Major change in education sector: Adult literacy campaign made compulsory for teacher trainees

According to new guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Education, it is now made compulsory for students enrolled in teacher education programs recognized by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) to join the adult literacy campaign. These trainees will have to teach five to eight illiterate adults under the Centre's ULLAS (Understanding of Lifelong Learning for All in Society) scheme or Nav Bharat Saksharta Karyakram (NILP) and help them obtain literacy certificates. Importantly, the academic credits of these trainees will be directly linked with the successful certification of the learners taught by them.

Guidelines for Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) under 'ULLAS – Nav Bharat Saksharta Karyakram' were launched by Minister of State for Education Jayant Chaudhary on October 28. Under these new guidelines, participation in this work has been made mandatory for student-teachers studying in various courses recognized by NCTE. These courses include Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.), Bachelor of Physical Education (B.P.Ed.), Masters of Education (M.Ed.), Masters of Physical Education (M.P.Ed.), Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed.), and Integrated Teacher Education Program (ITEP).

Acknowledging the role of ULLAS in promoting adult literacy and restoring the dignity and confidence of learners, Jayant Chaudhary said, "The new guidelines will enable student-teachers to play an important role in the empowerment of the nation." However, these guidelines do not mention any specific academic batch, year of admission, or implementation date.

It has been clarified in the guidelines that NCTE is expected to provide regulatory and academic guidance with appropriate credit or equivalent marks or grade linkage by integrating the ULLAS scheme into teacher education programs. In this context, student-teachers mean individuals pursuing pre-service teacher education courses in NCTE-recognized colleges and universities. They will have to register as Volunteer Teachers (VTs) under ULLAS and undertake adult literacy teaching as part of their teacher education program.

The 32-page guidelines seen by Hindustan Times state, "All student-teachers enrolled in all NCTE-recognized teacher education programs must function as volunteer teachers under ULLAS." It is noteworthy that this scheme, which started from April 2022, is envisioned to involve a vast network of students from schools and higher education institutions, teachers, members of civil society organizations, community members, homemakers, and volunteers associated with 'My Bharat', NSS, and NCC, but the new guidelines specifically make participation mandatory for student-teachers enrolled in recognized teacher education institutions.

The target of learners will depend on the duration of the training program. Students enrolled in two-year programs will have to make at least five learners literate. Students enrolled in three-year programs will have to bring six learners and those enrolled in four-year programs will have to bring eight learners to the literacy level.

The ULLAS scheme, whose full name is 'Understanding of Lifelong Learning for All in Society', is the Centre's adult literacy program launched in April 2022 for illiterate people aged 15 years and above. The scheme targets covering 5 crore learners by 2027. This program blends face-to-face teaching by volunteers with digital learning material accessible through a mobile application as well as community learning centers.

Learners will study foundational literacy and numeracy along with critical life skills, vocational skills, basic education, and continuing education, after which they will appear in the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Assessment Test (FLNAT). Those who pass FLNAT will get a literacy certificate from the National Institute of Open Schooling.

The guidelines have clarified that merely participating in ULLAS will not make student-teachers eligible for academic credits. According to the guidelines, "Credits or equivalent grades/marks will be awarded to student-teachers (VTs) only when the learners assigned to them successfully appear in FLNAT and are certified as literate under ULLAS." FLNAT is conducted twice a year. No financial incentive will be given for participating in this initiative, but academic credit or equivalent marks and grades will act as the incentive.

Under the program, student-teachers will register themselves as volunteer teachers on the ULLAS mobile application with the help of teacher educators. They will be responsible for identifying and registering learners, planning teaching schedules, preparing lessons, and conducting regular assessments to monitor their progress. Their teaching responsibilities will not be limited to basic reading, writing, and numeracy. They will also teach vital life skills including digital and financial literacy, using multilingual, inclusive, and context-sensitive teaching methods suitable for diverse learners.

Student-teachers will have to help build the confidence of learners to appear in FLNAT and ensure their participation in the assessment. They will also document their teaching experience through learners' profiles, assessment records, progress reports, and geo-tagged photographs of their interactions with learners.

The guidelines assign the responsibility of implementation and monitoring of this program to teacher education institutions. Heads of institutions will be overall in-charge and will appoint nodal officers to coordinate with state and district authorities, identify illiterate learners, and assign them to student-teachers. Institutions can follow two models for learner identification — Institutional Tagging, under which state authorities allot learners to teacher education institutions, and Individual Tagging, which allows student-teachers themselves to identify illiterate adults and register them on the ULLAS portal.

In areas where a sufficient number of illiterate learners are not available, student-teachers may be assigned alternative activities, which include helping newly literate adults get admission into the Open Basic Education Program of the National Institute of Open Schooling, strengthening community learning centers, facilitating vocational education, and conducting research-based fieldwork.

There are currently 15,509 recognized Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) in India offering 17,84,326 approved seats.