Primary education In 1990:

No. of primary schools : 6.32 lakh (2.2 lakh in 1950-51)

Increase in population ~ 2.43 times
3 lakh centres of Non formal education for children in the age group 9-14 yrs.
95% of the population is served by a primary school within a distance of 1 km.
(source: All india education survey 1986, by NCERT)

National policy on education 1986:

Improving the unattractive school environment, building condition and lack of
instructional material.
Laying down of minimum levels of learning which all students should achieve.

Eight five year plan :

The targets need to be spelt out not only in terms of participation but also in
terms of quality and outcomes.

First efforts:
NCERT proposed Minimum levels of learning (MLL's) in 1978 in connection with
UNICEF assisted projects on 'primary education curriculum renewal' and
'developmental activities in community education and participation.
The primary education curriculum renewal project was evaluated in 1984.
Using this evaluation and following the National policy on education 1986,
NCERT prepared another document titled Minimum levels of learning at primary
stage.

Minimum Levels of Learning:

With this background Dept of Education, MHRD formed a committee in Jan.1990
with following goals,
1. Draw up MLL's for class III and V.
2. Recommend a procedure for comprehensive learner evaluation and
assessment.
3. Suggest ways to improve teaching in non-cognitive areas of learning.
Recommendations of the committee should be suitable for both the formal and
non-formal systems of education.

The framework :
1. MLL's for primary level of education, applicable both in formal and non formal
system of education.
2. MLL's on three subjects namely, Language(mother tongue), mathematics and
environmental studies (science and social science).
3. MLL's for all the five classes of primary stage in order to ensure proper
progression of competencies.
4. Plan of action for implementation of the recommendation of the committee.

The Need :
All children must have access to education of comparable standard irrespective of
their cast, creed, location and sex.
Combine quality concerns keeping in view developmental needs of children from
disadvantaged and deprived sections of society and school drop outs and
working children.

Proposed definitions of MLL :

Expected learning outcomes defined as observable terminal behaviours
Taxonomic analysis of learning objectives such as knowledge, comprehension,
application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation etc.
Learning competencies expected to be mastered by every child by the end of a
particular class or stage of education.

MLL and the quality of education system :

A major drawback of the existing system is neither teacher and pupils nor the
parents and education planners know where they are and where they ought to be
as there's a lack of well defined criteria for measuring real progress of the
student in terms of learning. Typical measures such as attendance records and
completion of syllabus can not substitute measures of actual attainment of
learning.

The MLL is thus seen as one of the important prerequisites for infusing a sense of
direction to the system and there by paving the way for improving its accountability.
The MLL also provide tool for effective programme formulation for school
improvement. In this way the quality of schools can be judged in terms of learning
and performance capabilities of students and graduates rather than the quality of
buildings and qualification of teachers.
Keeping in mind the regretting fact that for a large fraction of population opportunity
of education is not likely to be available beyond primary stage, what they learn here
must sustain them throughout their lives.
This implies, all children, irrespective of the conditions they come from and the
condition of schools they attend, reach a minimum level of learning before they
finish primary education, which would prepare them as permanently literate, socially
useful and contributing adults in this world.

MLL and Curriculum :

Major drawbacks of the existing curriculum are,
1. Over load of contents of facts and information which is of little
relevance to the life and needs of majority of students.
2. Need to complete the syllabus results in ignorance of the weak and
strugglers. Not to mention this leaves no room for remedial teaching
and experimentation, exploration, observation and activity based learning

Remedy,
1. Lightening the curriculum.
2. Giving room to the teachers for experimentation.
3. Sustainable acquisition of basic competencies and skills.
4. Permitting mastery learning not only by the brighter students i the class but
also by almost all children including the first generation learner.

