Latest news with #FLN
Zawya
22-07-2025
- General
- Zawya
African Union, in partnership with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), convene a Validation Workshop to Scale Proven Solutions for Foundational Learning in Africa
The Validation Workshop on Scalable Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) Practices to End Learning Poverty in Africa was officially opened today. The two-day gathering, held at the African Union Commission (AUC) Headquarters in Addis Ababa from July 22 to 23, 2025, marks a significant step forward in the collective effort to address the continent's learning crisis and ensure that every child acquires the essential foundational skills they deserve by age 10. The workshop brings together technical experts from 25 Member States, along with representatives from the African Union Commission, UNICEF, the Gates Foundation, and other development partners. The goal is to validate the research findings constituting the mapping of scalable good practices for foundational literacy and numeracy across the continent. 'The continental Foundational Literacy and Numeracy mapping resource we are validating today is an essential step toward reversing this trend. It seeks to gather, synthesise, and spotlight what works—real, evidence-based, scalable practices that have shown success across diverse African contexts. Whether it's structured pedagogy in Uganda, mother-tongue based instruction in Ethiopia, or targeted instruction by learning level in Zambia, these are not only just case studies, but blueprints with promise for large-scale systemic change', Prof. Saidou Madougou, Director of the Department of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (ESTI). Across West, Central, East, and Southern Africa, an alarming 9 out of 10 children are unable to read and understand a simple sentence by the age of 10. While enrollment in primary and lower secondary education has increased significantly over the last two decades, millions of children attend school without acquiring the foundational skills they need. This persistent learning crisis is more than an educational challenge; it poses a threat to future economic prosperity. 'This workshop is a significant step in creating a broader pathway of engagement for foundational learning and numeracy between educators, policy makers and practitioners to improve learning outcomes: learning from one another through the cross-fertilisation of successes, and more importantly, taking the lead in adapting scalable solutions and embedding them into national education sector plans, policies, and programmes', emphasized Dr Laila Gad, UNICEF Representative to the African Union and UNECA The outcomes of this workshop will also contribute to the End Learning Poverty for All in Africa Campaign (ELPAf)—a four-year African Union–UNICEF initiative launched in September 2024 during the AU Year of Education. ELPAf aims to end learning poverty in Africa by strengthening foundational literacy and numeracy, which are the cornerstones of all further learning and skill acquisition. Foundational learning holds the most significant promise for overcoming Africa's education challenges, laying the groundwork for lifelong learning, and empowering African children to thrive as engaged citizens and contributors to their communities and economies. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Union (AU).
Morocco World
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Morocco World
The Last Believers: Memory, Mirage, and the Failed Promises of the Algerian Revolution
Why European intellectuals and journalists—from Ignacio Cembrero to Santiago Alba Rico—cling to the myth of the Algerian Revolution, and project their disillusionment onto Morocco's success. For decades, a certain current of Spanish and European intellectuals—figures shaped by the ideals of anti-imperialism and the global left—have continued to view North Africa through a Cold War lens. In this vision, Algeria stood for resistance, progress, and revolutionary virtue, while Morocco was cast as a reactionary monarchy: decorative, conservative, complicit in the Western order. That binary may have held symbolic weight in the 1970s. Today, it persists only as an ideological mirage. The persistence of this outdated dichotomy is most visible in the writings of individuals like Ignacio Cembrero, a longtime critic of Morocco, and Santiago Alba Rico, a philosopher and emblem of the Spanish anti-colonial left. Both are representative of a broader trend—one that cannot accept that the revolutionary dream they once embraced has collapsed, and that the monarchy they once derided is evolving in ways they never imagined. To understand this, one must revisit the myth of the Algerian Revolution. In the 1960s and 70s, Algeria stood at the forefront of the global South's political imagination. The