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Code Context

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	'title' => 'Education',
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	'description' => '<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">KEY TRENDS</span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&bull; At&nbsp;the&nbsp;national&nbsp;level,&nbsp;the&nbsp;proportion of&nbsp;government schools&nbsp;having facilities like drinking water was 96.39 percent, boys&#39; toilet was 94.64 percent, girls&#39; toilet was 97.03 percent, boundary wall was 60.12 percent, playground was 56.98 percent, ramp was 71.50 percent, CWSN toilet was 19.59 percent, electricity was 56.45 percent and library was 79.36 percent, according to the Unified District Information System For Education (UDISE) 2017-18 (Provisional) <strong>*12</strong></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&bull; ASER 2019 &lsquo;Early Years&rsquo; data shows a clear relationship between children&rsquo;s performance on cognitive tasks and measures of early language and early numeracy, suggesting that a focus on activities that strengthen cognitive skills rather than subject learning in the early years may generate substantial benefits in terms of children&rsquo;s future learning. The entire age band from 4 to 8 needs to be seen as a continuum, and curriculum progression across grades and schooling stages designed accordingly. For an effective and implementable curriculum, the process of designing, planning, piloting, and finalizing needs to keep ground realities in mind <strong>*11</strong><br />
<br />
&bull; From the National Sample Survey (NSS) 75th Round one gets that in rural areas, average expenditure per student pursuing general course in the current academic year was Rs. 5,240, while in urban areas it was Rs. 16,308. In rural areas, average expenditure per student pursuing technical/professional course in the current academic year was Rs. 32,137, while in urban areas it was Rs. 64,763 <strong>*10</strong></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&bull; The Right to Education Act was implemented in 2010 and the first cohort of students to benefit from its provisions completed 8 years of compulsory schooling in 2018. Nationally, substantial improvements are visible over this 8-year period in the availability of many school facilities mandated by RTE. The fraction of schools with usable girls&#39; toilets doubled, reaching 66.4 percent in 2018, says the ASER 2018. The proportion of schools with boundary walls increased by 13.4 percentage points, standing at 64.4 percent in 2018. The percentage of schools with a kitchen shed increased from 82.1 percent to 91 percent, and the proportion of schools with books other than textbooks available increased from 62.6 percent to 74.2 percent over the same period <strong>*9</strong></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&bull; Girls and young women have far lower access to computer and internet as compared to boys. While 49 percent of males have never used the internet, close to 76 percent of females have never done so <strong>*8</strong></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&bull; Nationally, the proportion of children in Std III who are able to read at least Std I level text has gone up slightly, from 40.2 percent in 2014 to 42.5 percent in 2016, as per the 11th ASER <strong>*7</strong></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&bull; Nearly 6 percent of rural households and 29 percent of urban household possessed computer. In India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27 percent had internet access in the survey year, 2014. The proportions were 16 percent among rural households and 49 percent of urban households <strong>*6 </strong><br />
<br />
&bull; In India nearly 85 percent of the students in age-group 15-29 years were pursuing general education. Nearly 12.6 percent and 2.4 percent students in age-group 15-29 years were attending technical/ professional and vocational courses respectively <strong>*6</strong></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&bull; As per 2014 ASER report, 2014 is the sixth year in a row that enrollment levels are 96% or higher for the 6-14 age group. The proportion of children currently not in school remains at 3.3 percent. Although enrollment levels are very high for the age group covered by the Right to Education Act (i.e. 6 to 14 years), the proportion of 15 to 16 year olds not enrolled in school is substantial. Nationally, for rural areas, 15.9 percent of boys and 17.3 percent of girls in this age group are currently out of school. In some states the proportion of girls (age group 11-14) out of school remains greater than 8 percent such as Rajasthan (12.1 percent) and Uttar Pradesh (9.2 percent)<strong> *5</strong><br />
<br />
&bull; Overall, the situation with basic reading continues to be extremely disheartening in India. In 2014, in Std III, only a fourth of all children can read a Std II text fluently. This number rises to just under half in Std V. Even in Std VIII, close to 75 percent children can read Std II level text (which implies that 25 percent still cannot)<strong> *5</strong><br />
<br />
&bull; Looking over a five to eight year period, the ASER 2014 concludes that math levels have declined in almost every state. Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are the exceptions where the situation has been more or less the same for the past several years <strong>*5</strong></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&bull;<span style="font-size:medium"> </span>In India, the richest young women have already achieved universal literacy but based on current trends, the poorest are projected to only do so around 2080. Children who learn less are more likely to leave school early. In India, children who achieved lower scores in mathematics at age 12 were more than twice as likely to drop out by age 15 than those who performed better <strong>*4</strong><br />
<br />
&bull; Of all schools visited in 2013, percentage of schools which have drinking water available and useable is 73.8 percent, toilets available and useable is 62.6 percent, girls&#39; toilet available and useable is 53.3 percent, library available and books being used is 40.7 percent, kitchen shed in school available is 87.0 percent, and mid day meal served on day of visit is 87.2 percent. The proportion of schools that comply with RTE pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) norms has increased every year, from 38.9 percent in 2010 to 45.3 percent in 2013 <strong>*3</strong><br />
<br />
&bull; The proportion of children (age group 6-14) enrolled in private schools was 29 percent in 2013. Private school enrolment figures were 28.3 percent in 2012. This number has risen from 18.7 percent in 2006 <strong>*3</strong><br />
<br />
&bull; In 2010, 33.2 percent children of Std. III in government schools could at least do subtraction, as compared to 47.8 percent in private schools. The gap between children in government and private schools has widened over time. In 2013, 18.9 percent of Std. III students in government schools were able to do basic subtraction or more, as compared to 44.6 percent of Std. III children in private schools <strong>*3</strong><br />
<br />
&bull; In the rural areas, the proportion of not-literates was the highest among persons belonging to the household type rural labour (46 percent) and was the lowest among the household type others (26 percent) <strong>*2</strong><br />
<br />
&bull; In rural areas, 70 per cent of the students were attending some Government institutions compared to 40 per cent in the urban areas <strong>*2</strong><br />
<br />
&bull; Gross enrolment ratio (GER) is the total enrolment in a specific level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the eligible official school-age population corresponding to the same level of education in a given school year) for primary schools has improved from 104 percent in 2005-06 to 115 percent in 2009-10 <strong>*1</strong><br />
<br />
&bull; The percentage of trained teachers stood at 89 percent for Higher Secondary Schools/ Inter Colleges, 90 percent for High /Post Basic Schools, 88 percent for Middle/ Sr. Basic School and 86 percent for Pre-Primary/ Primary/ Jr. Basic School, as per Statistics of School Education 2009-10 <strong>*1</strong></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><strong>12. </strong>Parliamentary Standing Committee report on Demands for Grants 2020-21, Demand No. 58 of the Department of School Education &amp; Literacy, presented to the Rajya Sabha on 5th March, 2020, Report no. 312, please <a href="https://www.im4change.org/upload/files/Parliamentary%20Standing%20Committee%205%20March%202020%281%29.pdf">click here</a> to access</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><strong>11.</strong> ASER 2019 &#39;Early Years&#39;, released in January 2020, please click <a href="tinymce/uploaded/aser2019nationalpressrelease_final.pdf" title="ASER 2019 National Press Release_final">here</a>, <a href="tinymce/uploaded/alldistricts_mainfindings_aser2019final.pdf" title="All Districts_Main Findings_ASER 2019 Final">here</a> and <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%202019%20nationalfindings.pdf" title="ASER 2019 nationalfindings">here</a> to access<a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%202019%20nationalfindings.pdf" title="ASER 2019 nationalfindings"> </a></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><strong>10. </strong>NSS 75th Round Report: Key Indicators of Household Social Consumption on Education in India, July 2017 to June 2018, released on 23rd November 2019</span>, <span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">p</span></span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">lease <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Press%20Note%20NSS%2075th%20Round%20Report%20Key%20Indicators%20of%20Social%20Consumption%20on%20Education%20in%20India%20July%202017%20to%20June%202018%20released%20on%2023rd%20November%202019.pdf" title="Press Note NSS 75th Round Report Key Indicators of Social Consumption on Education in India July 2017 to June 2018 released on 23rd November 2019">click here</a> and </span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="https://im4change.org/docs/772NSS_75th_Round_Report_Key_Indicators_of_Household_Social_Consumption_on_Education_in_India_July_2017_to_June_2018_released_on_23rd_November_2019.pdf">click here</a></span>&nbsp;</span>&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><strong>9.</strong> <span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2018, please click <a href="tinymce/uploaded/aser2018pressreleaseenglish.pdf" title="ASER 2018 Press Release English">here</a>, <a href="tinymce/uploaded/aser2018nationalfindingsppt.pdf" title="ASER 2018 National Findings PPT">here</a> and <a href="http://img.asercentre.org/docs/ASER%202018/Release%20Material/aserreport2018.pdf">here</a> to access</span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><strong>8. </strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">ASER 2017: Beyond Basics</span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">, please click <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%202017%20National%20findings.pdf" title="ASER 2017 National findings">here</a> and <a href="http://img.asercentre.org/docs/Publications/ASER%20Reports/ASER%202017/aser2017fullreport.pdf">here</a> to access</span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><strong>7. </strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">11th </span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Annual Status of Education Report </span> (i.e. 2016 ASER), please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/aser%202016.pdf" title="ASER 2016">click here</a> to access</span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><strong>6.</strong> <span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015), please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf" title="NSS 71st round Education">click here</a> to access the full report; please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Press%20Note%20Education.pdf" title="Press Note NSS 71st Education">click here</a> to read the summary of findings</span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><strong>5.</strong> <span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">ASER 2014 (Please click <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%20National%20Findings.pdf" title="ASER National findings">link1</a>, <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%202014%20Press%20Release.pdf" title="ASER 2014 press release">link2</a> &amp; <a href="http://img.asercentre.org/docs/Publications/ASER%20Reports/ASER%202014/fullaser2014mainreport.pdf">link3</a> to access)</span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">
