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Q1: India’s education policies have historically shifted based on political priorities. With Samagra Shiksha ending this year and the NIPUN Bharat Mission ending next year, what priorities do you envision ?

Samagra Shiksha and the NIPUN Bharat Mission created a fundamental paradigm shift within the education system. We moved away from measuring inputs to planning outcomes. While these programs have timelines attached, the paradigm shift they enabled is, in my assessment, permanent. This is fundamentally different from how education reform happened previously in India.

Three factors make this shift irreversible. First, unlike historical education reforms that were purely domestic responses, the focus on foundational learning emerged from both national realities and global momentum. In 2015, India became a vocal signatory to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), with SDG4 elevating quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. This dual accountability to both the citizens of India and the international community created a power that set the stage for foundational learning to become a long-term priority.

Second, India has positioned itself as a global leader on foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN), not just a participant. The NIPUN Bharat Mission is arguably one of the largest FLN missions in the world. The Mission impacts 2.5 crore children every year. That’s the entire population of Australia. In 2023, during its G20 Presidency, India ensured the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration recognised “the importance of foundational learning (literacy, numeracy, and socioemotional skills) as the primary building block for education and employment.” Previous education reforms were confined to India’s geographical boundaries. This one has made India a global reference point. Having claimed the international leadership on FLN, India is more likely to double down on this priority.

Third, and most critically, foundational learning has crystallised as a whole-of-government priority, not just an education department program. The theme of the upcoming 5th National Conference of Chief Secretaries is “Human Capital for a Viksit Bharat,” with foundational learning through early childhood education and schooling identified as central pillars. When the top administrative officials of every state convene around human capital with education as a core focus, it signals that FLN is now understood as foundational to India’s economic future.

These three factors create structural lock-in that previous education missions never achieved. Hence, I expect the government’s focus on learning outcomes and foundational skills to not only continue but intensify. The question is not about the priority that would remain, but more about how the next phase deepens implementation, expands coverage, and embeds these practices permanently into India’s education system. 

Q2: You mentioned that the focus on foundational learning emerged partly because of global momentum. What does the international evidence actually show us about countries that have invested in FLN?

There is strong global evidence which shows that systemic investments in FLN at an early-stage can improve student learning outcomes in the short-term and accelerate economic growth in the long-term. 

Kenya’s Tusome program (2015-2019), for example, more than doubled Grade 2 English fluency from 12% to 27%. Brazil’s Sobral municipality transformed Grade 2 literacy from 48% to 92% in just four years (2000-2004). Mexico’s Puebla state rose to top national rankings within seven years (2008-2015). These successes share the same pillars India is now building through NIPUN Bharat, which are clear learning goals, structured teaching materials, robust teacher support, and regular assessments.

But the truly transformative impact unfolds over decades. South Korea’s story is perhaps the most powerful testament to this. In 1945, adult literacy stood at just 22%. The government made a defining choice to guarantee six years of quality education to every child with intensive focus on foundational reading and mathematics. Through this prioritisation, South Korea laid the foundation for its “economic miracle.” Today, literacy is virtually universal, the country ranks 15th globally in GDP, and South Korean students consistently top international mathematics and science assessments.

Vietnam tells a similar story. Since 1990, alongside annual GDP growth of 5-7%, Vietnam pursued systematic education reforms centered on foundational competencies. As a result, Vietnamese students now outperform not just every country in their income group, but many OECD nations on international assessments. Mean years of schooling for Vietnamese adults exceeds what their per capita income would predict. Strong teacher quality and unwavering focus on early-grade competencies made education central to Vietnam’s economic modernisation.

Longitudinal research from South Africa, tracking students from a foundational literacy program implemented in 2015-2017, found impacts persisting seven years later. Students showed sustained improvements in home language literacy even four years after the program ended. More remarkably, they demonstrated new skills not directly taught, including enhanced English written comprehension, proving that foundational abilities unlock higher-order learning. The South Africa study also showed improved grade progression, reduced dropouts, and smoother transitions to secondary school, with the strongest benefits for the most at-risk students.

The pattern is consistent across different countries. Last year, we had the good fortune of hosting Nobel Laureate Prof. James Heckman and he shared a stark observation: “Some kids win the lottery at birth; far too many don’t – and most people struggle to catch up.”  Foundational learning, however, can nullify the effects of this lottery. Investments made in this area compound over lifetimes and transform economies over generations, if they are sustained. 

Q3: The focus on foundational literacy and numeracy is now a national priority. How is this priority translating into concrete action on the ground and how have global experiences informed India’s implementation of the NIPUN Bharat Mission?

Since its launch in 2021, the NIPUN Bharat Mission has significantly improved the student learning outcomes in foundational grades. According to PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024, Grade 3 students scored 64% in language and 60% in mathematics, significantly outperforming their older peers in Grades 6 and 9. Remarkably, Grade 3 students in state government schools are outperforming their private school peers. The ASER 2024 findings reinforce this trend, showing that the percentage of Grade 3 children who can read a Grade 2 text and perform simple subtraction has increased by 6 and 10 percentage points respectively since 2014, despite the significant learning loss during COVID.

The Mission has shown significant impact because the Ministry of Education and State Education Departments are transforming the Mission into evidence-based action with inputs meeting global standards. Three core enablers emerge that we have observed across the 11 states where Central Square Foundation works as a catalytic enabler.

