By Amit Kapoor
Why FLN Matters Now More Than Ever
As India charts its path towards a Viksit Bharat by 2047, the foundation of this transformation lies in inclusive economic growth, and at the heart of inclusive growth is Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN). FLN not only encompasses academic skills enabling students to read with understanding and perform basic arithmetic by the end of Grade 3, but it is also the gateway to lifelong learning, economic participation, and social empowerment.
Recognizing the importance of FLN, the Government of India launched the National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat), highlighting that the urgency to improve the FLN scenario in India is both timely and critical. With a deadline set for 2026-27, the initiative aims to ensure that every child acquires foundational skills by Grade 3. While this is an ambitious goal, India needs to tread towards it to secure the future of its children as well as the economy. However, given India has a rich linguistic diversity and the regional disparities in access and quality of education, the nationwide implementation of inclusive FLN is inherently complex. Therefore, while it is essential to address foundational learning deficiencies within India, progress is likely to vary across different regions. This variation is attributable to the underlying complexities outlined below, which must be systematically addressed to ensure that educational equity serves as a potent catalyst for socioeconomic equality.
For instance, India’s vibrant multilingual landscape presents complexities in foundational education fundamentally rooted in bilingualism and multilingualism, where individuals may communicate in two or more languages. Nevertheless, this diversity presents intricate challenges in meeting the diverse linguistic needs of children during their foundational years of education, particularly in fostering meaningful learning experiences. Practices concerning the use of a single language for initial literacy, biliteracy, or a dual/multilingual medium underscore the complexity involved in accommodating varying language backgrounds. Therefore, making it essential that children are taught in their mother tongue or in a language they have acquired before primary school enrollment. This requirement is crucial not only for linguistic development, facilitating concept formation and symbol decoding, but also for addressing children’s psychological well-being, thereby bolstering confidence and fostering a positive sense of identity.
Achieving these objectives necessitates the development of suitable reading materials, training educators in multilingual contexts, allocating adequate budgets, among other measures, all of which contribute to the heightened complexity of the process. However, scaling multilingual education requires enhanced teacher training, suitable learning resources, and sustained financial investment. In the absence of these, schools default to a hegemonic language, most often English, that becomes the ‘de facto’ official language of instruction. This may unintentionally sideline other languages and contribute to uneven learning outcomes and social disparities. This is because the importance of FLN extends far beyond the classroom. The skills acquired during foundational years are directly linked to future academic success, economic productivity, and social well-being.
The Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Report by the Institute for Competitiveness and the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister ( EAC-PM) in 2021 revealed that a cost-benefit analysis suggested that investment in FLN for each cohort in India could increase the country’s GDP by up to 7.39 per cent. Whereas, without robust FLN skills, many children are likely to drop out before completing secondary education, forgoing potential lifetime earnings and productivity benefits. This reiterates the transformative potential of FLN for individual economic growth as well as national development. It highlights that if the foundational skills of the population are improved, FLN can be a game-changer for India, propelling the economy to achieve new heights of development.
For tapping the full potential of FLN in India, it must design and implement a strategic approach. To begin with, India can improve the utility of the existing country-wide assessments such as the National Assessment Survey and the Foundational Literacy Study, by introducing unit-level data to support more targeted interventions. This could address disparities across social, gender, and linguistic groups, and socioeconomic and regional contexts, thereby promoting inclusive and equitable education. Beyond data, collaboration is key. Thus, the government should foster collaboration between government research units, educators, and academic institutions to enhance the monitoring, evaluation, and refinement of FLN interventions and establish a robust feedback mechanism. Creating centralized knowledge hubs can further streamline the process.
Another critical component of the FLN ecosystem is teacher professional development. Continuous hybrid training programs can build pedagogical expertise in FLN, especially in multilingual settings. Moreover, aligning the medium of instruction with the child’s linguistic background, while also leveraging artificial intelligence and blended learning toolsduring the foundational years, is essential for effective learning. Thus, technologically empowered FLN programs must be designed to support both mother-tongue and second-language learners, to ensure linguistic inclusivity. To enable this, it is vital to recruit language teachers from diverse communities, as research shows that foundational skills acquired in a child’s first language can be transferred to additional languages. Moreover, Anganwadis, under the Integrated Child Development Scheme, can play a transformative role in preparing children for school. The Anganwadi workers should also be supported in building their capacities, developing child-friendly learning resources, and conducting regular interactive sessions to foster school readiness.
FLN is the bedrock of learning and growth and thus, a prerequisite to achieving the ambitious goal of NIPUN Bharat by 2026–27. But what happens when the bedrock itself is uneven? How can it be smoothed out? The answer lies in addressing the systemic gaps through commitment and a strategic approach for inclusive and equitable foundational learning. To truly build a strong foundation, we must dig deeper to understand inclusion gaps that continue to shape FLN outcomes in India and how better data and not just more data can drive real change and resolve the FLN crisis.
The article was published with Hindu Business Line on October 10, 2025.
