India’s learning poverty has shot up, says World Bank official

What is the News?

According to the World Bank Official, India’s learning poverty has shot up from 54% (before the pandemic) to 70% (after the pandemic).

What is Learning Poverty?

According to the World Bank, Learning Poverty means being unable to read and understand a simple text by the age of 10. 

This indicator brings together schooling and learning indicators. It begins with the share of children who haven’t achieved minimum reading proficiency (as measured in schools) and is adjusted by the proportion of children who are out of school (and are assumed not able to read proficiently).

Significance: The learning poverty indicator allows us to illustrate progress toward SDG 4’s broader goal to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all. 

What can India do now to reduce learning poverty?

– Open Schools and reach every child to ensure that all of them re-enrol.

– Assess learning to know where kids are today.

– Prioritize teaching the fundamentals. 

– Increase catch-up learning. To achieve this, teachers will need to group students within the classroom not according to the grade or according to the age, but according to where they are. 

– Work on emotional support for both children and teachers.

– Reduce the digital divide by investing in not the software or the hardware but the entire digital ecosystem.

Source: This post is based on the article “India’s learning poverty has shot up, says World Bank official” published in The Hindu on 10th April 2022.