish Jhalani had this to say: “Right education, accessibility to resources, teacher-child relationship and lastly educational infrastructure especially in rural areas are the key areas which our country needs to focus on. Expansion of technology in education will not replace teachers but enhance the solutions for children in the existing education system.”

The report, co-authored by Square Panda India MD Ashish Jhalani, presents evidence of factors contributing to India’s low learning outcomes in early grades and offers pathways for improvements. 

To read the full report, click here: https://competitiveness.in/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Report_on_state_of_foundational_learning_and_numeracy_web_version.pdf 

Square Panda India has been at the forefront of research in education technology and is now leveraging that to deliver high-quality early learning products to preschool children across India. With our research in pedagogy, we have configured our content and blended it with an interactive digital platform to be specific to the Indian content standards and benchmarks highlighted by the National Education Policy. As kids become increasingly tech-savvy, it’s essential to develop them as critical and creative thinkers at an early age so that they can meet the demands of today’s fast-paced world.

To know more about our work across the education ecosystem, visit https://ecce.squarepanda.in/ 

Children’s futures are shaped by those who teach them. In many homes across India — where parents often lack access to appropriate educational resources — caregivers and educators are the primary source of learning for young children. For a chance at a better future, however, we believe the responsibility towards learning should not rest solely on these educators and caregivers, but must also lie with the children themselves. Our efforts should concentrate on making children more independent while learning. 

Why Focus On Creating Independent Learners?

Research driven by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) shows independent learning has immense benefits to children, and is a high-impact, low-cost way to improve learning outcomes.

The advantages of inculcating independent study skills are far-reaching. A report named ‘What is Independent Learning and What are the Benefits for Students? (2008)’, stated the following benefits of independent learning for children:

– Develop more self-confidence
– They feel in control
– Creativity increases
– Increased social inclusion
– Ability to complete varied tasks set by teachers and caregivers

Encouraging such independent learning can happen from a very young age, but educators and caregivers need to understand how much guided intervention is needed, and when children are expected to be self-reliant. Here are five simple strategies to help turn young children into independent learners.

1.  Partner with parents

“In a 24-hour day, eight hours are the school’s time, eight hours are the child’s own time of sleep, and eight hours are the home time. Any learning that is happening in early childhood education, 1/3 rd of it is happening at home,” says Dr. Jawahar Surisetti (Advisor to Government, TED Speaker, Smart City Consultant, Start-Up Mentor, Psychologist, Bestselling Author, Speaking Tree Columnist).

Studies indicate children’s learning outcomes improve when they have the right guidance and instructional support even outside the classroom. Build a looped early learning ecosystem by increasing parental involvement in their child’s learning. Higher parental engagement supports learning even outside school hours and increases the likelihood of children wanting to learn without guided instruction.

For example, Square Panda India’s learning program for children has an in-built adaptive engine that reads individual children’s digital activity and provides real-time data to adults (parents, teachers, district administrators), whether the child is at home or is in school.

2.  Build special learning spaces

A key step to inculcating self-learning habits is designating a special space to learn. Set aside one corner of the classroom/home as a ‘learning corner’ filled with fun learning props. Partnering with parents comes in handy here; recruit them, or better yet, ask your students to help in creating their own learning spaces. Some examples of such spaces include:

• Reading Corner: To turn your pre-readers into independent readers, you will need to give them easy access to books, both physical and digital. Hang a basket or set a colourful bucket within easy reach of your kids, and fill it with books of all kinds. This gives them an opportunity to read a book of their choosing.
• Creative Corner: Fill this space with child-friendly creative tools like paint, crayons, art paper, magazine cutouts, colour pencils, and more. Let children doodle, finger paint, and express their ideas in any way they choose.
• Free-play Area: Grab different toys and trinkets you think your little learners would play with, and let them enjoy this space.

3.  Offer children a choice

Choices reflect preferences and interests. Children that are given a choice are encouraged to take a bigger role in their own learning. Asking them to make a choice on something simple (which colour do you want to use) or more complex (what items do you want to add in this learning corner) empowers children and gives them control over varied aspects of their learning.

4.  Assign groups

Children should be able to identify the people around them as potential resources to solve problems. Build teams and groups of children for projects and play-time as well. Letting them learn from their peers can benefit their independent learning as well. Working with others not only develops their social emotional skills, but also helps them solve problems on their own to get answers rather than rely on the teacher/educator.

5.  Identify and understand problem areas

Diverse classrooms with diverse learners mean educators and caregivers are faced with a diverse set of problems. Not every learner adapts to free expression quite the same way. In fact, multiple research studies into independent learning models prove some children do struggle with aspects of self-learning. Our task is identifying what these stumbling blocks are, and working with our early learning partners to solve these problems.

Some children could be more introverted than others and avoid speaking up, allowing others to take the lead. Caregivers need to monitor and address such issues, taking care to let everyone take a turn equally, in a safe, non-judgemental space.

Square Panda India’s Foundational Program Encourages Independent Learning

To show the efficacy of our foundational literacy program, we conducted projects across the states of Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Pune, with children aged 2-10. A comparison of results pre and post implementation showed us:

– Children across all three states could independently use words we taught in brand-new sentences.
– Children explored concepts and skills independently without guided instruction, at schools and at home.
– They learnt to use digital devices without guidance.
– The utility of Square Panda as an exploratory platform for independent learning.
– The high level of effectiveness teachers can achieve with it if used as a method of instruction.

Learn more about Square Panda India and our NEP 2020-aligned teaching-learning programs at ecce.squarepanda.in

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