25-30% students who couldn’t read according to their level can now read at Class VI levels: Govt

THE DELHI government’s intervention to improve learning levels in government schools has started to yield results with close to 30 per cent of students who were not able to read according to their class level now being able to read at Class VI levels, said education department officials. This is part of the the government's Chunauti 2018 policy which was announced in June.

Education Director Saumya Gupta said, “The feedback I’m getting from schools is that 2530 per cent of all students who were placed in the group of students who weren’t able to read according to their level (Nishtha group), are now reading at Class VI levels. Most of these children were only reading at the basic story level and have now moved to advanced story level. Many Class VI students who were able to only do subtraction earlier have now advanced to division. We will have to work consistently with them to take them up to the level of Class VII next year.”

The education department is now working on a war footing to meet the November 14 deadline to bring all children in the Nishtha group up to the level of their class. This means teachers will have to assess students every Saturday to see how many of them are catching up. This will be done using a simple one-page worksheet which has reading material for students of different levels. This includes reading words, paragraphs, stories and advanced stories.

Gupta said a teacher will have to spend only two-three minutes on each student to see what level they have progressed to.

“The progress will be meticulously documented in a register, where the progress of each student will have to be updated every week. A board outside the principal’s office will also display information about the number of students who are reading at their level and those who aren’t. Students’ names will not be displayed here. The aim is to turn this monitoring board into a board which says that there is no learning deficit in a particular school. It is a very challenging job but a beginning has to be made,” she said.

One hour will also be set aside each day for reading-based activities and a special teacher shall be assigned for a set of students, preferably 30, to provide them with extra support.

“Regional Directors of Education will also hold weekly review meetings, along with the Deputy Directors of Education, Heads of Schools and Mentor Teachers, to monitor the progress of the “Every Child Can Read” campaign,” said a statement issued by the government.

It added, “The School Management Committees (SMCS) of a few schools will organise ‘Reading Melas’ where local children will come with their parents and participate in fun reading activities in a community area. This will improve awareness about the importance of the ability to read and encourage collective action in ensuring children are able to read and write.”

The government had introduced the Chunauti 2018 policy after a baseline assessment showed that 74 per cent students in Class VI could not read their own textbooks. Students were divided into two groups — those who were reading at the level of the class they were in (Pratibha) and those who weren't (Nishtha).

The government has set itself a deadline for November 14, Children’s Day, to turn all students between class VI and VII into readers.

Archive Under the policy, students were divided into two groups — those who were reading at the level of the class they were in (Pratibha) and those who weren't (Nishtha).