‘Vidya Pravesh— Three-month Play-based School Preparation Module for Grade-I’,
has been developed as per the recommendations of the National Education Policy,
2020 (NEP 2020). The context for this recommendation is that a large proportion of
children currently in elementary schools are undergoing what is being termed as
a ‘learning crisis’. It is estimated that approximately over five crore children in the
elementary school system have not been able to attain foundational literacy and
numeracy, i.e. the ability to read and comprehend basic text and carry out basic
addition and subtraction (NEP 2020). Children who enter Grade-I, come from
diverse backgrounds: some of them have pre-school or Anganwadi experience,
some have good home education experience, some others may come directly to
Grade-I without any prior experience of pre-school education. Providing children
with ‘Vidya Pravesh — Three-month Play-based School Preparation Module for
Grade-I’ is an attempt to promote their holistic development by providing age appropriate experiences for developing requisite competencies necessary for
Grade-I. The module is an integral part of Nipun Bharat— a national mission
on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) of the Government of India. It is
a three months’ (12 weeks) programme developed as an interim measure for all
children who have entered Grade-I. The programme in the module is designed
to be implemented at the beginning of Grade-I for three months and transacted
for four hours per day. The module is well aligned to the learning outcomes of
Pre-school 3 (Balvatika) in Nipun Bharat— Guidelines for Implementation under
FLN Mission. Section 1.1 of NEP 2020 also mentions that ‘over 85% of a child’s
cumulative brain development occurs before the age of 6, indicating the critical
importance of appropriate care and stimulation of the brain in the early years to
ensure healthy brain development and growth’ (MHRD, 2020, p.6).
The module is developed to familiarise children with the school environment
and provide experiences for maintaining well-being through the practice of health,
yoga, nutrition, hygienic and safety protocols; socio-emotional development
including learning of ethical values and cultural diversity; building the foundations
of mathematics, language and literacy; as well as direct experience and interaction
with the physical, social and natural environment. Through such experiences,
efforts are made to address the crises in foundational literacy and numeracy,
promote wellness and develop vigour in children to become involved learners and
connect to their environment. Efforts are being made to ensure that learning is
happening in an integrated, joyful manner and without any burden. They look
forward to attending school, and becoming motivated and confident, which gives
them a smooth and successful start in the primary grades.

This module is divided into three parts. Part I consists of a brief introduction
to the module and a note for the teachers that includes guidelines for planning
and transaction, tracking children’s progress or assessment, involving parents
and communities in the learning of children, and addressing the needs of children
with disabilities (Divyang). Part II has a set of activities aligned with the three
developmental goals with specific reference to the preparation for learning
literacy and numeracy in the early primary grades. These goals are directed
(vi)
towards maintaining good health and well-being of children, making them good
communicators, ensuring that they become involved learners and can connect with
their immediate environment. This shows the interlinkage and interdependency
of each domain of development and also helps children develop holistically. It
is a known fact that young children can acquire as many languages as they are
exposed to. Parents and teachers using Vidya Pravesh are encouraged to organise
the activities in the home language, Hindi and/or English.
Part III consists of developmental goal-wise supporting illustrations and
worksheets which are to be given to the children after they have sufficient
opportunities to play with concrete objects and toys and play-based activities.
The module is further supported with annexures viz. developmental goal-wise
key competencies and learning outcomes (Annexure I), sample framework for
day-wise weekly schedule (Annexure II), day-wise exemplar weekly schedule
for twelve weeks (Annexure III), ways to implement daily or routine activities
(Annexure IV), month-wise assessment framework (Annexure V), topics for guided

conversations during circle time (Annexure VI), exemplar stories for children
(Annexure VII), and a glossary of important terminologies used in the module
(Annexure VIII).
The module is exemplar in nature. It focuses on the process of delivery of
experiences to the children to make them develop necessary competencies joyfully
and interactively. The module may also be treated as a handbook or guidelines
to help teachers understand the process of providing learning experiences to
all the children in a joyful way. Everyone, including the parents, would find
the language and the content (pedagogy, activities and worksheets) easy to
understand and transact even when the children are at home. The States and
Union Territories are free to adapt or adopt it. Teachers may develop their own
detailed set of contextualised activities, illustrations and worksheets based on
the key competencies given in this module leading to the achievement of learning
outcomes. They are expected to follow the pedagogy and the process of transaction
given in this module till Grade-III to make sure that joy in learning continues.
The success of Vidya Pravesh is largely dependent on the parents and teachers
who will use this module. We encourage them to modify and adapt the activities
as per their immediate context and include knowledge in the local content.