Implementing large-scale FLN reforms within government systems: the Haryana experience

• In Event: Bridging the evidence gap: from global demands to local realities

Proposal

Delivering foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) reforms at scale within a government system is both an unprecedented opportunity and a complex
challenge. In Haryana, the NIPUN Mission reaches nearly one million children, supported by 34,000 teachers across 9,000 schools, and coordinated through more than 5,000 district, block, and cluster officials. The scale offers immense potential for transformation, but also creates challenges in ensuring rigour, consistency, and sustainability.

The Haryana approach has been to embed evidence-informed reforms into government systems, rather than creating parallel structures. This ensures that reforms are not only technically sound but also feasible, relevant, and trusted locally. Key pillars of this approach include:
● Managing diversity at scale: From digitally equipped urban schools to remote rural classrooms with multi-grade teaching, the programme adapts to diverse contexts while maintaining common learning goals.
● Data-driven governance: Reliable, child-level data feeds into nested supervision models, where state, district, block, and cluster reviews are
interconnected, enabling rapid course correction.
● Institutionalising review culture: Regular, structured reviews across all levels of the system build accountability, ownership, and momentum.
● Technology for agility: Tablets for teachers, QR-based monitoring, and the Vidya Samiksha Kendra enable real-time insights and decision-making.
● Balancing accountability with support: Monitoring is paired with mentoring, ensuring teachers and officials are guided as well as held
accountable.
● Public–Private Partnerships: Technical partners such as CSF bring research, innovation, and capacity-building, while reforms remain firmly
government-owned, ensuring scalability and sustainability.

The Haryana experience shows that global standards of rigour can connect meaningfully with local priorities when reforms are anchored in government
systems, strengthened by data and technology, and supported through collaborative partnerships. Moving from “what works” in pilots to “what lasts” at scale requires patience, persistence, and a culture of continuous improvement—qualities that define Haryana’s journey under NIPUN.

Author

• Parmod Kumar, Department of School Education Govt.of Haryana