Education has a significant social impact, shaping individuals' beliefs, attitudes and behaviours towards themselves and others. It helps to develop critical thinking, empathy, and social responsibility, ultimately contributing to building a more cohesive and equitable society.
Follow us on a visual journey through the findings of the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2022, as we highlight 10 key maps and infographics. ASER’s latest report highlights the progress and challenges in India's primary and upper primary education system. This blog explores India's educational landscape through Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Skills in Reading and Arithmetic, Enrolment and Attendance, and School Facilities. Join us in exploring the data and insights that shape our educational landscape. The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2022 is a nationwide rural household survey encompassing almost 700,000 children in over 19,000 villages across 616 districts in India.
FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY SKILLS IN READING AND ARITHMETIC
How many Class 8 students in India possess the foundational reading skills to comprehend Class 2 level text?
Alarming Dip in Basic Reading Abilities: According to the ASER reading test, in 2022, only 69.6% of children enrolled in Std VIII in government or private schools can read basic text, down from 73% in 2018.
The test assesses children's ability to read letters, words, a simple paragraph at Std I level, or a “story” at Std II level, and is administered one-on-one to all children aged 5 to 16 in sampled households. Drops in reading skills are observed in both government and private schools in most states, and for both boys and girls.
What percentage of eighth-grade students in India possess the foundational arithmetic skills to solve basic division problems such as 993/8 or 758/6?
Insights on National Arithmetic Levels: In contrast to basic reading, children's basic arithmetic levels have shown a decline in most grades nationally, but the changes are less steep and the scenario more varied. The proportion of class 8 students who can do basic division has slightly increased from 44.1% in 2018 to 44.7% in 2022. Girls and children enrolled in government schools have shown better outcomes, while boys and children in private schools have shown a decline compared to 2018 levels. Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have shown a significant improvement, whereas Punjab has shown a decline.
The ASER arithmetic test evaluates children's ability to recognise numbers, perform subtraction with borrowing, and solve numerical division problems. The test is conducted individually for children in the age group of 5 to 16 in sampled households, and each child is evaluated at their highest level of comfort.
What % of students take paid private tuition classes?
Rural India witnesses a continuous rise in the number of children taking paid private tuition classes over the past decade, and this trend has further accelerated from 2018 to 2022. This increase is evident among students enrolled in both government and private schools. Nationally, the percentage of children in Std I-VIII taking paid private tuition classes has gone up from 26.4% in 2018 to 30.5% in 2022. The states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand have witnessed a significant increase of 8 percentage points or more in the proportion of children taking paid private tuition classes over 2018 levels.
ENROLMENT AND ATTENDANCE
What % of children aged 15-16 years are not going to school?
Overall enrolment (age group 6-14): The enrolment rate for the 6 to 14 age group has been above 95% for the past 15 years. Despite school closures during the pandemic, overall enrolment figures have increased from 97.2% in 2018 to 98.4% in 2022.
Government school enrolment: Between 2006 and 2014, there was a gradual decline in the percentage of children aged 6 to 14 enrolled in government schools. In 2014, the figure stood at 64.9% and remained relatively stable over the next four years. However, from 2018 to 2022, there was a significant increase in the percentage of children aged 6 to 14 enrolled in government schools, rising from 65.6% to 72.9%. This rise in government school enrolment is evident across almost every state in the country.
Proportion of girls who are not currently enrolled: In 2006, the percentage of girls aged 11-14 who were not attending school in India was 10.3%, decreasing to 4.1% in 2018. This trend has continued, with the all India figure for 11-14-year-old girls not enrolled in school standing at 2% in 2022. In Uttar Pradesh, the figure is around 4%, whereas it is lower in all other states.
The decline in the proportion of girls not enrolled in school is even more pronounced among older girls in the 15-16 age group. In 2008, over 20% of girls in this age group were not attending school nationally. By 2018, this figure had dropped to 13.5%. The proportion of 15-16-year-old girls not enrolled has continued to decline, with only three states having over 10% of girls in this age group out of school: Madhya Pradesh (17%), Uttar Pradesh (15%), and Chhattisgarh (11.2%).
Student attendance in Government Schools
Following the success in enrolment, attention has now shifted to improving attendance. At the national level, there have been no significant changes in the attendance of both students and teachers. The average attendance of students has remained at around 72% for several years. However, some states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Manipur, and Tripura, still have a considerable amount of progress to make. The average attendance of teachers has increased slightly from 85.4% in 2018 to 87.1% in 2022.
SCHOOL FACILITIES
What % of schools have a drinking water facility?
Access to safe drinking water is a fundamental right for all students, yet the report reveals significant variations in the provision of this basic amenity. While the national average of schools with drinking water facilities increased from 74.8% in 2018 to 76% in 2022, there are major disparities across different states. For instance, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab have shown remarkable progress, with an increase in the proportion of schools with drinking water from 58.1% to 65.6% and 82.7% to 92.7%, respectively. However, Gujarat and Karnataka have witnessed a decline, with drinking water availability dropping from 88% to 71.8% and 76.8% to 67.8%, respectively.
What % of schools have a usable girls' toilet?
Ensuring access to safe and hygienic toilets is crucial for promoting gender equality in education. While there have been small improvements in all Right to Education-related indicators in India, the latest data shows that only 68.4% of schools have usable girls' toilets, up from 66.4% in 2018.
The ASER report employs the following methodology:
To obtain a representative view of each district, ASER uses a sampling strategy where all rural districts are surveyed. The obtained estimates are then aggregated using appropriate weights to the division, state, and all-India levels. The sample size per district is 600 households, and it is obtained by selecting 30 villages and 20 households per village, as in previous years.
ASER 2022 uses a two-stage clustered design. In the first stage, 30 villages are sampled from the Census 2011 village directory using the Probability Proportional to Size (PPS) technique. PPS is a standard sampling technique for the first stage when the sampling units are of different sizes. In the case of ASER, villages are the sampling units. In the second stage, 20 households with children aged 3-16 years are surveyed in each of the 30 villages, resulting in a sample size of 600 households per district.
To generate efficient estimates of change in learning, ASER 2022 employs a rotating panel of villages, where 10 villages are retained from 2016 and 2018, and 10 new villages are added in 2022. This panel survey design ensures that each household in the district has an equal probability of being selected into the sample.
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