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National Education Policy 2020 New India Literacy Programme NIPUN Bharat Mission 739 million adults still cannot read and write - UNESCO PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE UN votes to adopt new world map Anak Krakatau Volcanic Eruption WHO validates Bhutan for eliminating dog-transmitted human rabies

1.  Introduction Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Government of India has taken several significant steps in the past years to improve the education sector.The  National Education Policy 2020 (NEP) is central to these reforms. It can give a new direction to India’s vast education system of 15.5 lakh schools, about 50,000 higher educational institutions, 28.53 crore students and 108 lakh teachers. 2.  Need for a New Education Policy The  last education policy  was formulated in 1986. It was called for a review in every five years. However, the policy was reviewed only once in 1992. Since then,the world has changed drastically in every field including science, technology, communication etc. To keep pace with this change, we needed an education system that: ·          Could prepare the students to meet the demands of the 21 st  century ·       ...

  Government approved a new scheme “ New India Literacy Programme ( नव भारत साक्षरता कार्यक्रम) for the period FYs 2022-2027 to cover all the aspects of Adult Education to align with National Education Policy 2020 and Budget Announcements 2021-22. The National Education Policy 2020 has recommendations for Adult Education and Lifelong Learning. The Union Budget 2021-22, announcement had been made to enable increased access of resources, online modules covering the entire gamut of adult education will be introduced. The objectives of the scheme is to impart not only foundational literacy and numeracy but also to cover other components which are necessary for a citizen of 21 st century such as  critical life skills (including financial literacy, digital literacy, commercial skills, health care and awareness, child care and education, and family welfare); vocational skills development (with a view towards obtaining local employment); basic education (including preparatory, mid...

  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. This Mission aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, has been set up under the aegis of the centrally sponsored scheme of Samagra Shiksha - an integrated scheme for School Education. All States/Union Territories are implementing NBM. It is the first time that the age group of 3-6 years has been included in the school continuum in the foundational stage in 5+3+3+4 structure consisting of 3 years of Balvatika and Grades 1 & 2. The state-wise enrolment for Foundational Stage in Government and Government aided schools are at Annexure I . Financial assistance is provided to States ...

UNESCO proclaimed International Literacy Day in 1966. But despite progress globally, 739 million adults (UNESCO Institue for Statistics, 2025) still cannot read and write. Global literacy rates have improved significantly between 1975 and 2024: the global adult literacy rate (aged 15+) from 65% to 88%, and the global youth literacy rate (aged 18–24) from 75% to 93%.  Only 44% of students  attain minimum proficiency in mathematics by the end of primary school. In a fifth of countries with data  less than half of children are instructed in their first language 73% of countries  still invest less than 1% of GDP in R&D Data insights Over a quarter of primary school aged children do not attend education in some countries. Rural youth often have significantly lower educational attainment than urban counterparts. Over one in ten youth and adults – almost three quarters of a billion people - are unable to understand a simple text. Indian Express UNESCO