Maths and Kannada skills improved in Puttur schools

The Akanksha Charitable Trust (ACT) has launched a new project to improve math and Kannada skills in government schools in Puttur, Karnataka. The initiative, called the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) project, will initially focus on five schools in the area. Shreesha Bhat, the managing trustee of ACT, reported that the project is part of a larger effort to address significant learning gaps in rural India. According to a recent report, nearly 50% of students do not have basic learning skills by the fifth grade. Challenges include outdated teaching methods and limited resources in government schools. The Indian government aims to ensure all children have foundational literacy and numeracy skills by the year 2024. To support this goal, ACT has teamed up with Medallia India Pvt Ltd to provide teachers for math and Kannada language lessons in the selected schools. Currently, the initiative serves 100 students, with 20 students from each school participating. Teachers use interactive games for math and provide writing practice for Kannada. Dhanya, a specialized FLN teacher, teaches for 2.5 hours each day, which amounts to six hours a week in each school. The project is being implemented in collaboration with local education authorities. Bhat mentioned that baseline assessments were done to identify slow learners, and three assessments will be held during the project to track students' progress. Rajalakshmi K, principal of DIET Mangaluru, noted that the presence of a dedicated teacher has already led to improvements in student performance. There are plans to expand this initiative to more schools in the future.