Annual Status of Education Report

Attempt following quiz to check your understanding regarding ASER report. You are encourage to attempt the quiz first then go through the article.

[WpProQuiz 49]

Introduction

ASER (Annual Status of Education Report) is an annual survey that aims to provide reliable annual estimates of children’s schooling status and basic learning levels for each state and rural district in India. It is the largest citizen-led survey in India, and is also the only annual source of information on children’s learning outcomes available in India today. It came in 2005 for the first time.

Recent Update

13th  Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) by Pratham NGO was published which focuses on status of primary education in rural India.

Parameters of the Report

  • School enrollment and attendance among children aged 3-16 years.
  • Basic reading and math abilities among children aged 5-16 years.
  • School infrastructure with sports infrastructure.

Positive aspects

  • Overall enrollment (age 6-14): The enrollment of children for the age group 6 to 14 has been above 95%, since 2017. Children not enrolled in school has fallen below3% at 2.8% in 2018.
  • Improvement in school infrastructure:
  • Private school enrollment:In 2016, proportion of children (age 6-14) enrolled in private school stood at 30.6% and is almost unchanged at 30.9% in 2018.
  • Dropout of school girls has declined significantly

Concerning Issue

  • Indian students, especially those in elementary school (Classes I-VIII), are not learning enough. To cite a metric, only half (50.3%) of all students in Class V can read texts meant for Class II students.
  • The deficit is across government and private schools.
  • No Improvement in Mathematical Ability
  • Basic reading and math in early grades showing improvement in many states. Need to build on this momentum and sustain improvements.
  • Many children completing Std VIII are unprepared for higher studies or for the labour market. Preparation for school, work, and life is needed by this stage.
  • State-wise Disparities

Way forwards

  • Regardless of age and grade, it is important to focus immediately on building foundational skills. Without foundations in place, children cannot meaningfully benefit from additional years in school.
  • Helping children acquire skills of reading and basic math by the end of Std II or beginning of Std III will significantly reduce learning gaps in later stages.

+ve Impact of ASER on education policy in India

  • ASER findings have been quoted in Chapter 20: Education and Skill Development(page 131) of Niti Aaayog’s draft Three Year Action Agenda, 2017-18 to 2019-20
  • The Economic Survey 2015-16, presented in the Parliament on February 25, 2016 quotes ASER data to state that the social infrastructure scenario in the country reflects gaps in access to education. ASER findings have been extensively cited in the chapter.
  • International Impact: The ‘citizen-led assessment’ (CLA) model, as it has come to be known, is currently implemented in 13 countries across 3 continents.
  • Codifying Learning Assessment: At The 64th Meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) one of the agreements reached was that learning outcomes should be codified and be made a part of rules of Right to Education Act (RTE).

Difference between NAS report and ASER report.

  • NAS (National Achievement Survey) is a school based survey where as ASER is a household survey.
  • NAS is a Pen and Paper test but ASER is an oral assessment.
  • ASER looks upon the foundational skills but NAS looks at wider range of skills.
  • ASER is a citizen led survey where NAS is conducted by NCERT.

On basis of above article attempt following Descriptive Question

  • What are the concerning issues in the ASER report? What Government is doing to resolve the issues?

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