Delhi govt to identify 'non-readers' in govt schools to help students and improve education base

The Delhi government recently joined hands with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and several local bodies to work for improving the initial education base. The programme, called Mission Buniyaad, will help understand the students in municipal schools, and distinguish between the ‘readers’ and ‘non-readers’.

Both the Delhi government and local bodies will work towards improving the learning levels of school students under them. This programme will target the children studying from Class III to V in municipal schools, and from Class VI to VIII in government schools.

This programme was announced on February 19, 2018, by the Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister Manish Sisodia. He said that this programme is on the lines of the Chunauti scheme that was launched earlier by the government on finding that 74 percent of students in Class VI cannot read.

The programme was finalised after two rounds of meetings with the Delhi Cantonment Board (DCB), MCDs, and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC). The entire country, including Delhi, has a learning crisis in schools, according to the National Achievement Survey (NAS).

Various programmes have been initiated in the Delhi government-run secondary schools, which have improved students' reading abilities by 20 percent.

According to the Daily Pioneer, the Education Minister said,

In the secondary schools run by the Delhi government, various programmes we initiated have improved reading ability by about 20 percent. However, children in primary schools that are under the MCDs are not able to read and, thereafter, when they study in secondary schools, they find it difficult to cope up with the advanced levels.

The programme will be run by a cadre of teachers, and will be very similar to the teacher-mentor programme that is already present in government schools in Delhi. The campaign will be run on a mission mode by all Education Department officials during April-June.

According to the Indian Express, the Education Minister also said,

Children will undergo assessments of their reading levels, based on which they will be enrolled in specialised ‘Mission Buniyaad’ classes. For those who are not able to read, I request all parents to cancel their summer holiday plans and send their children to school for remedial classes.

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