Language skills dip, maths slightly better: ASER data

One in every four persons between the ages of 14 and 18 in rural India cannot fluently read a Class 2 level text in their own language, and at least 42.7% cannot read sentences in English, according to the latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) survey released on Wednesday which shows an improvement in enrolment since this cohort was last surveyed in 2017, a marginal dip in language skills, and a slight improvement in arithmetic abilities.

- Fareeha Iftikhar

The ASER 2023 report titled "Beyond Basics", led by Pratham Foundation, an education-focused non-profit, is based on a survey of 34,745 people between the ages of 14 and 18 in both government and private institutes across 28 districts in 26 states.

According to the report, 86.8% of the respondents are enrolled in either school or college, compared to 85.6% in 2017, although the enrolment percentage drops with age. For instance, the proportion of youth who are currently not enrolled in school or college is 3.9% among 14-year-olds, 10.9% of 16-yearolds and 32.6% of 18-year-olds.

That would suggest that a third of the respondents do not study beyond Class 12 (it can't be said whether they take the school leaving exam or not), a statistic that does not bode well for a country that is looking to parlay its demographic dividend into economic growth. The most common reason (one in four) for boys to drop out is "lack of interest" while for girls (one in five) it is "family constraints".

Ameeta Mulla Wattal, an educationist and Chairperson DLF Foundation Schools and Scholarship Programmes, said between 2017, the last time this age group was covered, and 2023, there had been at least three years of the Covid-19 pandemic that were completely blackout for children especially in rural India. "There always have been learning gaps in case of foundation literacy and numeracy and Covid has even broadened these gaps," she said.

Still, the proportion shows an improve hent over the years, the report said, proving that fears about older children dropping out wholesale as a result of Covid have "turned out to be unfounded". "The proportion of out of school children and youth has been secularly declining, led by the government's push to universalise secondary education," the report added.