Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Only 23 per cent of Class 3 students in Karnataka government schools are able to perform numerical subtraction, according to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2024 released on Tuesday. Although this figure has improved from 19 per cent in 2022, it has only increased by 2 per cent over the past 10 years. In comparison, 31 per cent of Class 3 students in private schools in Karnataka can perform numerical subtraction, indicating slightly better performance, as per the report.
ASER is an annual citizen-led survey that provides reliable estimates of children’s schooling and learning levels. The report also showed that only 19 per cent of government school students in Class 5 and 35 per cent in Class 8 can do division, as compared to 25 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively, in private schools.
According to ASER, Karnataka has witnessed a decline in enrollment figures for children aged 6-14 in government schools, dropping from 76 per cent in 2022 to 71 per cent in 2024. However, this figure is still higher compared to 2018, when the enrollment rate was 69 per cent. Additionally, 83 per cent of government primary schools in Karnataka have fewer than 60 students, and 22 per cent of upper primary or higher schools also have fewer than 60 students. This, however, represents an increase of 17 per cent from 2022.
Among 4-year-olds, enrollment in pre-primary institutions in India increased from 76 per cent in 2018 to 82 per cent in 2022 and 83.3 per cent in 2024. In Karnataka, the enrollment rate for this age group exceeded 95 per cent. Additionally, there were significant increases in enrollment among 5-year-olds, with the rate in Karnataka surpassing 90 per cent.
In Karnataka, as per the report, only 15 per cent of government school students in Class 3 can read at Class 2 level. Among Class 5 students, 32 per cent can read at the same level, while 60 per cent of Class 8 students can read Class 2 level texts. Regarding digital literacy, 80 per cent of children aged 14 to 15 can use a smartphone; however, only 26 per cent own one. Furthermore, 68 per cent of these children have access to a smartphone for digital tasks. In Karnataka, 23 per cent of government schools still lack drinking water facilities, and 64 per cent do not have computers.
The ‘basic’ ASER survey generates district, state and national level estimates of the enrollment status of 3 to 16-year-old children and the basic reading and arithmetic skills of 5 to 16-year-old children. Additionally, in ASER 2024, older children aged 14 to 16 were asked questions about their digital access and usage and were administered a set of smartphone-based tasks to gauge their digital abilities.
ASER 2024 reached 6,49,491 children in 17,997 villages across 605 rural districts in India. Facilitated by the NGO Pratham, a local organisation or institution conducted the survey in each surveyed district. Key findings of the ASER 2024 survey are presented separately below for three groups of children: Pre-primary (age group 3-5), elementary (age group 6-14), and older children (age group 15-16).
Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