<div><br />
<strong>4.</strong> 11th UNESCO Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2013-14 entitled Teaching and learning: Achieving quality for all <span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">(please click <a href="http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002256/225660e.pdf">link 1</a>, <a href="tinymce/uploaded/SouthWestAsia_Factsheet_v2.pdf" title="EFA Factsheet">link 2</a> and <a href="tinymce/uploaded/PressRelease_SWA_non_embargoed.pdf" title="EFA Press Release">link 3</a> to download)</span><br />
<br />
<strong>3.</strong> ASER 2013 report <span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">(click <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%202013%20Findings.pdf" title="ASER 2013 Findings">link 1</a>, <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%20Press%20Release.pdf" title="ASER Press Release">link 2</a> to download)</span></div>
</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><strong>2.</strong> NSS report no. 551 (66/10/6) titled Status of Education and Vocational Training in India (66th Round), July 2009-June 2010, published in March 2013, MoSPI,&nbsp;<a href="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/nss_report_551.pdf">http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/nss_report_551.pdf</a></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:Arial; font-size:medium"><strong>1.</strong> Children in India 2012-A Statistical Appraisal, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI,&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.org/docs/659Children_in_India_2012.pdf">http://www.im4change.org/docs/659Children_in_India_2012.pdf</a></span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Please note that information about Right to Education and many more related themes is also given under &quot;Empowerment&quot; section of the im4change website. For best results please check out both sections. Please <a href="https://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=60">click here</a> to access.</span>&nbsp; <span style="font-family:Arial; font-size:medium"> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<div>
<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">**page** </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
The key findings of the report titled [inside]Gloom in the Classroom: The Schooling Crisis in Jharkhand, prepared by Gyan Vigyan Samiti Jharkhand, released in December 2022[/inside], are as follows (please <a href="https://im4change.org/docs/Gloom-in-the-Classroom.pdf">click here</a> to access):&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The schooling system in Jharkhand is shot through with teacher shortages. Only 53 percent of primary schools and 19 percent of upper-primary schools in the sample had a pupil-teacher ratio below 30, as prescribed under the Right to Education Act.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Out of 138 schools in the sample, 20 percent had a single teacher. In a majority of these schools, the single teacher is a male para-teacher. Almost 90 percent of pupils in these single-teacher schools are Dalit or Adivasi children.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Para-teachers account for a majority (55 percent) of teachers at the primary level, and 37 percent of teachers at the upper-primary level. About 40 percent of primary schools in the sample are run entirely by para-teachers.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In a majority of schools, teachers felt that &ldquo;most&rdquo; pupils had forgotten how to read and write by the time schools reopened in February 2022.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Pupil attendance on the day of the survey was just 68 percent in primary schools and 58 percent in upper-primary schools.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Not a single school in the sample had functional toilets, electricity and water supply (all three).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Two thirds of primary schools in the sample had no boundary wall, 64 percent did not have a playground and 37 percent had no library books.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; A large majority (two thirds) of the teachers said that the school did not have adequate funds for the midday meal at the time of the survey.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Many schools (10 percent as per teachers&rsquo; responses, more according to survey teams) are still not serving eggs twice a week, as prescribed.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In most of the sample schools, little had been done to help children who had forgotten how to read and write during the Covid-19 crisis, except for the&nbsp;distribution of &ldquo;foundational literacy and numeracy&rdquo; (FLN) material.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; GVSJ survey of 138 primary and upper-primary schools in 16 districts of Jharkhand, SeptemberOctober 2022. The sample schools were selected at random within the 26 sample blocks, among those where at least 50 percent of pupils are SC/ST.<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Kindly click <a href="https://im4change.org/upload/files/NCEE-Survey-Report-Cries-of-Anguish-March-22.pdf">here</a>, <a href="https://im4change.org/upload/files/Cries%20of%20Anguish%20-%20Report%20Summary%20-%20English.pdf">here</a>, and <a href="https://im4change.org/news-alerts-57/reality-is-stranger-than-the-fad-for-online-education-most-schools-lack-it-infrastructure.html">here</a> to access the main findings of the report titled [inside]Cries of Anguish (released in March 2022)[/inside] by National Coalition on the Education Emergency (NCEE).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">---</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The key findings of the report titled [inside]India Needs To Learn -- A Case for Keeping Schools Open (released in January 2022)[/inside], which has been jointly prepared by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Teach for India in collaboration with various NGOs and CSOs (please <a href="https://im4change.org/upload/files/India%20Needs%20To%20Learn-A%20Case%20for%20Keeping%20Schools%20Open.pdf">click here</a> to access), are as follows:&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">--India has now had pandemic-driven school closures for ~2 years</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Schools were mostly shut from Mar 2020 till year end; 2021 saw small phases of opening<br />
&bull; In 2021, while secondary schools were open for 40-50% time, elementary schools have mostly remained shut for 12/22 major Indian states</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">--While many efforts have been made towards online education, penetration and effectiveness remain woefully inadequate</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; 40-70% children don&#39;t have a device at home; &gt;80% teachers expressed impossibility of maintaining emotional connect<br />
&bull; ~90% children lost at least one specific language ability, significant SEL (Social &amp; Emotional Learning) losses (more so for children with special needs)<br />
&bull; As per World Bank, every year of schooling lost translates to potentially ~9% lower future earnings for a student</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">--Prolonged school closures have serious implications, extending beyond learning e.g., increased child exploitation, lower nutrition with constrained mid-day meals, social and emotional issues</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">--80%+ parents would like schools to open for in-person learning per multiple surveys, given multiple challenges with online learning:</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Academic: ~37% parents responded their child didn&#39;t study at all at home, 71% responded child didn&#39;t have a test/exam in last 3 months<br />
&bull; Behavioral: ~49% parents responded their child is facing an improper schedule (e.g., for studying, sleeping, eating etc.)</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">--While schools were globally shut in 2020 (first half), many countries kept schools largely open through 2021; e.g., Australia (85-90% open), Japan (85-90% open), South Africa (80-85% open), US (75-80% open), UK (70-75% open), Portugal (60-65% open), China (90%+ open)</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; This is despite considerably higher disease incidence vs India (25k cases per million population) in other countries e.g., UK (197k), US (169k), Portugal (141k), South Africa (58k)<br />
&bull; In fact, many countries prioritized keeping schools open vis-a-vis malls, shops, gyms etc. (e.g., France, UK, Canada) such that schools were last to close and first to open</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">--Public health arguments indicate low school re-opening risk</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Children &lt;20 yrs had 3-6x lower incidence; 17x+ lower fatality vs adults even in countries with open schools<br />
&bull; Infection transmission in school-going children was observed to be lower e.g., new cases per 1000 population lower in school children vs community; despite school re-opening across select Indian states in mid-2021, cases didn&#39;t spike (e.g., Punjab, Maharashtra etc.)<br />
&bull; Increasing vaccination penetration (~45% fully vaccinated in India) likely to lead to lower hospitalization and fatality; and infection severity expected to be 40%+ further lower in Omicron vs Delta (for vaccinated individuals)&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">--India&#39;s continued centralized decision making implies that even in districts with &lt;25 daily cases, schools are shut (~70% districts pan India)</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Since 2020, many countries have moved from national/state level to a lower unit of governance to avoid mass school closures<br />
