Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2023

Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2023

GS Paper-II: Social Justice

(UPSC/State PSC)

Important for Prelims

NGO "Pratham Foundation, Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2023.

Important for Mains

About the ASER Report, Findings of ASER 2023, Challenges facing elementary education in India, Way forward for improving basic education.

Jan. 25, 2024

Why in news:

Recently, ‘Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)’ with the title ‘Beyond Basics’ has been released under the leadership of NGO “Pratham Foundation”.

Key facts related to the report:

  • The report is based on a household survey among rural students aged 14 to 18 years in 28 districts across 26 states to assess the basic reading and arithmetic abilities of 34,745 students.
  • The survey covered the following areas:
  • Awareness and digital skills: Awareness of digital technologies and platforms among youth.
  • Educational and professional choices: Aspirations of Indian youth.
  • The ability to apply fundamental skills in daily life situations: Basic and applied reading and mathematics ability among youth.

Outcomes of ASER 2023:

  • Household Activities: More women than men were involved in daily household or household chores, across all target categories, with a difference of about 20% points.
  • For both men and women, the majority of youth working in activities other than domestic work work in family farming.
  • The percentage of men (40.3%) doing work other than household work for more than 15 days was higher than that of women (28%).
  • About 30% of youth are working for their parents.
  • Career Options: Army (13.8%) and Police (13.6%) were the two most popular career options among the youth surveyed.
  • Teachers (16%) and doctors (14.8%) were the most preferred career choices among the girls and young women surveyed.
  • Age gap in Enrolment: Overall, 86.8% of 14-18 year olds are enrolled in an educational institution. Although the gender gap in enrollment is small, the age gap is large.
    • The percentage of non-enrolment among 14-year-old youth is 3.9% while among 18-year-old youth it is 32.6%.
    • Most of the people in this age group were enrolled in the Arts/Humanities stream.
    • In Class XI or above, more than half are enrolled in the Arts/Humanities stream (55.7%)
  • And the chances of being enrolled in science, technology, engineering and mathematics streams are lower for women (28.1%) compared to men (36.3%).
  • Vocational training status: Only 5.6% of the youth surveyed were enrolled in vocational training or other related courses.
  • Young people are most likely (16.2%) to take vocational training at the college level.
  • Assessment of basic skills and literacy level: About 25% of children in this age group cannot read class-2 level text fluently in their regional language.
  • Across enrollment categories, girls (76%) perform better than boys (70.9%) in reading Class 2 level text in the regional language.
  • English reading skills: About 57.3% can read English sentences; among the students who can read in English, only about three-fourths (73.5%) are able to understand the meaning of the sentences.
  • Math challenges: More than half of 14-18 year olds face difficulty solving division (3-digit/1-digit), while only 43.3% are able to solve such problems correctly. Are.
  • In the year 2017, only 39.5% of the youth could solve the division problem at the third-fourth class level, while in the year 2023 this proportion has increased to 43.3%.
  • Two-thirds of the youth (65.1%) surveyed were able to read the functional instructions on the ORS solution packets.
  • Smartphone use: Nearly 90% of the households surveyed had smartphones. Among the children surveyed, about 95% of boys and 90% of girls can use smartphones.

​ About ASER Report:

  • Led by the Pratham Foundation, ASER is a nationwide household survey that provides details of the schooling and learning status of children in rural India.
  • First implemented in 2005, the ‘Basic’ ASER survey was conducted annually until 2014 but since 2016, it has been conducted every other year at an interval of one year.
  • The ASER survey provides representative estimates of the enrollment status of children aged 3-16 years and basic education and arithmetic levels of children aged 5-16 years at the national, state and district levels.

Significance of this report:  

  • This report helps in evaluating the actual situation of the education sector as well as in the formulation of policies by the government.

Challenges facing elementary education in India:

  • Lack of infrastructure and facilities: Despite improvements in retention rates, schools remain sorely lacking in infrastructure. While 95% of the schools have drinking water and toilet facilities, more than 10% of the schools lack electricity.
  • Additionally, there is a lack of digitization, with more than 60% of schools lacking computers and 90% lacking access to internet facilities.
  • Attraction towards private schools: In the last few years, there has been an increasing trend towards private schools. According to government data, the share of government schools in the primary category has declined from 87% in 2006 to 62% in March 2020.
  • Shortage of teachers: There is a shortage of teachers in schools and the student-teacher ratio is high. Dependence on contract teachers has been observed and there is large-scale teacher absenteeism.
  • Difference in quality of education: The quality of education varies, with a clear divide between well-funded, formal schools and under-resourced, informal schools.
  • Social Division: Social divisions, including caste-class, rural-urban, religious and gender divisions, exist, which are affecting the quality of education provided.

Way forward for improving Basic Education:

  • The government should allocate more funds to education while moving in the recommended direction of 6% of GDP as outlined in the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020.
  • Funding should be given priority for infrastructure development, teacher training and provision of necessary facilities in schools.
  • Adequate number of qualified teachers should be recruited to reduce the high student-teacher ratio.
  • There is a need to implement programs for continuous professional development to enhance the quality of teaching.
  • Identify and address the root causes of student dropout, including socio-economic factors, lack of infrastructure and quality of education.
  • Scholarship programs and mentorship initiatives should be implemented to encourage student retention.
  • Investments in developing school infrastructure and enhancing sanitation facilities should be encouraged.
  • Integration of technology in education should be promoted by providing computers and internet facilities to schools.
  • Implement child-centered teaching methods and assessment strategies that encourage critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
  • Strong monitoring and evaluation mechanisms should be put in place to assess the effectiveness of education policies and interventions.

Source: Indian Express

-------------------------------------------

Mains Question

In the light of ASER Report 2023, discuss the way forward for improving basic education by highlighting the challenges facing elementary education in India.