Education has great importance in human life. In fact, proper education is required for making better individuals and for a bright career. Although many changes have been made in our education system since independence, but the data and information obtained from a recent survey shows that all the efforts made so far in the field of education have been insufficient for objective improvement. National Council of Educational Research and Training ie NCERT andA survey was conducted under the joint auspices of the Ministry of School Education, Government of India. According to the statistics, the children of class three across the country have proved to be weaker than the average, especially in Mathematics, English and Hindi, which is a matter of great concern for the future of the country. The report of the said survey, conducted under the title Foundation Literacy Survey (FLS), states that only 54 percent of children studying in class III in schools across the country are proficient in English, but the sad thing is that the great mathematician SrinivaIn this country of S. Ramanujan, only 52 percent of the country’s children are proficient in interesting and important subjects like mathematics. On the other hand, in this survey, the most unfortunate and dark truth of the country’s education world has come to the fore, that only 46 percent children were found proficient in our national language Hindi in the national average. Under the aegis of the Ministry of Education of the Central Government, the above survey named ‘National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy’ i.e. ‘Nipun Bharat 2021’ was conducted, whichThe objective was to find out the present status of the children on the basis of merit and ability in Mathematics and Language i.e. English and Hindi subjects. In fact, by 2026-27, the Modi government has set a target of making the children of class three across the country fundamentally strong in language and mathematics subjects. For which a total of 86 thousand children studying in Class III of 10 thousand schools were included in the said survey conducted by the Union Ministry of Education in all the states across the country during March, 2022. according to the above surveyAnd in Hindi subject only 45 percent children of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, while 50 percent of Delhi and 75 percent children of West Bengal were found to be proficient in reading and speaking. On the other hand, maximum 77 percent children of Uttarakhand were found proficient in English language, while 74 percent of Bihar, 71 percent of West Bengal, 66 percent of Delhi children and 62 percent of Kerala children were proficient in this language. Significantly, the national average in English is 54 per cent. According to the result obtained in the field of mathematics in the survey, West Bengal has the highest score of 70%.Apart from recognition of numbers, percent children were also found to be proficient in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, while in comparison to the national average of 52 percent, Bihar’s 66 percent children in the second place, Uttar Pradesh’s 62 in the third place, Uttar Pradesh’s 62 in the fourth place But Uttarakhand’s 59, Tamil Nadu’s 56 percent children remained in fifth place. On the other hand, only 45 percent of the students of Kerala were found to be proficient in Mathematics at the sixth place in the country and only 45 percent of the students of Delhi at the seventh place in the country. Similarly, in solving the questions of Mathematics subject in MaharashtraIn Goa, 52 per cent children proved their proficiency in English, 56 in Marathi, 57 in Marathi and only 37 per cent in Hindi, while 53 per cent children in Goa were found proficient in English, 40 per cent in Marathi and 35 per cent in Mathematics. Seeing this situation of children in the field of language and mathematics, it is natural to worry about the future of the country. By the way, if seen carefully, carelessness, neglect, ignorance and lack of determination, etc., which have been done till now towards Hindi and other Indian languages and education, are the root causes of this problem.There have been reasons. In fact, due to lack of education and initiation of our children in their own mother tongue, our children continue to lag behind in many other subjects including mathematics, while we have been hearing about development and innovation in the field of education for decades. Similarly, in the name of upgrading the national language Hindi and other Indian languages and giving them the required place and respect, various programs are organized almost every year across the country. But we are not good teachers of Hindi and Maths for the schools.They were able to prepare, while countries with a population of only one hundred lakhs, Sweden and countries like Norway, Denmark and Finland etc., have arrangements for imparting all the education in their own languages. However, through major reforms in the field of education, the Modi government at the center is aiming to make children fundamentally strong in language and mathematics subjects, which is a commendable step.
(The writer is a Retired Principal Educational Columnist Malout Punjab)