&bull; For e.g., US, UK, Australia, Pakistan, Nepal have defined clear norms for schools to open and close at district/county/school level</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">--Countries which have re-opened schools have undertaken initiatives to curb transmission on multiple dimensions</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Social distancing e.g., single row desk arrangement in &lsquo;face-to-back&rsquo; setting (Hong Kong), outdoor classes (Denmark)<br />
&bull; Masks/ face shields e.g., mandatory masks (Spain), face shield mandate for younger students (Singapore)<br />
&bull; Testing e.g., twice-a-week compulsory rapid antigen tests (UK &amp; Germany)<br />
&bull; Staggering school timings e.g., classes in 2 shifts (Hong Kong), staggered school start/recess/end times (UK)<br />
&bull; Forming student pods/bubbles e.g., classmates divided into cohorts, &amp; do not mix with members of other cohorts (Norway)<br />
&bull; Vaccination e.g., prioritized booster doses for teachers (Canada, US), in-school vaccination for students (UK)</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">--Hence, critical for India to move to a philosophy of schools being &quot;last to close, first to open&quot; and act on 4 key implications</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Decentralize school re-opening and closures (e.g., ward, Gram Panchayat, school level) with clearly defined norms<br />
&bull; Offer blended learning construct through the year i.e. in addition to offline, continue online education<br />
&bull; Strengthen testing (e.g., weekly antigen tests), vaccination (e.g., mandatory for school staff), safety protocol (e.g., masking etc.) and ventilation (e.g., leverage outdoors spaces, keep doors/ windows open, monitor ventilation etc.)<br />
&bull; Prepare to bridge learning gaps caused by pandemic-driven school closures, and allocate sufficient resources for the same</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">--However, beyond just re-opening, it will take considerable mission-mode resilience from all stakeholders to gain what is lost &amp; build back better</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Govt: Build a robust mid-term (3-5 year) roadmap to bridge learning gap, with adequate infrastructure upgradation and funding support<br />
&bull; Local administrators &amp; school staff: Make education a priority by regularly monitoring in-school preparedness and adherence to protocols<br />
&bull; Parents: Trust the system by sending their children to school and encourage children to follow Covid-appropriate behavior</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The recent policy documents, including the NIPUN Bharat guidelines (2021), highlight the importance of developing Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) skills to ensure future success. In simple terms, FLN refers to basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">If learning in the foundational years encompassing three years of preschool followed by two years of grade 1 and 2 is not done well, it often leads to children falling behind, unable to ever catch up, even if supported by the so called &lsquo;remediation programmers&rsquo;. It acts as the base upon which all future learning is built. It&rsquo;s relevance in improving not just the future learning capacities but also influencing economic, social and developmental factors over long term have been established beyond doubt.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Sadly, the state of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy in India is dismal with data from ASER surveys, National Achievement Surveys (NAS) showing poor literacy and numeracy skills across grades. What is worrisome is also that the performance of children is not just low, it is seen to be falling over the last few years. In addition to this, there also exists wide variations across the country with some states like Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana clearly outperforming states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. Lack of focus on quality of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy and ultimately leads to generations of children unable to become productive citizens of the economy, leading to massive economic and social losses.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">There are issues that make it difficult to achieve quality learning, some of which include poor quality teaching in anganwadis, and primary grades that is partially supported by obsolete curriculum and textbooks in addition to a multilingual reality that we are unequipped to handle. Besides, low quality teacher professional development, lack of monitoring and support and inadequate research further leads to a complex cycle of low expectations, poor implementation and low quality of real teaching learning in the classroom.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">India needs a futuristic approach to ensure universal access to quality levels and equity for all pre-primary and primary education children. The Index on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy is a first step in the same direction, establishing an understanding of the overall state of Foundational Learning across children aged below ten years in Indian States and Union territories. It provides 41 different indicators across five key domains: Educational Infrastructure, Access to Education, Basic Health, Learning outcomes and Governance. The methodology adopted to assign weights in the index is Principal component analysis (PCA) .&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The key findings of the report titled [inside]State of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy in India (released on 16th December, 2021)[/inside], which has been prepared by Institute for Competitiveness in association with Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), are as follows (please click <a href="https://im4change.org/upload/files/Report_on_state_of_foundational_learning_and_numeracy_web_version.pdf">here</a> and <a href="/upload/files/PIB%20Foundational%20Literacy.pdf">here</a> to access):&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The top-scoring regions are Kerala (67.95) and West Bengal (58.95) in Small and Large states, respectively. Lakshadweep (52.69) and Mizoram (51.64) are top-scoring regions in Union Territory and Northeast state category</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Out of the five pillars, it has been observed that states have performed particularly worse in Governance. More than 50 percent of the states have scored below the national average, i.e. 28.05, the lowest across all pillars. These pillar-wise analyses will help states assess the state of the budgetary measures and steps needed to improve the status of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy identify existing gaps that obstruct their growth.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; There is a huge gap between Kerala and the rest of the Indian States in the Index on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy scores. This vast variation is observed in the Learning outcomes and Educational Infrastructure, which necessitates immediate attention for the rest of the country.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The challenge of access to education is a component that requires immediate attention within the states. The large states like Rajasthan (25.67), Gujarat (22.28) and Bihar (18.23) notably lags on this front, whereas the north-eastern states show the highest scores due to their better performance.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Best practices can be adopted from the highest-scoring states/ UTs. Kerala, West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh to further develop policy reforms to improve in those areas where the state of education has scope for improvement.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Some states may serve as role models for others in certain aspects, but they too need to learn from other districts while tackling their challenges. This holds not only for high performers but also for low performing states. For instance, while Kerala has the best performance in the small state, it can also learn from some lower-scoring regions, such as Andhra Pradesh (38.50), which outperforms Kerala (36.55) with respect to access to education.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The indicators are assigned weights after being categorized under specific heads used to make the index more robust. For calculating the weights of indicators within a component, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) has been used. Parameters were then run through PCA to check for a fit between the indicators.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The percentage of GDP that goes into education needs to be increased on an urgent basis. The current chunk is 3.1 percent. This needs to at least be doubled or more to ensure the wide-scale establishment of necessary prerequisites and implementation of &lsquo;quality&rsquo; Foundational Literacy and Numeracy across the continuum.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Efforts would need to be made to ensure basic infrastructural facilities for a child &ndash; including drinking water and sanitation facilities as well as healthy nutritious food. Additionally, adequate internet facilities and basic tech resources need to be provided in all the schools to ensure access and use of the newer digital learning opportunities, along with offline reading materials and libraries. These form the backbone of all efforts directed towards the achievement of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Since nutrition and education are both equally important and require significant time and effort, it may be worthwhile to consider having two anganwadi workers--AWWs per anganwadi. While one of them may be trained and specialised in the health component, including providing supplementary nutrition, the other can focus on ensuring non-formal education to children. (N. Vinayak, 2015).&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The report highlights the role of well-planned early interventions like the National Education Policy (2020) and the NIPUN Bharat guidelines, leading to long-term improved learning outcomes.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Research indicates that 90 percent of a child&rsquo;s brain&nbsp;development happens by five years of age. Hence, focus&nbsp;on early education years becomes one of the most important indicators of productive and efficient human capital.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In the schooling system, Foundational Literacy and Numeracy refers to education of a child between 3-8 years of age. This essentially includes the initial three years of pre school, followed by early primary education up to grade 2, as per the National Education Policy (NEP 2020). However, the NIPUN Bharat guidelines for implementation of NEP talks of four foundational years, namely one year of pre school plus formal schooling up to grade 3.