Inclusive and Equitable Foundations: NEP 2020, FLN, and the Transformation of Primary Education in India

Abstract

Everyone agrees that elementary school shapes a child's cognitive, social-emotional, and intellectual paths. The UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report and UNICEF learning recovery programs recommend achieving foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) by third grade to prepare students for future education. INDIA'S NEP 2020, a historic education reform, prioritizes FLN with programs like NIPUN Bharat, multilingual instruction, experiential pedagogy, and holistic student development. This study examines how well NEP 2020 has achieved its goals in elementary education (Grades 1–5). Government policy papers, NAS results, ASER data, and grassroots innovations reveal serious gaps in equity-sensitive pedagogy, resource allocation, and teacher development. Comparisons with Vietnam and Finland show that India's changes are comparable and different from worldwide best practices. To narrow the policy-practice gap, the report recommends increasing social-emotional learning, teacher professional development, resource equality, and civil society participation. The study revealed that localized, equity-driven, and context-sensitive implementation techniques were needed to implement NEP 2020's transformation framework.