During the Covid-19 pandemic, India had one of the longest school closures in the world. Digital learning locked vast numbers of underprivileged schoolchildren out of the classroom and online classes struggled to replace the experience and quality of teaching in a physical classroom. Last year’s Economic Survey pointed out that the gap between class standards and learning levels has widened since the pandemic. It noted that “improving learning outcomes and undoing the Covid-induced learning loss is more urgent than ever”. The survey, however, struck a note of optimism: “The education sector is bustling with the across-the-board transformation led by the NEP 2020, which is expected to yield foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) skills for every child passing the third standard in the near........

© Indian Express