According to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2023, released today, Wednesday, January 16, almost 42 per cent of children between the 14-18 age bracket cannot read easy sentences in English, while more than half of the children struggle with simple division problems, as reported by PTI.
Details about the survey
The ASER 2023 Beyond Basics survey was conducted in 28 districts across 26 states, reaching a total of 34,745 youth between the age group of 14-18 years. For the same, one rural district was surveyed in each major state except two states, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, where two rural districts were surveyed.
Some takeaway points:-
1) More than half of the students in the 14-18 age group struggle with division problems. Only 43 per cent of 14-18-year-olds can do it.
2) About 25 per cent of this age group cannot read a Class II-level text fluently in their regional language.
3) About 57.3 per cent of the children can read sentences in English and almost 73.5 per cent can tell their meanings.
4) Females (76%) did better than males (70.9%) in reading a Class II-level text in their regional language.
5) Male students performed better in Arithmetic and English reading.
Deduction from the report
Low levels of foundational numerical abilities were found to be absent in the students as they were unable to tackle everyday calculations where they needed to apply measurement, use the unitary method in practical situations, or even do simple financial computations.
The data deduced that building foundational literacy and numeracy may be needed for about a fourth of youth in the 14-18 age group, and added that the new National education Policy (NEP) 2020 recognises the need for "catching up" for those who have fallen behind.
"Programs could be put in place, if they do not already exist, to help students from Std VIII and higher grades who are lagging behind academically," adds the report.
It may be noted that ASER reports are also used by the government while formulating policies.
