The Ministry of Education has asked all the states and union territories to prepare a plan to maintain continuity of learning and therefore lessen the impact of the pandemic. The plan should include financial support to students, fund allocation for the primary school teachers to purchase tablets and 20 lakh to each state and union territory for conducting oral reading fluency (ORF) study.
In the letter to the states and union and territories, the Ministry stated, “A comprehensive learning recovery plan (LRP) has been prepared which delineates the action to be undertaken by each stakeholder, indicative annual calendar of activities, existing interventions which can be utilised and additional support with funding as a one-time measure.
“In order to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, there is an imperative need to have an urgent and appropriate strategy to ensure a continuum of learning. We have taken a multi-pronged and holistic approach to ensure that children received suitable support,”
The ministry has also asked the states to include financial support of Rs 500 per head for all students of upper primary and secondary levels, Rs 10,000 per head for 25 lakh teachers at the primary level for tablets, funds for ORF study, financial support of Rs 6.40 lakh non-recurring and Rs 2.40 lakh recurring cost including for tablets for ICT facility in each block resource centre (BRC) and Rs 1,000 per cluster resource centre (CRC) in the annual work plan and allocate the budget accordingly.
In the list by the ministry, some of the activities which are mentioned in the academic calendar with defined timelines are, finding dropouts and out-of-school children from each class and grade. Also, implementation of bridge courses and school readiness module for secondary classes, clustering of schools with private schools, Kendriya Vidyalayas or Navodaya Vidyalayas for learning from each other, creating a district-wise strategy for post-National Achievement Survey (NAS) interventions based on results
Some of the activities which are listed in the academic calendar are to introduce customised training programmes for teachers and ensure delivery of textbooks and uniforms to each child.
