The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) prepared by the non-profit organization, Pratham, measures basic learning levels of children in rural India since 2005. The picture has been uniformly dismal year after year. True, enrolment is nearly universal. But less than one of two children in class V can read a class II text. That is up only marginally from 47% in 2013. Basic arithmetic skills have declined and only 44.1% in class VIII can do division problems which are part of the curriculum in lower classes. It is down from 46% in 2013. Knowledge of English remains a stagnant pool since 2009, the year the RTE Act was passed. The Act has not yet succeeded in fulfilling its egalitarian promise. The Sharva Shiksha Abijyan (SSA) has brought about rapid increase in enrolment. But since the focus of the RTE Act is on building toilets, playgrounds and class rooms, thousands of primary schools which could not meet the criteria have closed down. According to the ASER, school facilities in cities are improving and the mandated pupil-teacher ratio is being increasingly complied with. But the Act, has not ensured minimum educational standards by creating an environment which is favourable for learning. Hence, there has been a decline in literacy and numeracy skills.
The RTE’s emphasis on infrastructure cuts across outcomes. Infrastructure by itself does not improve learning levels or the quality of education. The government should take a fresh look at the RTE Act and put stress on the quality of learning. Educationist Amartya Sen’s campaign for better primary education for all seems to have made little headway and little wonder that his interest has now shifted to advanced higher education.