ASER 2023: Study shows Nanded dist kids from 14 to 18 yrs lag in basic Math, English reading skills

As opposed to this, the focus group showed greater achievements in digital skills. While 89.4 per cent of them had smartphones, 92.3 per cent reported being able to use these phones effectively. 71.2 per cent of them used it for at least one educational related activity while a startling 91.6 per cent used it for social media access. The report also pointed out that there was no awareness among youngsters about safety features while using the internet on digital devices.

The ASER 2023 report focused on children development in older age groups, i.e., 14 to 18 years of age. A similar focused group was surveyed in 2017, however, this survey included Satara and Ahmednagar districts and judged children on different parameters. Blachandra Shahare, research manager at ASER for Maharashtra, said, “For the 2023 report, Nanded district was identified because in the overall ASER report of 2022, the report for this district was closest to the state’s average.” A total of 1,200 households from 60 villages of Nanded were surveyed for this report.

While the 2023 survey report highlighted alarming concerns over arithmetical and English reading skills of children between the age groups of 14 and 18 years, Shahare pointed out that the older children, despite passing lower classes in schools, were unable to do basic language and arithmetic tasks generally expected from much younger age groups. “The tests given to children for the survey were essentially the skills they are expected to have acquired by the age of 10 years, which is generally children of class 5. The age group in focus covered children from Class 9 and beyond and yet a significant number of them lacked basic language and arithmetic skills,” he said, recommending that the government should look at revisiting FLN skills of older class children too.

It was noticed that a huge 94 per cent of children from this age group in Nanded were enrolled in formal education institutions. Of the 6 per cent who were not enrolled, the proportion of out-of-school children was higher among 17 and 18 year olds (10.9 per cent) as compared to children between the ages of 14 and 16 years. Among those aged 17 and 18, the proportion of out-of-school-children was higher among girls (11 per cent).

While the Maharashtra government has emphasised on skill or vocational education with an objective to create trained manpower. According to the ASER 2023 report, only 7.4 per cent of children between the ages of 14 and 18 years were enrolled in some form of vocational training in Nanded.

While the focus group has shown greater achievement in digital skills, the report found that 94 per cent of boys and 91 per cent of girls were able to effectively use their smartphones. The report also showed that fewer girls owned smartphones as compared to boys. While a huge 40.8 per cent of boys had their own smartphones, only 13.2 per cent of girls had their own. The report also highlighted that even as those using smartphones for social media were in a high proportion, a far smaller proportion knew how to access its safety features like blocking a profile, making a profile private, etc.