Features of MLL :
1. Acheivability
80% or more students mastering 80% or more of the prescribed learning level.
The goals may vary depending on the initial conditions of schools in different
regions to start with.
Later on by improving the inputs to the system all the schools should be brought
to same level of achievement.
This should result in reducing disparities and equalizing standards over entire
country over shortest period of time.
2. Communicability :
The MLL should be understandable to the teachers, NFE instructor, parents and
the community.
3. Evaluabiltiy :
Most of the states follow a no-detention or automatic promotion policy at the
primary level. The MLL do not oppose to the idea in principle but this should not
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mean omission of an evaluation system. MLL defines clear cut goals in terms
of learning abilities which should be mastered by all in each class.
Achievement of these learning skills should be the criterion of evaluation.
4. Learning continuum :
5. Comparison with NFE system :
Since the MLL is same for both formal and non formal systems of education,
a direct comparison can be carried out between the outcomes of two
systems.
Also, the issue shifts from rationale behind the NFE to one involving the
duration, quality and teaching process of various systems.
6. Non-cognitive areas:
MLL strongly recommends inclusion of subjects such as physical education,
work experience, arts and crafts, music etc in the basic curriculum.

MLL for language :

Mastering of nine basic skills namely, listening, speaking, reading, writing,
comprehension of ideas, functional grammar, self learning, language use and
vocabulary.
The MLL stresses up on creating an informal social environment in the class for
evaluation in language.
MLL for mathematics :
Main goals are, 1. ability to use and solve simple problems of daily life involving
units of money, length, weight, capacity, area and time. 2. Ability to use fractions,
decimal and percentage. 3. Understanding of geometrical shapes etc.
Emphasis should be given on experimental approach in teaching and learning
mathematics.
MLL for environmental studies (Science and social science) :
At the end pupil should be,
1. Aware of one's well being in context of society and nature.
2. Understand aspects of socio-civic environment.
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3. aware of relationship between man and nature.

4. able to relate past and present and hold past in proper perspective.
5. understands factors contributing to preservation of good health.
6. Able to see things with scientific perspective helping him/her to get rid of social
taboo's at an early age.
Teaching can be made activity based allowing the children to explore. analyze,
interpret and appreciate the society and nature around them.
The capacity of understanding and application of knowledge acquired rather than
rote memorization should be particularly stressed in formal and non formal
examinations.

MLL and Non-Cognitive education :

All round development of personality is the ultimate goal of education.
The non-cognitive aspects which comprise elements of personality such as
interest, attitude, behaviour and value system.
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These affective characteristics can not be evaluated or defined in terms of

minimum levels of learning and hence the need to imbibe certain basic values as
part of the process of growing and learning at the primary level of education can
not be questioned.
The NPE-1986 specifically highlights the need for promotion of values such as
India's common cultural heritage, egalitarianism, democracy and secularism,
equality of sexes, protection of the environment, removal of social barriers,
observance of small social norms, and inculcation of scientific temper.
Non-cognitive areas and school :
1. Organization wrt cleanliness, sense of service, cooperation, discipline etc.
2. Teachers : every teacher bears a great responsibility in his/her personal
presentation and external manifestations of attitudes, work habits and life style.
3. Co-curricular and physical activities.
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Non-cognitive areas and parents:

It is not unusual to find parents and community members also equating schooling
to cognitive learning with least concern for a balanced personality development of
the children.
The MLL calls for the need of better association of parents-teachers and the
community as a whole in the primary education system.
Assessment of non-cognitive ares:
Highly dependent on personal observation of the student which should be
judicious as well as subjective and also free from personal biases and
preferences.
The evaluation should also be periodic and continuous affair.
It is therefore a precondition that proper training of teachers is taken up so that
they acquire adequate proficiency in the use of various evaluation techniques.
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Involvement of parents should also be a part of evaluation system.

MLL and evaluation system:

Accountability of the education system and its functionaries as reflected in actual
achievement of learners.
A continuous and formative evaluation procedure is an essential and unavoidable
prerequisite for successful implementation of policy of automatic promotion.
The traditional concept of 35% as passing of a learning level should be discarded
along with the concept of low output in terms of quality by the class at large.
Concept of mastery by all the children for a specific learning level should be
incorporated.
Common testing for relative progress : It is necessary to introduce the practice of
constructing parallel tests based on a common blue print.
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Equivalence of NFE :
The stigma of treating the non formal mode of learning as inferior to the formal
one can be removed only when the quality of education achieved through the
former is highly comparable with that acquired through formal schooling in the
key areas of learning. Such comparability will ensure lateral as well as vertical
transfer of students from non formal to the formal system.

Action plan:
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