India, July 7 -- The National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat) deserves credit for making Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) a national priority. This itself marks an important shift. For many decades, India's school education debates focused largely on enrolment and infrastructure. NIPUN Bharat helped redirect attention to the early years, where learning gaps first begin to take shape.

As the mission completes five years, however, its next phase must be guided by two sharper questions. The first is about equity: which children are actually becoming foundationally ready? The second is about continuity: are early gains in reading and numeracy strong enough to support learning after...