Rural primary education in dire straits: Survey

Vikas Sharma

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Tribune News Service

Jammu, February 12

The state government’s tall claims of giving top priority to strengthening the education sector, especially in the rural and far-flung areas, have fell flat as the Annual State of Education Report (ASER), 2016, has revealed a poor state of affairs.

According to the survey, 26 per cent children studying in Class III can read letters but not words while 4.3 per cent cannot even read letters.

The report claimed that 3.4 per cent children studying in Class III cannot even recognise numbers from 1-9 while 17.5 per cent can recognise numbers up to 9 but cannot recognise numbers up to 99 or higher. Further, 47.9 per cent can recognise numbers up to 99 but cannot do subtraction while 25 per cent can do subtraction but not division.

The report showed variation in children’s reading levels in English within a given grade.

According to the report, 5.1 per cent children studying in Class III cannot even read capital letters while 9.4 per cent can read capital letters but not small letters. A total of 40.3 per cent students can read words but not sentences while only 24 per cent can read sentences, the survey claimed.

The survey said that 30.2 per cent children studying in Class I (both government and private schools) cannot even read letters while 21.1 per cent cannot read words. Around 11.6 per cent children studying in Class II cannot read letters and 29.8 per cent cannot read words.

As far as the arithmetic level is concerned, 25.4 per cent children studying in Class I cannot recognise numbers from 1-9. The survey also exposed the poor reading level in English with 29.9 per cent children studying in Class I cannot even read capital letters.

ASER is a household survey that provides estimates of children’s schooling status and their ability to read simple text and do basic arithmetic. The survey was done in all rural districts of the country and covers children in the age group of 3-16.

Facilitated by Pratham, ASER is carried out by about 500 partner organisations and over 25,000 volunteers across the country. All kinds of institutions partner with ASER such as colleges, universities, NGOs, youth groups, women organisations and self-help groups.

With the exception of 2015, ASER has been conducted every year since 2005. This was the eleventh ASER report.