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In simple terms Foundational Literacy refers to the ability to read and understand an age appropriate text. However, it is critical to understand what it really means and entails.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The NIPUN Bharat guidelines talk of nine key skills to be focused on for Foundational Literacy. They are: 1. Oral&nbsp;Language Development; 2. Phonological Awareness; 3. Decoding; 4. Concept About Print; 5. Writing; 6. Culture of Reading; 7. Vocabulary; 8. Reading Comprehension; and 9. Reading Fluency.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Foundational Numeracy means the ability to reason and to apply simple numerical concepts in every day problem solving situations, as per the NIPUN Bharat guidelines 2021.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The NIPUN Bharat guidelines talk of five key skills to be focused on for Foundational Numeracy. They are: 1. Pre Math Concept; 2. Numbers and Operations; 3. Measurement; 4. Geometry; and 5. Patterns.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The sixteenth Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) 2021 was released online on 17th November 2021. The ASER 2021 was conducted in 25 states and 3 Union Territories. It reached a total of 76,706 households and 75,234 children in the age group of 5-16 years, as well as teachers or headteachers from 7,299 government schools offering primary grades.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Every year from 2005 to 2014, and then every alternate year till 2018, ASER has reported on the schooling status of children in the 5-16 age group across rural India and their ability to do basic reading and arithmetic tasks.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Last year, COVID-19 interrupted this trajectory, along with so much else. But with schools being closed since March 2020, understanding the effect of the pandemic on schools, families, and children was crucial. To address the need for large-scale nationally representative data on the impact of the pandemic on children&#39;s education, in 2020, ASER developed an entirely new design, consisting of a phone-based survey that explored children&#39;s access to learning opportunities.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">With the pandemic extending into yet another year, field-based survey operations were still not possible on a national scale. As a consequence, ASER 2021 followed the same format of a phone-based survey. Conducted in September-October 2021, eighteen months after the first lockdown, the survey explores how children in the age group of 5-16 studied at home since the onset of the pandemic and the challenges that the schools and households now face as schools reopen across states.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The key findings of the [inside]Sixteenth Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) 2021 (released on 17th November, 2021)[/inside] are as follows (please click <a href="/upload/files/ASER%202021%20Full%20Report%281%29.pdf">here</a>, <a href="/upload/files/pressrelease_aser2021_english_final1%281%29.pdf">here</a>, <a href="/upload/files/Main%20findings%20nationalppt%281%29.pdf">here</a>, <a href="/upload/files/household%20major%20findings.pdf">here</a>, <a href="/upload/files/additional%20household%20tables.pdf">here</a>, and <a href="/upload/files/school%20survey%20major%20findings.pdf">here</a> to access) :&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>SCHOOL ENROLLMENT PATTERNS</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Enrollment data from ASER 2021, 2020, and 2018 show that:</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; At an all-India level, there has been a clear shift from private to government schools: For children in the age group of 6-14, enrollment in private schools has decreased from 32.5 percent in 2018 to 24.4 percent in 2021. This shift is seen in all grades and among both boys and girls. However, boys are still more likely to be enrolled in private schools than girls.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; No change in children aged 6-14 not enrolled in school: The proportion of children not currently enrolled in school increased from 1.4 percent to 4.6 percent in 2020. This proportion remained unchanged between 2020 and 2021.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; More older children in school than ever before: Among older children in the age group of 15-16, an increase in government school enrollment from 57.4 percent in 2018 to 67.4 percent has been driven by a marked decline in the proportion of out of school children in this age group, from 12.1 percent in 2018 to 6.6 percent in 2021, as well as by decreasing private school enrollment.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; There is a fair amount of variation in enrollment at the state level. The national increase in government school enrollment is driven by large northern states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana and southern states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh. In contrast, in many northeastern states, government school enrollment has fallen during this period, and the proportion of children not enrolled in school has increased. &nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>TUITION</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The ASER survey routinely collects data on paid private tuition classes that children take to supplement their education.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Big increase in children taking tuition: At an all-India level, in 2018, less than 30 percent of children took private tuition classes. In 2021, this proportion has jumped to almost 40 percent. This proportion has increased across both sexes and all grades and school types.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Increase in tuition-taking highest among the less advantaged: Taking parental education as a proxy for economic status, the proportion of children with parents in the &#39;low&#39; education category who are taking tuition increased by 12.6 percentage points, as opposed to a 7.2 percentage point increase among children with parents in the &#39;high&#39; education category.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Fewer children whose schools have reopened are taking tuition: Some differences are visible in the proportion of children taking tuition by school reopening status, with tuition classes more common among children whose schools were still closed at the time of the survey.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Tuition is up across the country: The incidence of tuition has increased across all states except Kerala.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>ACCESS TO SMARTPHONES</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Smartphones became the predominant source of teaching-learning when schools shut down and moved to a remote model of teaching-learning last year, giving rise to concerns about the most marginalised being left behind.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Smartphone ownership has almost doubled since 2018: The availability of smartphones has increased from 36.5 percent in 2018 to 67.6 percent in 2021. However, more children in private schools have a smartphone at home (79 percent) as opposed to government school-going children (63.7 percent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Household economic status makes a difference in smartphone availability: As parents&#39; education level increases (a proxy for economic status), the likelihood that the household has a smartphone also increases. In 2021, over 80 percent of children with parents who have studied up to Std IX or higher had a smartphone available at home, as compared to just over 50 percent of children whose parents had studied till Std V or less. However, even among children whose parents are in the &lsquo;low&rsquo; education category, over a quarter bought a smartphone for their studies since March 2020.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Smartphone availability does not translate into access for children: Although over two-thirds of all enrolled children have a smartphone at home (67.6 percent), over a quarter of these have no access to it (26.1 percent). There is also a clear pattern by grade, with more children in higher classes having access to a smartphone as compared to children in lower grades.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>LEARNING SUPPORT AT HOME</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">ASER 2021 followed up on the questions asked in ASER 2020 about whether the child is provided learning support at home and who is providing it.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Learning support at home has decreased over the last year: The proportion of enrolled children who received learning support at home has decreased from three-quarters of all enrolled children in 2020 to two-thirds in 2021, with the sharpest drops visible among children in higher grades.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; School reopening is driving decreasing support: Among both government and private school-going children, those whose schools have reopened get less support from home. For example, 75.6 percent of private school-going children whose schools have not reopened receive help at home as opposed to 70.4 percent whose schools have reopened. The reduction in help is driven largely by less support from fathers.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>ACCESS TO LEARNING MATERIALS</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">ASER 2021 followed up on the questions asked in ASER 2020 about whether children have textbooks for their current grade and whether they received any additional materials from their school teachers in the week prior to the survey (reference week). These could take the form of traditional materials like worksheets in print or virtual form; online or recorded classes; and videos or other activities sent via phone or received in person. For children whose schools had reopened, these materials could also include homework given by the school.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Almost all children have textbooks: Almost all enrolled children have textbooks for their current grade (91.9 percent). This proportion has increased over the last year, for children enrolled in both government and private schools.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Slight increase in additional materials received: Overall, among enrolled children whose schools had not reopened, 39.8 percent of children received some kind of learning materials or activities (other than textbooks) from their teachers during the reference week. This is a slight increase over 2020 when 35.6 percent of children received learning materials in the reference week.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; More children in reopened schools received learning materials: In the reference week, 46.4 percent of children in reopened schools received learning materials/activities as compared to 39.8 percent of children whose schools had not reopened, mainly because of the inclusion of homework in reopened schools.