‘Census-style’ 45-day assessment signals early learning turnaround in Haryana schools | India News

New Delhi: At a time when India is struggling to ensure that children can read and do basic arithmetic by Class III — a key goal of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 — Haryana government has reported a sharp turnaround in school-level learning outcomes (grade-level proficiency). A statewide “census-style” assessment, exclusively accessed by TOI, showed the share of high-performing government schools rose to 53% from 7% in September last year following remedial efforts aimed at addressing basic literacy and numeracy gaps.Haryana’s initiative marks a move away from sample-based assessment towards a “census-style diagnostic approach” that measures each child’s skills individually. The exercise covered over 4.35 lakh students in about 8,600 government primary schools using a digital teacher-led assessment system of Haryana Mission’s NIPUN (National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy).The first assessment conducted in September 2025 revealed significant learning gaps across the system. Most schools were classified in Category C (lowest), with less than half of students achieving grade-level proficiency.After the diagnosis, districts developed their own 45-day remedial strategies, grouping students based on ability and targeting specific learning gaps. Peer-learning methods were also used to support weaker students. “Each district had developed its own strategy for 45 days which included section A to help lower class students as all the students were already mapped,” said Pramod Kumar, program officer, Nipun Haryana.The state repeated the assessment in December 2025 using the same teachers who administered the first round. “The data has completely changed significantly, showing unimaginable progress,” the official said.Learning gains were visible in literacy and numeracy. Class II literacy increased from 46.5% to 67%, while class III literacy increased from 44.2% to 61.4%. Numerical performance also improved, with second grade scores rising from 63.7% to 78.8% and third grade scores from 50.5% to 71%. The results translated into a big change in the school’s performance category. The number of A category schools increased from 621 to 4,545, while the number of C category schools decreased from 6,385 to 1,973.Officials said the next phase will focus on maintaining gains and expanding the program. The state plans to expand the NIPUN model to classes IV and V, with around seven lakh students expected to be assessed this year.The change is significant against the backdrop of India’s persistent basic education challenges. The National Learning Survey showed only gradual improvements in basic reading and arithmetic. For example, the proportion of third grade children in government schools increased from 16.3% in 2022 to 23.4% in 2024, while basic subtraction proficiency increased from 20.2% to 27.6% over the same period.