By Sadaket Ali
The ability to read, write, and perform basic operations with numbers is the most essential foundation for all future learning and schooling. Without these basic skills, students cannot meaningfully engage with any other subject, which makes foundational literacy and numeracy the single most urgent priority for India’s education system today. Alarming evidence from both governmental and non-governmental surveys shows that the country is facing a learning crisis: over five crore elementary school students lack the ability to read and comprehend simple texts or to carry out basic addition and subtraction with Indian numerals. This gap, if left unaddressed, has the potential to undermine the entire vision of inclusive and quality education for all. Recognizing this challenge, the achievement of foundational literacy and numeracy for all children has been declared a national mission, with the goal of universal attainment by Grade 3 no later than 2025. This target has been given the highest priority because no other policy reform or educational innovation will be meaningful if children are not able to acquire the most basic skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic. To drive this mission, a National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy will be established by the Ministry of Human Resource Development on priority. States and Union Territories will be tasked with preparing immediate and detailed implementation plans, complete with stage-wise targets, monitoring mechanisms, and accountability systems to ensure measurable progress toward universal FLN.
Achieving this ambitious goal requires urgent action on multiple fronts, beginning with teachers. Teacher vacancies will be filled in a time-bound manner, particularly in disadvantaged regions and areas with high pupil-to-teacher ratios or widespread illiteracy. Local teachers, familiar with the community and its languages, will be prioritized for recruitment to ensure effective classroom communication. To guarantee personal attention to learners, a pupil-teacher ratio of less than 30:1 will be maintained at every school, with even lower ratios (25:1) in schools serving large numbers of disadvantaged students. Teachers will not only be appointed but also supported through continuous professional development, enabling them to adopt modern strategies for imparting foundational literacy and numeracy. On the curricular side, reading, writing, speaking, counting, arithmetic, and mathematical thinking will receive significantly increased attention across preparatory and middle school levels. Daily dedicated hours, as well as year-long activities and events, will reinforce these subjects in joyful and engaging ways. Continuous formative and adaptive assessments will be embedded into classroom processes to closely track each child’s progress, provide personalized support, and ensure no learner is left behind. Teacher education programmes and early grade curricula will also be redesigned to place renewed emphasis on foundational literacy and numeracy, equipping future educators with the skills and approaches needed for this mission. Given the current lack of universal ECCE access, many children already fall behind in the first weeks of Grade 1. To bridge this gap, NCERT and SCERTs will develop a three-month school preparation module for all Grade 1 students. This play-based module will focus on alphabets, sounds, words, numbers, colours, and shapes, while also encouraging collaboration between peers and active involvement of parents. This will ensure that every child entering formal schooling has a smooth transition and a strong foundation.
“Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) is the bedrock for all learning. India’s 2025 mission aims for every child to read, write, and do arithmetic well.”
Technology will also play a central role. A national repository of high-quality resources for foundational literacy and numeracy will be made available through DIKSHA, India’s Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing. Technology-enabled solutions will be piloted and scaled up to aid teachers, bridge language barriers, and make learning more personalized and accessible. Because of the sheer scale of the challenge, all possible methods will be employed to support teachers and students. Peer tutoring has been proven worldwide as an effective and joyful way to boost learning outcomes for both the learner and the tutor. In India, peer tutoring will be promoted as a voluntary activity under teacher supervision, with safety measures in place. Beyond peers, the participation of trained volunteers from local communities and beyond will be facilitated, making it easy for literate citizens to contribute. The vision is that if every literate adult takes responsibility for teaching even one learner, the nation’s learning crisis could be transformed rapidly. States will be encouraged to design innovative models to foster such tutoring, volunteering, and community participation.
To cultivate a culture of reading across the nation, enjoyable and inspiring books for children of all ages will be developed in every Indian language, supported by high-quality translation, including technology-assisted translation where needed. Public and school libraries will be expanded significantly, and digital libraries will be created to ensure access to reading material across geographies. School libraries, especially in rural areas, will be opened to serve communities during non-school hours, and initiatives like book clubs will be encouraged to build habits of joyful reading. To further institutionalize this effort, a National Book Promotion Policy will be framed, focusing on availability, accessibility, quality, and readership of books across genres, languages, and levels.
The mission also acknowledges that children cannot learn effectively when they are hungry, undernourished, or unwell. Therefore, the health and nutrition of learners will be addressed through expanded meal programmes and strengthened school health services. Nutritious breakfasts, in addition to midday meals, will be introduced where feasible, since research shows that mornings after a healthy breakfast are particularly effective for cognitively demanding subjects. Where hot meals are not possible, simple and local alternatives such as groundnuts with jaggery or fresh fruits will be provided. Mental health support will also be prioritized, with social workers, counselors, and greater community involvement integrated into the schooling system. Regular health check-ups, complete immunization, and health cards for monitoring will become standard practice for every child. In essence, foundational literacy and numeracy is the bedrock upon which all other learning rests. By 2025, India envisions that every child will be able to read with comprehension, write with confidence, and perform basic arithmetic with ease. This national mission is not just an educational reform but a moral commitment to future generations. When children master these fundamental skills, they not only gain access to the vast world of knowledge but also the confidence and ability to shape their own destinies.
(The author is a social activist and a freelancer. The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”)
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