Even as India boasts of some of the world’s best engineering and business schools that are a challenge to get into, elementary education in the country, especially in the rural hinterlands, continues to languish, a new survey has revealed.
According to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) released Monday by the ASER Centre, which is supported by Indian nonprofit Pratham, less than half the children in grade 5 could read a grade 2 textbook, even as 96 percent of children in the 6-14-year age group enrolled in a school.
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In 2014, India increased its education budget by 11 percent to nearly $11 billion, which is 3.3 percent of its Gross Domestic Product.
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The report further notes that though enrollment levels in the 6-14 age group are high, “the proportion of 15 to 16 year olds not enrolled in school is substantial.” In rural areas, 15.9 percent of boys and 17.3 percent of girls in this age group are currently out of school, it notes.
The report also takes aim at the inequities of the government’s approach to solve the country’s education problem.
“Well into the second decade of this century, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) did not really take interest in learning achievements. Its sole focus was on provisions, inputs and infrastructure,” it says. “The thinking seemed implicitly linear; first all infrastructure needs have to be taken care of and then quality issues can be addressed. Unfortunately, in states where infrastructure issues were not severe, there too states followed the MHRD cue and did nothing significant about basic learning levels,” it goes on to say.
In 2009, India passed the Right to Education law, which made education a fundamental right of every Indian citizen and provides for free and compulsory elementary education to every child between six to 14 years of age. However, over 640 million children, or more than a third of all 6-14 year olds, in India continue to pay for their education. Moreover, about 4.7 million children go to schools not recognized by the government.
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“… the paradox of the last ten years is that while governments spent money on building schools and hiring teachers by the lakhs (hundreds of thousands), and also provided free textbooks, uniforms, and mid-day meals, the net enrollment in government schools went down and enrollment in private schools went up sharply, especially in the primary stage,” the report says.
http://www.ibtimes.com/even-india-pours-billions-education-rural-schools-continue-totter-1783004
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The report on the status of education in 2014 by ASER, an NGO, says basic reading levels in India are disheartening and largely unchanged from five years ago.
This applies to the children’s mother tongue as well as English, where there has been a decline in upper grades. In 2009, 60 per cent children in class 8 could read simple sentences in English; in 2014, only about 47 per cent could, ASER finds.
Even with math, basic subtractions like 46-29, or 63-39 are proving to be a hurdle for class 4 students. Data from rural schools shows that close to 60 percent still struggle with it. In fact, over the years, there has been a decline in the ability of rural school children to do basic two digit subtraction. In 2010, 57.7 per cent children in class 4 could do subtraction, but 2014 has seen a drop to 40.3 per cent.
It isn’t any better for basic division sums either. Whereas 36.2 per cent students in class 5 could do division in 2010, the number has dropped to 26.1 per cent in 2014. While in class 2, 19.5 per cent children could not recognise numbers up to nine.
Even with English, less than 25 per cent children can read basic sentences like ‘what is the time?’ Or ‘I like to read’, fluently.
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