Jaipur: Rajasthan's education department is set to launch an AI-based oral reading fluency campaign in English across all government schools for students in Classes 3 to 8, scheduled from May 4 to 7. The initiative aims to assess students' reading levels, categorize them into four learning-level groups, and implement targeted remedial activities based on the results.
Background and Model
This campaign follows the success of last year's Hindi reading initiative, which grouped students according to their difficulties in letter and phoneme recognition, word reading, halting sentence or passage reading, and fluent reading with comprehension. The new English program adopts a similar framework to enhance literacy skills among young learners.
Official Directive
An order issued by Sitaram Jat, director of the education department, to all district education officers emphasizes the importance of teacher preparedness. The directive states, "It must be ensured that all teachers are fully apprised of the 'Oral Reading Fluency – English' programme and that the assessments are completed strictly within the stipulated timeframe."
Assessment Process
Officials explained that each child will be given two paragraphs to read according to their learning level. If a student struggles, a teacher may recommend a paragraph one level lower. Based on the child's reading ability and comprehension, they will be placed into appropriate categories.
Remedial Activities
Remedial methods include peer learning and guided instruction from teachers, who will assist students encountering difficulties. Students who can read but hesitate will receive more opportunities for public speaking or story cards to read aloud. Those making pronunciation errors or struggling with punctuation will be encouraged to participate in morning assemblies to improve their skills.
Implementation Timeline
The director instructed officials to complete subject-teacher mapping for the exercise by May 1 to ensure smooth execution. The order warns that "failure to do so will render the ORF Module unusable." Responsibility for timely mapping falls on the concerned panchayat education officer or urban cluster elementary education officer.