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>POLICY IMPLICATIONS</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">As schools reopen after 18 months of lockdown, it is essential to understand the impact of school closures so that policies to address these issues can be formulated accordingly. Some overarching policy implications from ASER 2021 are as follows:</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Enrollment: The enrollment of children in government schools has increased notably over the last two years. Government schools and teachers need to be equipped to deal with this influx.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Building on family support: Family support has reduced since 2020 as schools reopen, but remains significant especially for early primary grades. Parental engagement with children&rsquo;s learning can be integrated into planning for learning improvement, as advocated by the National Education Policy. &ldquo;Reaching parents at the right level&rdquo; is essential to understand how they can help their children.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; &ldquo;Hybrid&rdquo; learning: Children are doing a variety of different activities at home; many of these are provided by family members and private tutors in addition to schools. Effective ways of &ldquo;hybrid&rdquo; learning need to be developed that combine traditional teaching-learning with newer ways of &ldquo;reaching-learning&rdquo;.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Tuition: The proportion of children attending private tuition classes has shot up since 2018 during an extended period of school closures and uncertainty. This might lead to a bigger learning gap between students who can and cannot afford paid tuition.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Mediating the &ldquo;digital divide&rdquo;: Expectedly, children from families who had low education and also did not have resources like smartphones had less access to learning opportunities. There is evidence of effort even in these households: parents have been purchasing smartphones specifically for their children&rsquo;s education. However, these children will need even more help than others as schools reopen.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Smartphone access: ASER 2021 confirms that even if there is a smartphone in the family, children often do not have access to it. This finding needs to be taken into account as future plans are made for remote learning or the use of digital content and devices.<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Kindly click <a href="https://im4change.org/latest-news-updates/as-schools-re-open-address-language-mathematics-competences-at-different-grades-asks-ncee.html">here</a> and <a href="https://im4change.org/upload/files/A%20Future%20at%20Stake%20-%20National%20Coalition%20on%20the%20Education%20Emergency.pdf">here</a> to access the document titled [inside]A Future at Stake &ndash; Guidelines and Principles to Resume and Renew Education (released on 2nd November, 2021)[/inside], which has been prepared by the National Coalition on the Education Emergency (NCEE).&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">---</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
The [inside]2021 State of the Education Report for India: No Teacher, No Class (released in October, 2021)[/inside] has been prepared by UNESCO New Delhi office in collaboration with Centre of Excellence in Teacher Education at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai. Experts from other educational institutions too have played a key role in preparing the report.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">This third edition of the State of Education Report, focused on the theme of teachers, teaching and teacher education, underscores that the work of teaching is complex. It attempts to provide an understanding of key aspects of the teaching profession, provides a profile of the 9.6 million teaching workforce, as well as the challenges of their intricate teaching routine and their professional development.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">With an in-depth analysis of the current state of teachers in India, highlighting best practices, the UNESCO State of the Education report for India 2021 aims to serve as a reference for enhancing the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) and towards the realization of the SDG.4 target 4c on teachers. The NEP, adopted in 2020, acknowledges teachers as crucial elements in the learning process, while stressing the importance of their recruitment, continuous professional development, good work environment and service conditions.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The report also looks at teachers&rsquo; experience of ICT and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the teaching profession. The ongoing pandemic has drawn attention to the centrality of the profession and the importance of quality of teaching. During this unprecedented health crisis, most teachers were found to have positive attitudes and beliefs about integrating technology in education, even though they perceived a lack of professional skills. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The key findings of the &#39;2021 State of the Education Report for India: No Teachers, No Class&#39; are as follows (please click <a href="/upload/files/2021%20State%20of%20the%20Education%20Report%20for%20India%20No%20Teachers%20No%20Class.pdf">here</a>, <a href="https://en.unesco.org/news/unesco-launches-2021-state-education-report-india-no-teacher-no-class">here</a> and <a href="https://www.tatatrusts.org/insights/survey-reports/no-teacher-no-class-state-of-the-education-report-for-india-2021-released-by-unesco-with-cete">here</a> to access the sources):&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>Profile of teachers in India</em>&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Using data from the Unified District Information System for Education, the report profiles the current teaching workforce and reveals aspects of teacher availability, deployment, and working conditions.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The private, unaided sector accounts for 30 percent of the teaching workforce, while the government sector employs about 50 percent. While teacher availability has improved, pupil-teacher ratios are adverse in secondary schools. Moreover, there is no information on availability of special education, music, arts and physical education teachers. The availability and deployment of subject teachers too, is not well documented and monitored. Almost all single-teacher schools are in rural areas. There is a pronounced need to improve both availability and deployment of qualified teachers in the north-eastern states of India. In terms of basic amenities, the working conditions of teachers in the north-east and the &lsquo;aspirational districts&rsquo; are poor. Provision of school libraries is low, information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure is very low, and there is marked rural-urban disparity.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The profession is overall gender balanced, with women accounting for about 50 percent of the teaching workforce, but there are significant inter-state and urban-rural variations.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The majority of teachers in urban areas are women, in contrast with rural areas. The early childhood education, special education and private unaided schools sectors are also highly feminized.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The work force has a deficit of over 1 million teachers (at current student strength) and the need is likely to grow, given the shortages of teachers in certain education levels and subjects such as early childhood education, special education, physical education, music, arts, and curricular streams of vocational education. In fifteen years, about 30 per cent of the current workforce will need to be replaced.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>Status and terms of employment</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The teaching profession has average status in India, but it is a career of choice for women and youth from rural areas in particular. Private school teachers and early childhood education teachers are highly vulnerable groups, with many working without contracts at low salaries, with no health or maternity leave benefits.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Several states have introduced the teacher eligibility test as part of their recruitment processes in order to improve teacher quality. Some states have also adopted technology aided teacher deployment. Teacher governance remains a focal area for systemic reform, accounting for 70 percent of the governance metric score in the Performance Grading Index.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>Teaching practices in India</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Teacher-centric practices dominate the Indian pedagogical landscape in both government and private schools, and in most subject areas. These practices are linked to teachers&rsquo; beliefs regarding their learners, the process of learning, subject matter and the aims of education. Teachers who successfully address the learning needs of children from underprivileged and marginalized groups are found to have positive attitudes towards their students. They think of pedagogy as inclusive communication, and create an environment in which children feel cared for. Perceptions of ineducability, on the other hand, lead to teachers neglecting their students. Having an academic and collegial ethos in school, and better teaching-learning environments motivate teachers and enhance teaching quality. Teachers are more likely to change their practices in sustained ways when professional development engages with their beliefs and they experience the satisfaction of seeing their students learn.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Teacher workload is high &ndash; contrary to public perception &ndash; although invisible, and a source of stress. Teachers value being given professional autonomy, and disregard of this is demotivating. Teachers&rsquo; voices in the system in matters of policy and governance can be enhanced through professional teacher networks, and unions. Most accountability systems tend to emphasize monitoring. Professional standards need to be made a part of a larger system and used in the context of professional development rather than accountability.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>Pre and in-service professional training</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; A large proportion of teacher education programmes in India are run in &lsquo;self-financed&rsquo; colleges. Their geographic spread across the country is uneven. There are very few programmes to prepare special education, vocational education, arts and music education teachers. The volume of admission in Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) programmes seems to be stable, and quality of intake is found to have improved due to the adoption of entrance examinations. However, in some states, there are fewer science students opting for programmes. Admissions in Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed.) and Master of Education (M.Ed.) programmes are shrinking. Pre-service teacher education curricula still need to be improved, and supported with Indian language teaching-learning resources. While in-service teacher education is widespread and now incorporates technology, research is needed to understand its impact and to identify which models work.