FLN's triumph over French colonialism inspired admiration across Europe and the Arab world. Under Boumediene, Algeria was hailed as a radical experiment: state-led industrialization, workers' self-management, agrarian reform, third-world solidarity. It was, for many, the 'Yugoslavia of the Maghreb'—a model for decolonized, anti-capitalist development. But that dream unraveled. The revolution, in the end, devoured its own children. Power consolidated in the hands of a military elite. Civil society was weakened, dissent suppressed, and the promise of self-governance gave way to bureaucratic authoritarianism. The violent 'Black Decade' of the 1990s revealed just how fragile the foundations were. It was not simply a political crisis—it was the collapse of the very revolutionary ideal. And yet, many of its early sympathizers—especially in Spain—could not let go. Not because they are paid agents, as some claim, but because to accept the death of the Algerian dream would be to confront a deeper loss: the disappearance of their own ideological homeland. For Cembrero and Alba Rico, Algeria represented a moral North Star, and Morocco the convenient foil. The inversion of that dynamic—where Morocco modernizes, stabilizes, and engages globally, while Algeria recedes into authoritarian opacity—is existentially disruptive. Morocco's trajectory over the past two decades defies the clichés of these critics. Yes, it is a monarchy. But it is also a state that has implemented real, if incremental, political reforms, made significant investments in infrastructure, embraced renewable energy, and navigated social and religious pluralism with a level of institutional agility rare in the region. Its diplomacy is proactive, its economy increasingly diversified, and its internal cohesion more durable than many predicted. This evolution does not fit into the old ideological playbook. And rather than revise their frameworks, these critics double down. Morocco is still cast as an oppressive relic; its accomplishments minimized, its motives pathologized. The monarchy, for them, cannot modernize—it can only manipulate. The Moroccan people cannot choose—they must be victims. In this narrative, the Polisario Front becomes the last hope of revolutionary redemption. Cembrero once described it as 'a revolution in the sand.' For him, and for others of that ideological tradition, the Polisario is not just a political movement—it is a vessel through which the Algerian revolutionary spirit might live on. Never mind its entanglement with an authoritarian regime in Algiers. Never mind its dwindling support or internal fractures. What matters is symbolic continuity. But this is not political analysis—it is nostalgia in disguise. It is an emotional refusal to reckon with the passage of time and the collapse of cherished myths. The tragedy is not merely Algeria's failure to deliver on its revolutionary promises. The tragedy is the intellectual paralysis of those who refuse to see it. Until they do, they will continue to attack Morocco—not because of what it is, but because of what it no longer allows them to believe. They are the last believers in a revolution that betrayed its promise. And they would rather deny the present than admit the past has let them down. Tags: Algeria and MoroccoMorocco Algeria
Time of India
15-07-2025
- General
- Time of India
35k govt schools to be assessed under NIPUN campaigns in J'khand
1 2 Ranchi: The Jharkhand Education Project Council on Tuesday launched a state-wide campaign titled 'Mera Vidyalaya NIPUN and Main Bhi NIPUN' to enhance foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) outcomes among students in primary classes. The campaign targets around eight lakh students enrolled in Classes I to III across 35,000 govt schools in the state. In the first phase of the campaign, 1,056 schools were assessed from July 21 to 26. Master trainers (MTs) and resource persons carried out the evaluations using a dedicated online app, utilising school-provided tablets or personal smartphones. From August to December, the MTs conducted evaluations and certifications across their respective blocks and districts. Initial assessments began with schools that have at least two teachers, while single-teacher schools will be included later to allow them more time to prepare. Monthly data collection and reporting will be carried out at the district level to track progress. State programme officer for quality education, Abhinav Kumar, said, "The strategy for this campaign has been developed as a continuation of the NIPUN Bharat Mission and is focused on improving the learning outcomes in foundational grades." The campaign's objectives included structured efforts on various FLN components, evaluation of schools, assessment of progress in student learning, and recognition of high-performing schools and students.
