Hyderabad: Over 11 lakh government school students from class 1 to 5 will now have to read out from their textbooks during monthly parent-teacher meetings. The objective is to enhance learning and improve fluency in reading as part of the second year of the ‘Tholimettu’ or Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) programme.

“Every third Saturday of the month, teachers will motivate students to showcase what they learnt by reading aloud to their parents. This initiative aims to promote accountability and engage teachers and parents in education of their children,” said Suvarna Vinayak, coordinator for Tholimettu programme with SCERT.

The FLN programme was introduced in 2022 and only 5-10% children were able to read fluently. Blame it on the pandemic.

“However, with a year of effort, the programme has witnessed progress, and currently 30-40% students have achieved oral reading fluency,” Vinayak said.

The education department’s criteria for fluency from class 1 to class 5 is the ability to read a set of words within a minute. For example, a class 5 student is expected to read 50 words a minute, while a class 1 student should read 20.

Also, the FLN programme focuses on numeracy skills. Class 1 students should be able to perform addition and subtraction of numbers up to 20, while class 5 students are expected to be deft with addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and word problems, involving numbers up to 1,000.

The education department has taken further steps to support teachers, including the development of 140-day teaching plans and implementation of the 5+1 model of classes, where last day of the week is designated for assessment.

It may be recalled that a 2022 NCERT study revealed that students in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh had low oral fluency, with the ability to read only 20-30 words per minute in their mother tongue, Telugu. Further, 49% students in the state faced challenges in numeracy.

Recognising the importance of reading as a fundamental element, a robust monitoring system has been put in place. “Teams at the mandal, block, cluster, and state levels regularly assess students’ progress, allowing identification of gaps and timely interventions,” Vinayak said.