First, clarity on what children must learn and how to teach it. States now have precise learning outcome frameworks that define exactly what children should master at each stage. To achieve these goals, teachers have been equipped with structured time-tables, intuitive guides, and practical tools which help them teach better in the classrooms. In Uttar Pradesh, for example, they have developed NIPUN Soochi, a set of competency indicators, paired with NIPUN Talika, a classroom progress chart that teachers use daily to track every child’s learning. This is complemented by a comprehensive 25-week teacher guide with daily lesson plans which ensure instruction is predictable and competency-focused.

Second, sustained teacher capacity building. States have ensured that teacher training moves away from being a one-off event towards an ongoing system. Madhya Pradesh, for example, directly trained 1.78 lakh teachers at the block level. This was complemented by a strong mentoring architecture. With 6,500 mentors conducting 60,000 school visits monthly, teachers received real-time, actionable feedback on their classroom practices. 

Third, embedding assessment into the teaching cycle for immediate course correction. Weekly formative assessments allow teachers to identify learning gaps and take immediate remedial action. States like Telangana follow a 5+1 structure where there are five days of instruction and 1 day of assessment. Over and above this, mentors conduct spot assessments during visits, triggering on-the-spot discussion about next-steps with the teacher. Annual state-level assessments provide the big-picture to the state, informing systemic interventions and training priorities. All of this data collection is done digitally, providing real-time progress monitoring for all stakeholders.

These enablers have created the infrastructure for FLN at scale. India has proven it can replicate what worked in Kenya, Brazil, and Mexico. The early results validate we are on the right path.

The way forward now is ensuring these practices survive long enough to deliver the generational transformation that South Korea and Vietnam achieved. That requires moving from “mission” to “mainstream”.

Q4: What should the roadmap to mainstream the NIPUN Bharat Mission look like and how will it connect to the larger vision of a Viksit Bharat 2047?

Policy impact often takes decades to materialise. When I was serving in the  Department of Telecom, the New Telecom Policy (NTP) was launched in 1999. NTP-99 revolutionised India’s telecom sector by shifting from crushing upfront license fees to a revenue-sharing model where operators paid a one-time entry fee plus 15% of Adjusted Gross Revenue. The impact was dramatic. From just 1.24 million cellular subscribers in March 1999, the sector grew at 85% CAGR to cross 50 million by March 2005. Call tariffs plummeted from Rs. 16 per minute to less than Rs. 1.50 by 2004. That policy set the stage for the telecom ecosystem we see today, where we have among the world’s lowest internet tariffs and highest mobile data usage.

I see the same transformation potential in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the NIPUN Bharat Mission. Five years of NEP and four years of NIPUN have proven FLN improvements are achievable at scale. States have built infrastructure. We’ve seen measurable progress. Now we have the opportunity to leverage this infrastructure to deepen impact through three strategic actions.

First, institutionalising governance for sustained momentum. The NIPUN Bharat Mission Guidelines call for a National Steering Committee to monitor progress. Reactivating this committee with broader membership to include Ministry officials, civil society organisations, and industry partners would enable a whole-of-society approach. At the state level, institutionalising State Steering Committees can support districts in addressing implementation challenges, facilitate partnerships with local NGOs, and drive contextualised innovations. These committees could also drive convergence between different departments to improve implementation fidelity.

Second, embedding data-driven decision-making across all administrative levels to sharpen focus on outcomes. Vidya Samiksha Kendras (VSK) could expand beyond learning outcomes data to systematically collect accountability metrics like student and teacher attendance, delivery of teaching-learning materials, teacher guide usage, and teacher performance. Making this data accessible to officials at district, block, and school levels will incentivise best performers and enable targeted interventions. Simultaneously, we can leverage existing formative assessment and teacher training mechanisms to train teachers on using data to inform daily instruction and design remediation. This will turn assessment from compliance into a tool for improving learning.

Third, strategic budgetary enhancements to scale and sustain impact. Expanding the Mission from Balvatika-Grade 2 to include Grades 3-5, is critical for consolidating foundational learning. An annual allocation of INR 400 to INR 500 crore could facilitate this expansion.

With 64% of children in the 5-6 age cohort outside the Anganwadi system, we are leaving critical years unaddressed. Addressing this Early Childhood Education gap is important. Allocating 5% of the Samagra Shiksha budget to establish Balvatikas in schools with enrolments above 200, staffed with dedicated ECE educators, could prevent early learning gaps from taking root.

Schools with strong community and parental engagement are ten times more likely to improve learning outcomes. Hence, investing approximately INR 250 crore annually in Information, Education, and Communications activities. This investment can empower existing School Management Committees (SMCs) to ensure successful mission implementation at the block level, building community ownership of learning outcomes.

This matters because India’s Viksit Bharat vision will be determined by workforce capabilities. India will contribute 950 million workers by 2047, one quarter of the global workforce. But here lies our paradox. Between 2019-20 to 2023-24, employment grew from 53.44 crore to 64.33 crore, with unemployment at 4.9%. However, only 56.35% of graduates are employable, meaning nearly half lack the skills needed for productive work despite formal qualifications. The challenge isn’t job creation, it’s productivity.

Strong foundational learning addresses this at the root, moving the system from a repair mindset into a prepare mindset. Global research shows a one-standard-deviation increase in foundational learning reduces youth unemployment by 4.7 to 5.7 percentage points and correlates with 2% higher annual economic growth. Children who master reading comprehension and basic mathematics by Grade 3 are up to 63% less likely to drop out between ages 12 and 15. They complete their education, acquire technical skills, and become productive workers who adapt to evolving economic demands.

Just as NTP-99 transformed telecommunications by creating a strong foundation for digitisation of citizen level transactions in the last mile, NIPUN Bharat can transform human capital development. The infrastructure exists. The early results validate the approach. What’s required now is the institutional commitment to sustain it long enough to see generational transformation.