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>Teachers and ICT</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The report looks at teachers&rsquo; experience of ICT and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the teaching profession. Most teachers are found to have positive attitudes and beliefs about integrating technology in education. However they feel that it is time-consuming, and that they lack professional skills. Teachers have largely used smartphones as their primary EdTech tool during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a large proportion of students have had limited or no access to devices and data, compelling teachers to use hybrid modalities to keep in touch. Professional development using tech platforms can offer possibilities for building communities and new professional learning pathways by enabling greater agency and interaction among teachers. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has also exposed the vulnerability and insecurity of teachers.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The report concludes with a set of ten action-oriented recommendations to address the challenges facing the teaching profession in India, and thus help achieve the NEP 2020 vision and objective &ndash; &ldquo;Ensuring quality education for all in the country&rdquo;.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>The ten recommendations are:&nbsp;</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Improve the terms of employment of teachers in both public and private schools<br />
&bull; Increase the number of teachers and improve working conditions in North Eastern states, rural areas and &#39;aspirational districts&#39;&nbsp;<br />
&bull; Recognize teachers as frontline workers&nbsp;<br />
&bull; Increase the number of physical education, music, art, vocational education, early childhood and special education teachers.&nbsp;<br />
&bull; Value the professional autonomy of teachers<br />
&bull; Build teachers&#39; career pathways<br />
&bull; Restructure pre-service professional development and strengthen curricular and pedagogical reform<br />
&bull; Support communities of practice<br />
&bull; Provide teachers with meaningful ICT training<br />
&bull; Develop teaching governance through consultative processes, based on mutual accountability</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em><strong>Sources: </strong>Please click <a href="https://en.unesco.org/news/unesco-launches-2021-state-education-report-india-no-teacher-no-class">here</a> and <a href="https://www.tatatrusts.org/insights/survey-reports/no-teacher-no-class-state-of-the-education-report-for-india-2021-released-by-unesco-with-cete">here</a> to access. &nbsp;</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">**page**</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Kindly click <a href="https://im4change.org/news-alerts-57/why-is-it-difficult-for-children-from-underprivileged-sections-of-the-society-to-get-their-lessons-online-read-this-new-report.html">here</a>, <a href="https://im4change.org/latest-news-updates/school-survey-discloses-the-dark-underbelly-of-online-education-during-school-closures.html">here</a> and <a href="https://im4change.org/upload/files/LOCKED-OUT-Emergency-Report-on-School-Education-6-Sept-2021.pdf">here</a> to access the key findings of the report titled&nbsp;[inside]Locked Out: Emergency Report on School Education (released on 6th September, 2021)[/inside].</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>---</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools across the country, as in many parts of the world, were closed in mid-March impacting approximately 286 million students (48 percent girls) from pre-primary to upper secondary education. This is in addition to the more than 6 million children (48 percent girls) who were already out of school prior to the COVID-19 crisis.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">During school closures, measures were taken by Ministry of Education (MoE) and the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) from the national level; by Governments in states and union territories (UTs) to implement programmes to support distance/ home-based learning for children by varying degree of teacher&nbsp;interaction and follow-up and by parents. Different means, including television, radio, online platforms and paper-based materials, have been used to provide distance/ homebased learning. These efforts have also been supported by civil society organizations and other agencies including UNICEF.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">While these strategies and initiatives aim to ensure continued learning for all children, there is a lack of clear evidence of the extent to which children, particularly from the most marginalized groups, are able to access learning from home and the modalities and means that are the most effective in reaching them. Globally, data show that, in general, the poorest and most marginalized children are missing out on schooling compared to their counterparts.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">In this context UNICEF undertook a rapid assessment to fill the data and evidence gaps, to gain an understanding of which interventions may be most effective in supporting distance/ home-based learning of children, particularly from the most marginalized groups, during school closures. The <a href="https://im4change.org/upload/files/LOCKED-OUT-Emergency-Report-on-School-Education-6-Sept-2021.pdf">report</a>&nbsp;titled &#39;Rapid assessment of learning during school closures in the context of COVID-19&#39; would be able to inform states to better prepare the education system to ensure continued learning of children moving forward and in case of future crises.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">This rapid assessment has been conducted by Dalberg Advisors. The purpose of this study is to assess the perceived impact on student learning due to school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, and ways to better support student learning now and once the schools re-open. The study strives to identify the needs of parents, students and teachers for continued learning, current barriers to access along with effectiveness of solutions, and successful innovations across states and various other actors. This study attempts to take a holistic lens by including the voices of the marginalized populations, such as migrants and students with disabilities, while highlighting best practices for states to leverage both during the lockdown, and over the long term.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The evaluation, conducted between August and September 2020, is timely given the rapid deployment of remote learning solutions, and the surge of diverse innovations from which state governments can derive lessons or best practices&nbsp;to deepen their efforts.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Tto draw a holistic picture, providing both data-driven evidence for policymakers, and bringing out the nuanced experiences of individuals. The study leverages five sources of data: telephonic surveys of parents, adolescents and teachers; in-depth telephone interviews with parents, adolescents and teachers; expert interviews; secondary research; and an online youth survey. The study was conducted in six states: Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The states were chosen to capture voices from areas that are geographically diverse,&nbsp;experience different levels of COVID burden, and have varying educational capacity.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The key findings of the report titled [inside]Rapid assessment of learning during school closures in the context of COVID-19 (released in May, 2021)[/inside] by UNICEF India Country Office, are as follows (please <a href="https://im4change.org/upload/files/Report%20on%20rapid%20assessment%20of%20learning%20during%20school%20closures%20in%20context%20of%20COVID-19.pdf">click here</a> to access): &nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Despite government, private and civil society actors coming together to roll out a wide range of remote learning resources, students are falling behind during the physical closure of schools since March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the lockdown, students have been studying on average three to four hours a day. However, parents, students and teachers believe that learning and overall progress (including social and cultural skills, fitness, etc.) slowed down considerably. Only 60 percent of students&nbsp;have used any remote learning resources; and even among those, nearly 80 percent report that they are learning less or significantly less than in school. The study suggests that there are various reasons behind this.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Digital channels are not as accessible as often perceived. Ten (10) percent of students overall do not have access to any of the following devices &ndash; smartphone, feature phone, television (TV), radio, or laptop/computer with significant variation between states. More than 10 percent of students do not have access to mobile phones within or outside of their households.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Even when students have access to devices, awareness around using them for remote learning maybe low. Of the respondents who did not use any remote learning opportunities, 45 percent of them report not being aware of any resources from which to learn. Television (TV) and feature phones are particularly underutilised for learning.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Fewer girls, younger students, rural students and government school students use high-tech tools. Use of WhatsApp and YouTube when compared for different categories; girl&#39;s usage was 8 percent lower than that of boys; usage by younger students (5-13-year-old) was 16 percent lower than that of older students (13-18-year-old); rural students&#39; usage was 15 percent lower compared to urban students and for students of class 1 to 5, government school students&#39; usage was 10 percent lower compared to students from private schools.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Availability of key offline resources, textbooks and teachers remain far from universal. Despite many states distributing textbooks for the new academic year, nearly one in three parents still ask for support with textbooks and other learning materials. Nearly 30-40 percent of students are not in touch with their teachers, though this varies significantly by state. A smaller proportion of younger students and rural students are in touch with their teachers.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Remote learning resources are generally perceived to be less effective than in-school teaching. Other than home visits, more than half of teachers surveyed perceive remote learning materials and methods to be less effective than classroom teaching.