Private firms to monitor, assess TN govt’s Ennum Ezhuthum scheme

CHENNAI: The School Education Department has decided to tie up with professional firms to monitor the implementation of Ennum Ezhuthum Mission, a scheme to improve basic literacy and numeracy among 15.78 lakh children studying from classes 1 to 3 in State-run schools. This plan comes against the backdrop of complaints regarding the lack of staff to monitor the scheme.

Accordingly, the organisation will play a key role in conducting a rigorous evaluation across the State to assess the scheme and come out with an overall impact on student-learning outcomes.

The Ennum Ezhuthum scheme aims to address the learning gap prevalent in Tamil Nadu due to the closure of schools for more than two years during the pandemic. The vision is to ensure foundational literacy and numeracy by 2025.

A senior official from the department said that the goal was to ensure that all students in government schools will read with comprehension and possess basic arithmetic skills. “Subjects taught in classes 1 to 3 will be Tamil, English, and Maths integrated with environmental studies. Under the scheme, experts will cover end-to-end monitoring and evaluation services and other identified education initiatives to improve learning outcomes among students,” he explained.

An impact-evaluation study that will span across 3 years to measure the effectiveness of the mission will be designed, added the official. “A comprehensive teachers’ handbook with support of the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) will be developed and detailed workbooks will also be created for students with the support of SCERT, besides distribution of Ennum Ezhuthum kits,” the official explained.