The Hindu
05-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Five years of NEP 2020: Time to take stock of NIPUN Bharat, India's largest foundational learning mission
This July marks the fifth anniversary of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, a reform effort aimed at transforming India's education system. Over the past five years, paradigms have shifted, AI has entered classrooms and leading global institutions have set up campuses in India. But away from the spotlight, a steady and strong change in our children's learning trajectory is unfolding—the story of India's NIPUN Bharat Mission. Launched in July 2021, NIPUN Bharat operationalised NEP's vision for foundational learning into a nationwide mission to ensure every child in India can read with understanding and do basic math by Grade 2. With ₹2,700 crore in annual funding, it now reaches over 5 crore children and 17 lakh teachers across 6 lakh schools making it the world's largest foundational learning programme and a global benchmark for what strong prioritisation and action for foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) for all children can and should look like. A significant contributor to the success of NIPUN is how the funding is designed. Nearly 80% of State school education budgets are usually tied up in teacher and staff salaries and infrastructure, leaving very little flexibility for spending on quality initiatives. NIPUN earmarks ₹500/student per year for quality teaching-learning materials (TLMs) and ₹150/teacher for teacher resources and training. States like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Assam have leveraged these funds to roll out teacher guides with structured lesson plans, student workbooks for both language and maths, and hands-on training that is helping change classroom transaction and practice—all aligned with their FLN goals. Funding under NIPUN Bharat Mission is also strengthening implementation at the district level. States are now empowered to set-up district units for tracking of student learning to review progress of state's FLN mission. In 2023-24 alone, over 4 lakh spot assessments across Grades 1 to 3 were conducted by Academic Resource Persons in Uttar Pradesh, while Odisha's Cluster Resource Coordinators made 57,000 classroom visits to mentor teachers. The question on everyone's mind is whether the design and large scale deployment of NIPUN state missions has had a positive impact on student learning? The early evidence is showing positive results. State-run large-scale annual student assessments are showing positive trends in FLN competencies. In Madhya Pradesh, for example, the percentage of students who were NIPUN-competent in oral reading fluency went up by 10 percentage points between 2023 and 2024. Nationally, ASER 2024 recorded the strongest early learning gains in over two decades with the percentage of Grade 3 students proficient in literacy and numeracy increasing by 7 percentage points between 2022 and 2024. Looking ahead As India looks ahead to build on these early green shoots of progress under NIPUN, we need a bolder roadmap for sustained impact at scale. First, extending NIPUN Bharat for another five years, beyond its current deadline of 2027 will help India get the necessary runway to ensure early signs of impact grow strong roots for sustained learning gains. Nearly 100% of allocated funds to states are being utilised, showing clear evidence of demand and momentum. What's needed now is continuity. Second, NIPUN can be expanded to cover the foundational stage starting from Balvatika/Kindergarten for 5-year-olds to Grade 5. A full year Balvatika in schools will give our children the necessary preparedness to start their grade 1 learning journey. Support in Grade 3 to 5 will ensure year on year learning gains are sustained for successful onward learning journeys in middle school and high school. Third, district-level FLN units can be strengthened with continued funding and strong accountability through state reviews. Districts have been the critical link for deployment of state programmes across all schools and classrooms in the state. Hence setting up district level FLN units will ensure high fidelity implementation of the state's FLN mission leading to all children learning. Fourth, the health of our education system can be regularly assessed by institutionalising annual system level diagnostics like the 2022 Foundational Learning Study which was an oral assessment. Such assessments will help benchmark progress, identify learning deficits early, and inform timely interventions so that every child achieves FLN competencies. Finally, build political and community ownership. Strong political sponsorship of NIPUN will ensure momentum from NEP and NIPUN Bharat is sustained through to NIPUN 2.0. India's social change campaigns like Swachh Bharat and Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao gained momentum through widespread community engagement and strong political ownership. Community ownership for NIPUN can involve panchayats organising NIPUN Gram Sabhas to spread awareness about the mission, materials being distributed by schools to parents for at-home learning, and local leaders celebrating learning milestones of students. Given that our vision of a Viksit Bharat rests on realising the full potential of our young population, FLN warrants similar visibility. The last four years have shown what's possible when the system puts learning first. As Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam once said, 'Learning gives creativity, creativity leads to thinking, thinking provides knowledge, and knowledge makes you great.' In many ways, NIPUN Bharat has laid out the foundational tracks for this journey for all our children. What's needed now is to sustain and strengthen this momentum. (Shaveta Sharma-Kukreja is the CEO & MD, Central Square Foundation. Romonika D. Sharan is a Senior Retd. Bureaucrat and Project Director, Policy & Communications, Central Square Foundation)
The Hindu
21-06-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Foundation Literacy and Numeracy baseline test in all govt schools
The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has directed all District Educational Officers to conduct a baseline test for implementation of Foundation Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) for classes 1 to 5 and Learning Improvement Programme (LIP) for classes 6 to 9. The test will be conducted from June 25 to 30 and the results are to be uploaded on the Telangana School Education app by July 15. According to SCERT, the baseline test and findings assess learning gaps and improve subject-specific learning outcomes among students in all government schools.
