Under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) has been identified as the first priority of school education. The policy recognises that children who fail to acquire fundamental literacy, numeracy and comprehension skills during their formative years are at risk of facing ongoing learning challenges. With this, the Government of India launched the National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy, commonly referred to as NIPUN Bharat, to ensure every child attains foundational competencies by the end of Grade III. NIPUN Axom is the Assam version of this national mission with learning materials and teacher support mechanisms developed in Assamese and other regional languages. This research journal critically analyses the implementation of FLN in Assamese medium primary schools within the framework of NEP 2020 and NIPUN Bharat. It explores the significance of mother tongue, availability of resources for Assamese learning, teacher preparedness, teaching methods, evaluation processes, community engagement and institutional backing. The study has a qualitative, descriptive and analytical nature, supported by policy documents, official guidelines, state materials and pertinent academic discussions. Analysis reveals significant advantages for Assamese-medium schools, such as cultural familiarity, a strong oral language tradition, and availability of teaching-learning materials adapted to the local context. However, implementation is hampered by uneven teacher training, the realities of multilingual classrooms, lack of infrastructure, lack of parental engagement,excessive administrative responsibilities, and the gap between policy expectations and classroom practice. The paper contends that for FLN to be implemented with success, it requires more than just distribution of materials or numerical targets. It requires sustained academic mentoring, context-sensitive pedagogy, continuous assessment, strengthened teacher autonomy and meaningful participation by families and communities.

References

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