4 min readFeb 6, 2025 07:45 PM IST
First published on: Feb 6, 2025 at 07:45 PM IST
The ASER (Annual Status of Education Report) 2024 has brought some good news after almost a decade. Learning levels of children for basic reading and arithmetic in primary schools, especially government schools, have increased significantly over the 2022 levels.
It is heartening to see that children in Grade V, who missed two years of schooling, have shown great resilience and overcome the huge learning loss suffered during the pandemic. For Grade III, levels of learning for reading and arithmetic are now at, or higher than, those reported by ASER in 2018. In Uttar Pradesh, a surprise leader among the states, reading levels in government schools increased by 15 percentage points above 2018 levels. Clearly, the big push for foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) under the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 and the NIPUN Bharat Mission has helped bring more resources, better children’s learning materials, and teacher training to improve foundational learning.
Another positive development reported by ASER 2024 is the increased enrolment in early childhood education, with almost 80 per cent of three to six-year-old children enrolled in some form of pre-primary education. The emphasis of NEP 2020 on early childhood education will help improve access further.
These gains can, however, only offer some temporary satisfaction. We have a huge mountain to climb. More than 50 per cent of children in Grade V still cannot read a Grade II level text. When these children go to middle school, they face a learning failure. FLN skills are the basics that need to be mastered — reading fluently with deep comprehension, strong oral expression, writing independently, and the ability to execute mathematical operations. At present, almost 70 per cent of children are not acquiring mastery in foundational skills.
There are also huge disparities in learning between states, districts, schools, and even within a classroom. Several evaluations have shown that almost 25 per cent of children are learning very little in most classrooms. These children, at the bottom of the learning pyramid, haven’t gained much from FLN initiatives. A renewed focus is needed on improving the learning of children in the bottom quartile so that all children acquire foundational skills. Student attendance continues to be a concern in some states. Low attendance is a major factor inhibiting improved learning.
Learning gains are also limited for children who don’t understand the language used as the medium of instruction when they first join school as they struggle to learn an unfamiliar language while being taught through that language. Estimates show that almost 30 per cent of children in primary schools face this kind of learning disadvantage. The NEP’s emphasis on including children’s languages for better comprehension in the early years of school needs to be implemented through a bilingual or multilingual approach.
The quality of preschool education is unsatisfactory in most parts of the country. Enhancing investment in the holistic development of young children, especially in the three-to-six age group, can bring high social and economic dividends to society. The strategy of adding a pre-primary class for five to six-year-old children in all primary schools can be a game changer for early learning. Of course, this will require a huge investment in additional teachers, their training and children’s play-learning materials.
ASER shows that learning gains are mainly at the primary stage. The Grade VIII results are not encouraging. The middle school stage, that is, Grades VI to VIII where the curriculum is heavy and the availability of subject teachers for Science, Math and English is highly inadequate, needs far more attention.
Learning improvements, the ASER report shows, have been small over the past two decades. At this rate, we will take another 20-25 years to achieve the goal of at least 80 per cent of children mastering FLN skills. We cannot remain satisfied with these small gains in student learning. The national commitment for FLN needs to be sustained, enhanced, and intensified. This is a long haul. India’s demographic dividend cannot be realised unless children are supported by a strong foundation in primary schools so that they become confident lifelong learners.
The writer is a former IAS officer is Founder of Language and Learning Foundation
More than 50 per cent of children in Grade V still cannot read a Grade II level text. When these children go to middle school, they face a learning failure. (Credit: Pixabay) 
Share