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Poor mental health holds students back. About a third of elementary students (as perceived by their parents) and nearly half of secondary students feel that their mental and socio-emotional health has been poor or very poor since May 2020.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Students from migrant and scheduled tribes (ST) families face more challenges. While students from migrant and ST families use remote learning resources at similar levels to their peers, when parents were asked if their children were learning as much as before the pandemic, 15 percent more migrant parents and 9 percent more ST parents reported that their children were learning less now. Parents of children from migrant families (60 percent) and from ST families (53 percent) rated their children&#39;s mental and socio-emotional well-being as poor or very poor compared to the status reported for the overall sample.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">There are some bright spots. Certain states and schools have mitigated some of the impacts of school closures.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; While students in private schools mostly used WhatsApp, private tuition and live video classes, their government school peers mostly used textbooks, teacher home visits and YouTube for learning, so that there were no major differences in overall usage levels.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Over half of the students who used remote learning did so across multiple resources. WhatsApp is the most used tool by students and teachers alike (over half of students and 89 percent of surveyed teachers). Many parents, adolescents and teachers see value in technology tools, some even believe they are more effective than in-person learning. Of the teachers who found WhatsApp, YouTube and live video classes effective, approximately 40 percent thought they were more effective than inperson learning.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Moreover, students who are perceived to be learning more are also more likely to have used high-tech&nbsp;tools.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Parents and teachers have also identified important support needs to improve the remote learning experience and deal with safe school returns. Parents said they need help with data, devices and school textbooks. Similarly, teachers requested help with devices and better network access during closures, as well as with having guidelines in place for safety and smaller class sizes once schools re-open, along with the provision of sanitation kits. These needs will extend beyond the pandemic period as they are important&nbsp;for improving the quality and equity of learning.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">More than 90 percent of students expect to return if schools re-open in the next three months, mainly to learn more and to better prepare for exams. But it was also observed that there is a serious risk of many students never returning to school due to pressures beyond just the immediate health risks - even after schools re-open. While health concerns are by far the largest deterrent to returning to school, a sizeable number of respondents cited financial constraints as well &ndash; 10 percent of families could not afford to send children back to school and 6 percent needed children to help earn an income.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">These findings provide knowledge and inspire opportunities for further exploration of how we might enhance remote learning during the current school closures, better prepare for re-opening, and strengthen the education system over the long term.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>The study has suggested that in the immediate term, as schools remain closed:</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Reach the last mile students and augment digital learning through textbooks/print materials.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Create greater awareness of tech tools for remote learning through awareness drives as well as communications efforts, especially for TV and feature phones which are most underutilised. These must be gender-responsive to ensure that households invest in/ allow girls to use and own smartphones and computers equally as boys.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Encourage greater teacher engagement to augment self-directed learning. Better monitor for teachers to stay in touch and provide proper protective equipment for those conducting home visits, and other enablers such as coverage of additional expenses like data charges. Encourage female teachers to follow up with those girls who are most at risk of being married, in coordination with child protection&nbsp;committees.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Improve the most marginalized students&#39; learning experiences through targeted efforts such as more&nbsp;local language content and immersive platforms with multiple access options for students with disabilities.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Mitigate technology challenges by subsidizing or eliminating device and data costs for teachers, and deploying devices at community level for students.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>In the short term, as schools are about to re-open:</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Conduct gender-responsive re-enrolment campaigns to prevent students from dropping out and support to relieve financial challenges (e.g., targeted scholarships and cash transfers through social protection schemes).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Count the number of students coming back to school, keeping a special track of girls and boys who do not come back and who are no longer living with their families. Work with school management committees, child protection committees and panchayats to ensure that these children have access to education wherever they are and adequate resources and services if they have been married or trafficked.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Support students by assessing their learning levels and catching them up through remedial education and teaching at the right level.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Provide non-academic support such as mental wellness and career guidance counselling.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>In the long term, to further strengthen the system:&nbsp;</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Improve learning outcomes for the longer term through blended learning approaches, leveraging some of tech tools&#39; advantages compared to in-person learning.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Explore ways to increase effectiveness of commonly used tools like WhatsApp and deliver content in more personalised ways to deepen the quality of remote learning going forward.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Continue to develop lighter applications that can be downloaded on low-cost smartphones and operate with 2G internet or work offline with only periodic connectivity.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Improve basic digital infrastructure in schools and continue to invest in connecting remote areas to the&nbsp;digital ecosystem, such as setting up community hotspot facilities.<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The key findings of the report titled [inside]Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2019-20 for States and Union Territories (released in June, 2021)[/inside], published by the Ministry of Education, are as follows (please click <a href="/upload/files/pgi_2019_20_en.pdf">here</a> and <a href="/upload/files/Press%20Information%20Bureau%206%20June%202021.pdf">here</a> to access):</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The Performance Grading Index (PGI) for the States and Union Territories (UTs) was first published in 2019 for the reference year 2017-18. The PGI for reference year 2018-19 was published in the year 2020. The present publication, PGI 2019-20 at State/ UT level, has been prepared with the same set of 70 parameters used for the two previous PGIs. In the present PGI, data for 54 of the 70 parameters are for the year 2019-20. The updating of these data and vetting of the same have been carried out by concerned States/ UTs at different levels, namely, school, district and State/ UT level using the online portals of Shagun, Unified District Information System for Education plus (UDISE+) and Mid-Day Meal (MDM), created and maintained by the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL),&nbsp;Ministry of Education (MoE). For the remaining 16 parameters, scores from National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2017 conducted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) have been used in all the three PGIs, namely, PGI 2017-18, PGI 2018-19 and PGI 2019-20.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The PGI exercise envisages that the index would propel States and UTs towards undertaking multi-pronged interventions that will that will bring about the much-desired optimal education outcomes. The PGI helps the States/UTs to pinpoint the gaps and accordingly prioritise areas for intervention to ensure that the school education system is robust at every level.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The Government introduced the Performance Grading Index with a set of 70 parameters to catalyse transformational change in the field of school education. The PGI is structured in two categories, namely, Outcomes and Governance &amp; Management and comprises 70 indicators in aggregate with a total weightage of 1000.&nbsp; The detailed list of indicators under each Domain, the respective weights, the data source and the benchmark levels are detailed in the Annexure of the <a href="https://www.im4change.org/upload/files/pgi_2019_20_en.pdf">report</a>.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The total weightage under the PGI is 1000 points with each of the 70 indicators having an assigned weightage of either 10 or 20 points. For some of the indicators, there are sub-indicators. In these sub-indicators, the total points of the indicator have been distributed among these sub-indicators. If all sub-indicators are also counted, the total number of parameters considered in the PGI becomes 96. &nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The weightage against each indicator has been divided into 10 groups: 0, 1-10, 11-20 and so on up to 91-100. Thus, a State which has achieved 91 percent of the benchmark of an indicator will get maximum points (10 or 20, whichever is applicable for the particular indicator). However, in case of a few indicators, a lower value would score a higher weightage, e.g. equity indicators, time taken for release of funds and single teacher schools. For Equity Indicators, a difference of &lsquo;O&rsquo; (zero) between different categories has been considered as the best performance and the absolute value of the difference has been considered for grading.