The state of Indian education -Governance Now

The state of Indian education

For the first time, the proportion of children who are not enrolled in school falls below three percent, according to ASER (Rural) 2018 report

GN Bureau | January 15, 2019

#school #literacy rate #children #ASER report #education sector #India education

In India, 50 percent of all boys in the age group 14 to 16 can correctly solve a division problem as compared to 44 percent of all girls, reveals the 13th ASER (Annual Status of Education Report) (Rural) 2018. The nation-wide household survey provides a snapshot of children’s schooling and learning for a representative sample of children across rural India. ASER 2018 reached 596 districts in rural India. A total of 3,54,944 households and 5,46,527 children in the age group 3 to 16 were surveyed.

Following are the major findings of the 2018 survey:

Schooling level

· The proportion of children (age 6-14) who are not enrolled in school has fallen below 3 percent for the first time and stands at 2.8 percent

· All India proportion of girls (age 11-14) out of school is at 4.1 percent, decrease from 10.3 percent in 2006

· The percentage of children (age 6-14) enrolled in private schools was 30.6 percent in 2016 and is almost unchanged at 30.9 percent in 2018

Reading and Maths

· The percentage of all children in Std III who can read Std II level text is 27.2 percent, a an increase from 21.6 percent in 2013.

· The figure for government school children in Std III who are able to do at least subtraction has not changed much, from 20.3 percent in 2016 to 20.9 percent in 2018.

· The proportion of children in Std V across India who are able to do division has inched up slightly, from 26 percent in 2016 to 27.8 percent in 2018.

· All India figure for the proportion of girls (age 14 to 16) who can read at least a Std II level text is very similar to that of boys. Both around 77 percent. However, girls outperform boys in many states like Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.

Attendance

States with student attendance of 90 percent or more in primary schools in 2018 were Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Those with teacher attendance of 90 percent or more in 2018 were Jharkhand, Odisha, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.

School facilities

The Right to Education Act was implemented in 2010 and the first cohort of students to benefit from its provisions completed 8 years of compulsory schooling in 2018. Nationally, substantial improvements are visible over this 8-year period in the availability of many school facilities mandated by RTE. The fraction of schools with usable girls' toilets doubled, reaching 66.4 percent in 2018. The proportion of schools with boundary walls increased by 13.4 percentage points, standing at 64.4 percent in 2018. The percentage of schools with a kitchen shed increased from 82.1 percent to 91 percent, and the proportion of schools with books other than textbooks available increased from 62.6 percent to 74.2 percent over the same period. However, deficiencies are particularly marked in Jammu and Kashmir and most of the north-eastern states.

Sports facilities

In 2018, about 8 out of 10 schools had a playground available for students, either within the school premises or close by. A playground was accessible in more than 90 percent of schools in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and Maharashtra. But more than a quarter of all schools in Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Odisha, and Jharkhand did not have access to a playground.

Comments

Other News

A blueprint of India’s economic future: From a former RBI governor

From Dependence to Self-Reliance: Mapping India’s Rise as a Global Superpower By Bimal Jalan Rupa Publications, 184 pages, Rs 695 Bimal Jalan, a former governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has been one of our finest commentators on econom

Carbon neutrality: distant dream or a possible future?

While many countries have been chasing to reach the carbon neutral status, only a few seem to be living up to their pledges as of now. The famous ’Paris Agreement’ of 2015 was glorified and celebrated that finally 196 countries have united with an intent to mitigate and reduce the greenhouse ga

Agnipath: benefits and challenges on the path ahead

The government this week announced the Tour of Duty or `Agnipath` scheme for the recruitment of soldiers in the armed forces. Under this scheme new soldiers will be recruited only for four years. This radical and far-reaching scheme has attracted mixed reactions from various quarters. While some officials

Connecting credit card with UPI: What it means for you

UPI has become an integral part of our daily lives now. We use it to buy groceries, we use it to send money to friends and family, we use it to purchase tickets, book shows, pay the cab driver, and a whole host of other things due to the ease and availability of such a platform at our fingertips. The best

Gandhi’s letters to his youngest son also hold his aspirations for nation

Scorching Love: Letters from Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to his son, Devadas By Gopalkrishna Gandhi and Tridip Suhrud Oxford University Press, 528 page, Rs 1495 Gandhi’s era happened to be an era when letter-writing was a primary mode of communica

‘In Mumbai, society, police forces triumphed over Covid-19’

Crediting the citizens of Mumbai for coming forward to help the police in combating the crisis situation due to Covid-19, Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Pandey has said that Mumbai Police lost quite a few policemen during the pandemic but cumulative efforts, with citizens working hand in hand with the p