Only 31.5% class 3 kids could read class 2 level text in Haryana: ASER 2022

Nationally, the report claims, the percentage of children in class III in government or private schools who can read at class II level dropped from 27.3% in 2018 to 20.5% in 2022. The report states: “This decline is visible in every state and for children in both government and private schools. States showing a decline of more than 10 percentage points from 2018 levels include those that had higher reading levels in 2018, such as Kerala (from 52.1% in 2018 to 38.7% in 2022), Himachal Pradesh (from 47.7% to 28.4%), and Haryana (from 46.4% to 31.5%). Large drops are also visible in Andhra Pradesh (from 22.6% to 10.3%) and Telangana (from 18.1% to 5.2%).” According to ASER, its reading test assesses whether a child can read letters, words, a simple paragraph at class I level of difficulty, or a “story” at class II level of difficulty.

Nationally,  the proportion of children enrolled in class V in government or private schools who can at least read a class II level text fell from 50.5 per cent in 2018 to 42.8 per cent in 2022. However, in Haryana, the proportion of such children fell from 69.3 per cent in 2018 to 57.7 per cent in 2022.

Although, the report states, drops in basic reading ability are visible among class VIII students as well, these are smaller as compared to observed trends in class III and class V. Nationally, 69.6% of children enrolled in class VIII in government or private schools can read at least basic text in 2022, falling from 73% in 2018. In Haryana, this fall was from 81.3 per cent in 2018 to 80.3 per cent in 2022.

Nationally, according to ASER, children’s basic arithmetic levels have declined over 2018 levels for most grades. “But the declines are less steep and the picture is more varied than in the case of basic reading.” The All-India figure for children in class III who are able to at least do subtraction dropped from 28.2% in 2018 to 25.9% in 2022. In case of Haryana, this fall is 53.9 per cent in 2018 to 41.8 per cent in 2022. According to ASER, its arithmetic test assesses whether a child can recognise numbers from 1 to 9, recognise numbers from 11 to 99, do a 2-digit numerical subtraction problem with borrowing, or correctly solve a numerical division problem (3 digit by 1 digit).

ASER had last assessed children’s English ability in 2016. Nationally, children’s ability to read simple English sentences has stayed more or less at the 2016 level for children in class V (from 24.7% in 2016 to 24.5% in 2022). Slight improvements are visible for children in class VIII (from 45.3% in 2016 to 46.7% in 2022).

In Haryana, the report claims, children’s ability to read simple English sentences declined for children in class V from 54.8 per cent in 2016 to 45.8 per cent in 2022. For children in class VIII this decline was from 71.1 per cent in 2016 to 66.5 per cent in 2022. The ASER English test assesses children’s ability to read capital letters, small letters, simple 3-letter words, and short easy sentences in English.

Nationally, small improvements are visible in all Right to Education-related indicators over 2018 levels. For example, the fraction of schools with usable girls’ toilets increased from 66.4% in 2018 to 68.4% in 2022. But, according to the ASER, the availability of this facility in Haryana schools has decreased from 84.4 per cent in 2018 to 68.5 per cent in 2022.

However, in Haryana also, the proportion of schools with drinking water available has increased from 82 per cent (2018) to 84.7 per cent in 2022. Nationally, a similar trend has been observed.