Govt to resume LEP in all schools to bring students to proper learning level

Surjit Kumar Dhal,BHUBARNESWAR, JUNE 20: As all government schools reopen on June 26 after a two-month summer vacation, the School and Mass Education Department has planned to resume the State Learning Enhancement Programme (LEP) from June 28 in order to bring students to grade-appropriate learning level before teaching them advanced topics in the syllabus of their grace, said State Project Director, OSEPA, Jyoti Prakash Das.

Chairing a review meeting at OSEPA, Das said the State has strived to ensure that all schools are provided books before schools reopen.

While the cyclone, Fani, has affected some schools in the affected districts, the department has also taken all steps to make arrangements for students in nearby schools, so that there is no derailment in education for any student.

The flagship programme LEP comprises two components – Ujjwal and Utthan.

Ujjwal program is designed for primary classes (2-5) and Utthan for upper primary classes (6-8).

The key objective of this program is to bring students to grade-appropriate learning level before teaching them advanced topics in the syllabus of their grace.

Das said LEP will be conducted for all periods for 40 days after schools reopen and one period per day will be allotted for the rest of the academic year.

All teachers of elementary schools have been trained extensively to ensure that the objectives of the program are met.

District, Block and Cluster level officers have been trained to monitor schools using online systems and support teachers in classroom transactions, he said.

To help curb absenteeism after holidays, Das added, all DEOs and BEOs have been directed to ensure that schools in their jurisdiction conduct a ‘Maha- Parent Teacher’s Meeting’ (PTM) on June 28.

The PTM will be a means to inform parents about the benefits of LEP and the importance of sending students to school regularly, Das said.

Stating that to further motivate teachers and assess the learning level of students, he said the department has also planned to launch the School Certification Programme to recognise and reward schools which are making progress.

Under this programme, schools will be awarded if students are able to achieve grade-level competencies.

This programme is aimed at fostering a healthy competition amongst schools on student learning parameters.

To achieve these objective schools can nominate themselves to be certified and an assessment for the purpose will be conducted by a team.

Refering to Odisha’s performance in National Achievement Survey (NAS) in 2017, Das said LEP is the State’s endeavour to ensure that children attain basic competency relevant to the grade they are enrolled in.

He said an impact assessment study conducted by the department on last year’s LEP showed considerable improvement in students’ learning level.

The department is confident that such an initiative will lead to sustainable improvement in the quality of education for all kids in the State and will also reflect in national-level assessments such as NAS and ASER, he said.

Das asked senior officers and Intervention heads to supervise various schemes and programmes implemented by Samagra Shiksha in the State government for improvement of the status.

He also instructed the concerned personnel to discuss with field functionaries so as to find out the difficulties in proper implementation of the programmes and suitably guide them.