Editor,
The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) highlights the various education challenges which need to be taken seriously as the students In the age group 14-18 can’t read Grade 2 level text in their regional languages. The nationwide citizen-led household survey has provided a glimpse of the status of schooling and learning outcomes of students aged between 14-18 years. It says that overall 86.8 per cent of all children are enrolled in either school or college, which is a decent number, seen in the light of our historical backwardness. However, the survey also reveals that almost a third, or 32.6 per cent, of 18-year-olds do not attend college which is depressing. But the fact that a quarter of teenagers surveyed cannot read a Class 2-level text fluently in their regional languages, and a substantial 42.7 per cent cannot even read sentences in English, are alarming findings.
The “Beyond Basics ” survey, conducted among 34,745 young people in 28 districts across 26 states, pointed out that schooling has brought no significant change in their foundational literacy and numeracy skills, and this gets worse as the years pass by. The Survey has found that 76.6 per cent could read a Class 2-level text in 2017,but that share declined, slightly to 73.6 per cent in 2023.The scene, however, is better in Arithmetic. While only 39.5 per cent of youth could do a simple division problem in 2017 the same has now gone up to 43.3 per cent. But that more than one half of the students struggle with division is unacceptable by all counts
The Survey Report suggests that there are fewer takers for science and mathematics than for humanities, which is not a good sign for the progress of any country. While the gender gap in enrolments is negligible, the survey shows that male candidates do better than females in their ability to apply basic numeracy and reading skills. More boys opt for studies in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) than girls. Almost two-thirds of the youth either do not have a computer or do not know how to use it. While 92 per cent students can use a smartphone, only 20 per cent males and nine per cent females have ever sent an email.
An interesting finding from the Survey is that the Covid-19 pandemic has not resulted in a massive drop-out of students as had been feared previously. The Survey claims that the proportion of out-of-school children and youth has been declining as a result of the government’s push to universalise secondary education.
The sum of the Survey findings indicate that the constitutional mandate to offer free and compulsory education for children up to 14 years has been met in a substantial measure in our country but we have not been able to retain the momentum as the age of the children goes up. The results also cast a shadow on the quality of education being imparted to them. We need a lot to do to ensure that our girls keep pace with boys.
While a large percentage of students drop out of the education system once they reach the age of 18 years, which presents its own set of problems, the overall outcome in terms of learning for employability of our youth is disheartening. Will the new education policy currently being rolled out at least begin to address some of these questions?
The report further highlighted that students who are enrolled in Science in grades 11 and 12 are high performers in grade 9 and therefore have been selected for the Science stream, and are therefore more likely to do well.
The ASER Survey looked at a few critical points, namely – Basic reading skills; Mathematics and English abilities; Application of basic skills to everyday calculations; Reading and understanding written instructions; and Financial calculations that need to be done in real life. Close to 80 per cent of youth report having used their smartphone for entertainment related activities such as watching a movie or listening to music.
The report, however, pointed out that while young people remain in school longer, there’s no significant change in their foundational literacy and numeracy skills (FLN).
The worrying trend has been that less than half of youngsters (about 45 per cent) could calculate the number of hours that a child slept based on the time he/she went to bed at night and woke up in the morning.
In another everyday task of measuring an object with a scale, 85 per cent of those surveyed could calculate the length of an object correctly if it was placed at the “0” mark on the ruler. But when the object was moved and placed elsewhere on the ruler, less than 40 per cent could correspond correctly. Two-thirds of youth (65.1 per cent) were able to read functional instructions on a packet of ORS solution.
Across all tasks that test youngsters’ ability to apply basic numeracy and reading skills, male candidates tend to do better than women. The survey showed that overall 86.8 percent of youth between the age of 14 and 18 years are enrolled in an educational institution, with the gender gap in enrolment being only 0.2 per cent.
The report pointed out that among both males and females, most youth who are working in activities other than household work tend to be working on family farms.
The significance of the ASER 2023 survey is that it measures educational development across several parameters. For nearly two decades, ASER reports have consistently pointed to deficiencies among children in elementary school with regards to foundational skills like reading and basic arithmetic. But this year’s focus on an older age group also points to a similar gap in learning outcomes at higher levels.
The report reveals that children continue to struggle with basic reading and arithmetic skills well into their teenage years, even after reaching Class 10 and higher secondary levels of education (Classes 11 and 12). The findings point to a huge skill deficit among adolescents, many of them only a few years away from entering the job market.
The challenge is for the government of the day to take all necessary steps to improve the standard of education which is imperative for the all-round development of the country even as India moves towards becoming the third ranking economy in the world by 2030.
Yours etc.,
Yash Pal Ralhan,
Via email
