ASER 2023 report: On education, let’s listen to the teenagers
- The past two decades have seen intense debates on schooling and foundational literacy-numeracy in India, leading to significant policy shifts.
- The Right to Education (RTE) Act, enacted over a decade ago, aimed at universal elementary schooling.
- The recently launched National Education Policy (NEP) in 2020 takes a comprehensive approach to providing quality education for the entire age range - from age three to university.
ASER 2023 Focus
- Unlike previous country-wide ASER surveys, ASER 2023 is more targeted, focusing on one or two rural districts in each state.
- The primary goal is to assess the status of the relatively understudied age group of 14 to 18.
Enrollment Trends and Pressures
- Enrollment levels for elementary school-age children are nearly universal.
- UDISE data shows that Std VIII enrolment in India doubled from 11 million in 2005-2006 to 22 million in 2020-21.
- The transition rate from elementary school (Std VIII) to secondary school (Std IX) also is high at 88.81 percent nationally.
- Thus, today more children in India have more years of schooling than ever before.
- However, rising pressures on individuals and institutions accompany this progress.
- ASER 2022 highlighted academic competition, coaching, and heavy expenditure, especially for students with parents having limited education.
- The proportion of children opting for private tuition increased from 25% in 2018 to 30% in 2022.
NEP 2020 Goals and Challenges
- NEP 2020 emphasises the goal of 100% secondary school enrollment.
- ASER 2023 data reveals that over 85% of youth (age 14-18) in surveyed rural districts are enrolled, but this progress comes with challenges.
- The aspirations of parents for their children contribute to academic pressures, calling for examination reforms and flexibility, as suggested by NEP 2020.
Learning Levels and Urgent Need for Improvement
- Basic learning levels, as indicated by the National Achievement Survey (NAS) and ASER, have shown little improvement over the last decade.
- NEP 2020 stresses the urgent need for basic reading and arithmetic skills by Std III, leading to the NIPUN Bharat initiative.
- While early grades receive attention, there is a critical need for a comprehensive strategy to improve learning, particularly for upper primary grades.
Challenges in Middle School Education
- ASER data from 2014 to 2022 reveals flat learning trajectories in middle school grades (Std V-VIII), with minimal improvement in basic learning levels.
- A comprehensive strategy for learning improvement, starting with basic skills, is urgently needed for upper primary grades.
- ASER 2023 data shows that 45% of youth (14-18 age group) have basic arithmetic proficiency, emphasising the need for catch-up efforts in foundational numeracy.
NEP 2020 and Way Forward
- NEP 2020 re-imagines the "foundation stage" (age 3 to 8), with the government's NIPUN Bharat mission actively working on restructuring.
- Efforts in early grades are visible, but there's a call for similar initiatives to translate reform ideas into action for middle and secondary school.
- Continuous tracking of outcomes is crucial for improvement and eventual success.