Samagra Shiksha Nagaland conducts workshop for post NAS 2021, FLS 2022

Our Correspondent
Kohima | May 12

The large number of out-of- school children, high dropout rate and low retention rate are matters of concern in Nagaland, informed Kevileno Angami, Commissioner & Secretary for School Education & SCERT Nagaland.

She said this while addressing the one day workshop for post National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2011 and Foundational Learning Study (FLS) 2022 at Capital Convention Centre, Kohima on May 11. The workshop was conducted by the Nagaland Education Mission Society, Samagra Shiksha Nagaland.

Angami questioned the causes of these concerning issues regarding school education in the state. “Of course, there are also external factors. But when the foundation is not strong, our children are not able to move forward,” she said.

NAS is an assessment of the health of the education system in the country, she said, adding that in Nagaland, NAS was carried out not extensively across the school but based on sample.

In Nagaland, NAS was carried out in 910 schools involving 5,507 teachers and 28,995 students.

Touching on FLS, she said that National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 gives emphasis to Foundational Literacy and Numeracy. For this, NIPUN Bharat mission was launched in July 2021 to strengthen the same.

In Nagaland, the Chief Minister launched NIPUN Bharat Mission in December 2021 and the work is already in progress, she said adding that this mission focuses on improving foundational literacy in the state.

Referring to FLS, she said the survey was conducted “so that we are aware and we assess our stand, our achievement and we identify the gaps” and accordingly provide intervention to bridge the gaps.

Keviraleü Kerhuo, Director, State Council of Educational Research & Training, (SCERT) Nagaland shared the outcome and findings of NAS 2021 and FLS 2022.

Veketulu Veyie, Senior lecturer SCERT and Lanukala I Jamir, Reader, SCERT Nagaland spoke on FLS 2022 and NAS 2021- findings and intervention plans respectively. 

‘Comprehensive intervention strategies required’
Delivering the keynote address, Keviraleü Kerhuo, Director, SCERT Nagaland said that the NAS and FLS finding provides a comprehensive picture of students’ learning across the country and in every state; and understanding of students’ knowledge, skills and performance on key tasks. It also provides policy planners with information to devise strategy and allocate resources to strengthen poor performance.

Considering the importance of NAS and FLS in the education system, she said “plans for effective implementation should be our effort,” and that “the interventions that we give will be crucial to enhance learning levels of our children.”

Stressing on the need to come up with comprehensive post NAS and Post FLS intervention strategies for Nagaland, Kerhuo said “This will help us to shape and plan our education system for the future.”  
 
National Achievement Survey
NAS was conducted throughout the country on November 13, 2017 for classes 3, 5 and 8 in government and government aided schools for the subjects Mathematics, Language, Social Sciences and Science.

“NAS 2017 was conducted by NCERT at the Centre and in Nagaland the survey was initiated by SCERT, and through this survey, it has helped us to understand the progress towards achieving the learning outcomes and also suggest ways to improve the learning levels of our children,” Kerhuo said.

NAS 2021 was conducted on November 12, 2021. This survey was conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) as Assessment administrator for Grade 3, 5, 8 & 10 students of State Government Schools, Government Aided Schools, Private Unaided Recognised Schools and Central Government Schools.

At the state level, NAS 2021 was initiated by the Directorate of School Education (DoSE) with Timothy Thong, then Joint Director, DoSE as the Nodal Officer.

“Selection of Sampled schools was based on UDISE+2019-20 data;therefore, the states, districts used for drawing of the sample for NAS 2021 is exactly as per the UDISE+2019-20,” she informed. 

Foundational Literacy Survey 2022
Kerhuo also informed that as a crucial step towards strengthening efforts for Foundational Literacy ad Numeracy (FLN), a large scale Foundational Learning Study (FLS) was undertaken by NCERT in March 2022.

In Nagaland, out of 75 schools, 669 students and 146 teachers participated in the survey, she said.At the National level, approximately 86,000 grade 3 students from 10,000 schools were covered.

The study sample included State Government schools, Government aided schools, private recognised schools and Central Government schools. FLS was conducted in 20 languages which are being used as medium of instruction in various States/UTs.

Key Highlights of NAS 2021

*    Under the national average, percentage of students for class 3 was 59%, which declined by 10% to 49% in class 5. This further declined to 41.9% in class 8 and then 37.8% in class 10.
*    In the performance recorded, there is a decline in almost all subjects. The mathematics score nationally was 57% in class 3, dropping by almost 10% to 44% in class 5, and to 36% in class 8, and 32% in class 10.
*    The language score nationally was 62% in class 3, and dropped to 52% in class 5, and to 53% in class 8.
*    For science, the national score declined from 39% in class 8 to 35% in class 10.
*    The average performance of schools in rural areas remained “significantly below” those urban areas in some states and union territories (UTs).
*    In Social-Group Wise Performance, the schedule caste (SC)/ schedule tribe (ST)/ Other Backward Classes (OBC) categories remained lower than that of students from general category.
*    In Gender-wise Performance, girls remained better than boys in almost all subjects across classes, both nationally and at state level.
*    At home level, during the pandemic when the schools remained closed, 78% of students termed it as burdensome with a lot of assignments.
*    38% of students faced difficulties in learning at home, while 24% said they did not have digital devices at home.