News Highlights:
After a gap of four years, the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) for 2022 was recently released in New Delhi.
Key Takeaway:
- The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2022 is published by PRATHAM, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO).
- This nationwide household survey that covers all rural districts in the country generates estimates for schooling and basic learning for every State in India.
Key Findings of the report:
- Total Children enrolled:
- The enrolment rate for the 6 to 14 age group has been above 95% for the past 15 years.
- Despite school closures during the pandemic, overall enrolment figures have increased from 97.2% in 2018 to 98.4% in 2022.
- Enrolment in the pre-primary age group:
- Across rural India, the proportion of 3-year-olds enrolled in some form of early childhood education stands at 78.3% in 2022, an increase of 7.1 percentage points over 2018 levels.
- The proportion of girls not currently enrolled:
- In 2022, the all-India figure for 11-14-year-old girls not enrolled in school stands at 2%.
- This figure is around 4% only in Uttar Pradesh and is lower in all other states.
- The proportion of 15-16-year-old girls not enrolled has continued to drop, standing at 7.9% in 2022.
- Only 3 states have more than 10% of girls in this age group out of school: Madhya Pradesh (17%), Uttar Pradesh (15%), and Chhattisgarh (11.2%).
- Government school enrollment:
- There is a significant shift away from private schools to government schools.
- The percentage of children, aged 11 – 14 who are enrolled in government schools has risen from 65% in 2018 to 71.7% in 2022.
- Factors that shift Children’s enrol in government schools:
- Decrease in family income.
- permanent closures of low-cost private schools.
- The efforts of many State governments to provide services even when schools were closed, such as mid-day meal rations, teaching-learning materials shared remotely, worksheets and textbook distribution etc.
- Drop in Basic Education:
- Between 2014 and 2018, learning levels in terms of foundational skills in reading and arithmetic rose gradually.
- However, in 2022, the basic reading ability of children in Class 3 dipped by 6.8% points from 2018 and the proportion of children in Class 3 who could do at least subtraction fell to 25.9% in 2022.
- The basic reading ability of children in the age group 5–16-year-olds enrolled in both government and private schools across the country has sharply dropped.
- Private tuition:
- Nationally, the proportion of children in Standard I-VIII taking paid private tuition classes increased from 26.4% in 2018 to 30.5% in 2022.
- Teacher and student attendance:
- At the All-India level, no major change is seen in students’ and teachers’ attendance.
- Average teacher attendance increased slightly, from 85.4% in 2018 to 87.1% in 2022.
- Average student attendance has continued to hover at around 72% for the past several years.
- School facilities:
- The fraction of schools with useable girls’ toilets increased from 66.4% in 2018 to 68.4% in 2022.
- The proportion of schools with drinking water available increased from 74.8% to 76%, and the proportion of schools with books other than textbooks being used by students increased from 36.9% to 44% over the same period.
- Most sports-related indicators also remain close to the levels observed in 2018. In 2022, 68.9% of schools have a playground, up slightly from 66.5% in 2018.
Annual Status of Education Report:
- About:
- It is a citizen-led household survey that estimates the enrolment status of children aged 3-16 and the basic reading and arithmetic levels of children aged 5-16 at the national, state and district level.
- The first ASER was conducted in 2005 and repeated annually for ten years.
- ASER is a rural survey, and urban areas are not covered.
- ASER 2022 reached almost 700,000 children in over 19,000 villages across 616 districts in India and generated district, state, and national level estimates of children’s enrolment status and foundational skills.
- Assessment method:
- ASER is a household-based rather than a school-based survey.
- This design includes all children – those who have never been to school or have dropped out, as well as those who are in government schools, private schools, religious schools, or anywhere else.
- Information on schooling status is collected for all children in the age group 3-16 living in sampled households.
- Children in the age group 5-16 are tested in basic reading and basic arithmetic.
- Significance:
- ASER has had a significant influence in bringing the issue of learning to the centre of the stage in discussions and debates on education in India.
- ASER data has been used in many reports, such as NITI Aayog’s 3-Year Action Agenda for 2017-18 to 2019-20, the Economic Survey of India 2021-22, and the World Bank’s World Development Report 2018.
Pic Courtesy: Freepik
Content Source: The Hindu