Remarkable Recovery in Learning levels in Govt schools In ASER 2024 report
Vijay Garg
The Annual Status of Education Report 2024 shows significant improvements in learning levels in government schools, attributing success to the National Education Policy’s foundational literacy and numeracy program. Key findings include a 98% enrollment rate for children aged 6-14, increased reading and arithmetic skills in government schools, and high smartphone access for students.
Annual Status of Education Report 2024, facilitated by NGO Pratham, for 605 rural districts has reported significant improvement in learning levels in government schools and swift recovery than the Covid-19 period. As per ASER, all these have been possible due to National Education Policy’s foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) programme.
98% ENROLMENT IN 6-14 AGE GROUP
Dropouts in 15-16 age group: 7.9% not enrolled at the all-India level (7.5% in 2022)
READING LEVELS IN GOVT SCHOOLS
Improvements in all elementary grades: Class I-VIII
Basic reading levels highest for Class III: 23.4% (20.9% in 2018 and 16.3% in 2022)
READING LEVELS: GOVT VS PRIVATE SCHOOLS
Class III students of govt schools able to read class II text in 2018: 20.9%
40.6% in private schools
Figures dropped to 16.3% and 33.1% in 2022
In 2024, govt schools move up to 23.4%, private schools move to 35.5%
ARITHMETIC LEVELS
Class III students’ ability to do at least subtraction had dropped to 25.9% in 2022
Between 2022 and 2024, students’ ability to do subtraction in Class III increased substantially in govt schools
Over 75% schools implemented school readiness programme for students before entering Class I
Over 95% schools distributed textbooks to all grades
EDUCATED NEW PARENTS
2014: 43% of mothers and 25% of fathers of children in 3-8 age group had no schooling
2024: It dropped to 24% for mothers and 16% for fathers
Proportion of mothers completing primary school or higher has moved up from 43% to over 64%; corresponding increase for fathers is from 61% to 72%
DIGITAL FIRST
Almost 90% of girls and boys report having a smartphone at home
More than 80% know how to use a smartphone (85.5% of boys; 79.4% of girls)
Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh report lower proportions
OWNERSHIP OF SMARTPHONES
27% of 14 years and 37.8% of 16 years have their own phone (36.2% for boys; 26.9% for girls)
57% use it for an educational activity; 76% used it for social media (boys used social media more)
DIGITAL SAFETY
62% knew how to block or report a profile
55.2% knew how to make a profile private
57.7% knew how to change a password
Boys score better than girls; gender gaps also noted