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The highest achievable stage in PGI is Level-I, which is for scores 951-1000. In the PGI, Level-II means PGI score 901-950, Level-III: 851-900, Level-IV: 801-850, and so on up to Level-IX: 551-600. The last one, namely Level-X is for scores 0-550. In PGI 2019-20, the highest score has reached level II, i.e. score range 901-950. This score range has now been named as Grade I++ (also termed as Grade A++), which is higher than Grade I+.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The PGI scores and grades achieved by the States and UTs in 2019-20 bear a testimony to the efficacy of the PGI system. Many States and UTs have made substantial improvements in many of the outcome parameters, along with measurable improvements in their governance-and-management-related parameters.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Punjab, Chandigarh, Tamil Nadu, Andaman &amp; Nicobar Islands and Kerala occupy the highest grade (Grade A++) for 2019-20.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; One UT, namely Ladakh is in Grade-VII with score range 0-550. No State/ UT is in Grade-VI and one State, namely Meghalaya is in Grade-V i.e. score range 601-650.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Most of the States/ UTs have improved their grade in PGI 2019-20 compared to the earlier years. A total of 33 States and UTs have improved their total PGI score in 2019-20 as compared to 2018-19.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Three States/ UTs, namely Andaman &amp; Nicobar Islands (Grade I++), Punjab (Grade I++) and Arunachal Pradesh (Grade-IV) have improved their score by more than 20 percent.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Andaman &amp; Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and Punjab have shown improvement by 10 percent (8 points) or more in the PGI domain: Access.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; As many as thirteen States and UTs have shown improvement by 10 percent (15 points) or more in the PGI domain: Infrastructure and Facilities. Andaman &amp; Nicobar Islands and Odisha have shown improvement by 20 percent or more.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Odisha have shown more than 10 percent improvement in the PGI domain: Equity.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Nineteen States and UTs have shown improvement by 10 percent (36 points) or more in the PGI domain: Governance Process. Andaman &amp; Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal have shown improvement by at least 20 percent (72 points or more).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
The key findings of the UNCEF report (please <a href="/upload/files/COVID19-and-school-closures.pdf">click here</a> to access) entitled [inside]COVID-19 and School Closures: One Year of Education Disruption (released in March, 2021)[/inside]:</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In the period between March 11, 2020 and February 2, 2021, schools have been fully closed for an average of 95 instruction days globally, which represents approximately half the time intended for classroom instruction.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Countries in the Latin America and the Caribbean region were the most affected with 158 days of full school closures on average, followed by countries in South Asia with 146 days. Countries in the Eastern and Southern Africa region were the third most affected with an average of 101 days.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Among the top 20 countries with the longest full school closures during this period, more than half are situated in the Latin America and the Caribbean region.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Globally, 214 million students from pre-primary to upper secondary education in 23 countries have missed at least three-quarters of classroom instruction time at the pre-primary to upper secondary level since March 2020.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Of these 214 million students, 168 million in 14 countries missed almost all classroom instruction time due to school closures.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Countries with the longest durations of school closures tend to have a low prevalence of school-age children with a fixed internet connection at home.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; While the majority of countries have fully opened schools (53 percent) and almost a quarter of the world&rsquo;s countries have partially opened schools, 196 million students in 27 countries (13 percent globally) have schools that were fully closed as of February 2, 2021, the most recent date for which data is available.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; On average, in countries where schools were still closed as of February 2, 2021, nearly 80 per cent of classroom instruction has been missed in the eleven-month period since March 2020.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
The fifteenth Annual Status of Education Report (ASER 2020 Wave 1) was released online on 28 October 2020</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">ASER 2020-Wave 1 was released at an online event attended by over 11,000 people from around the world.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Every year from 2005 to 2014, ASER has reported on the schooling status and the ability to do basic reading and arithmetic tasks for children in the 5-16 age group in rural India. After ten years of producing an annual report, in 2016, ASER switched to an alternate-year cycle where this &ldquo;basic&rdquo; ASER is conducted every other year (2016, 2018); and in alternate years ASER focuses on a different aspect of children&rsquo;s schooling and learning. In 2017, ASER &#39;Beyond Basics&#39; focused on the abilities, experiences, and aspirations of youth in the 14-18 age group. In 2019, ASER &lsquo;Early Years&rsquo; examined key early language, early numeracy, cognitive, and socioemotional indicators for children age 4-8 years.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">In 2020, the COVID-19 crisis interrupted this 15-year trajectory. But the urgent need to systematically examine the effects of the pandemic on schooling and learning opportunities of children across the country was apparent. Although a lot of digital content has been generated and transmitted to help children continue to learn, there is limited evidence on the extent to which this content is reaching children; whether they are engaging with it; and the impact it is having on their participation and learning.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">ASER 2020 is the first ever phone-based ASER survey. Conducted in September 2020, the sixth month of national school closures, the survey explores provision of and access to distance education mechanisms, materials and activities for children in rural India, and the ways in which children and families are engaging with these remote learning alternatives from their homes.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">ASER 2020 was conducted in 26 states and 4 Union Territories. It reached a total of 52,227 households and 59,251 children in the age group of 5-16 years, as well as teachers or head teachers from 8,963 government schools offering primary grades.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The key findings of the [inside]ASER 2020 Wave-1 for rural areas (released in October, 2020)[/inside] are as follows (please click <a href="/upload/files/aser2020nationalpressrelease_english.pdf">here</a>, <a href="/upload/files/nationalfindings%281%29.pdf">here</a>, <a href="/upload/files/aser2020nationalppt.pdf">here</a> and <a href="/upload/files/aser2020fullreport.pdf">here</a> to access):</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>SCHOOL ENROLLMENT PATTERNS</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Changes in school enrollment can only be accurately measured once schools reopen and children are able to return to their classrooms. As compared to 2018, this interim measurement in ASER 2020 shows that:</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; At the all India level, there is a small shift towards government schools. As compared to data from ASER 2018, data from ASER 2020 (September 2020) show a small shift in enrollment from private to government schools, across all grades and among both girls and boys. The proportion of boys enrolled in government schools rose from 62.8% in 2018 to 66.4% in 2020. Similarly, the proportion of girls enrolled in government schools rose from 70% to 73% during the same period.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Many young children yet to get admission in school. ASER 2020 shows that while the proportion of children not currently enrolled for the 2020-21 school year is higher than the equivalent figures for 2018, for most age groups these differences are small. Higher proportions of children not enrolled are visible mostly among the youngest children (age 6 and 7), possibly because they have not yet secured admission to school. This proportion is particularly large in Karnataka (11.3% 6- and 7-year-olds not enrolled in 2020), Telangana (14%), and Rajasthan (14.9%).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>HOUSEHOLD RESOURCES</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">While schools are closed, children rely mainly on the resources available at home to help them learn. These resources can consist of people who can help them to study (for example, educated parents); technology (TV, radio or smartphone); or materials (such as textbooks for the current grade).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; A relatively small proportion of students in school today are first generation school-goers. More than three out of four children have at least one parent who has completed primary school (Std V). More than a quarter have both parents who have studied beyond Std IX.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Among enrolled children, more than 60% live in families with at least one smartphone. This proportion has increased enormously in the last two years, from 36.5% to 61.8% among enrolled children. The percentage point increase is similar in households of children enrolled in government and private schools. States that show an increase of more than 30 percentage points in the proportion of children whose families own a smartphone include Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Tripura.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Whether acquired before or after school closures in March 2020, more than 80% children have textbooks for their current grade. This proportion is higher among students enrolled in government schools (84.1%) than in private schools (72.2%). Across states, the proportion of children with textbooks at home falls below 70% in only three states: Rajasthan (60.4%), Telangana (68.1%), and Andhra Pradesh (34.6%).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>HOME SUPPORT FOR LEARNING</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">ASER 2020 data shows that regardless of parents&rsquo; education level, families invest significant effort in supporting children&rsquo;s learning.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; While schools are closed, almost three quarters of all children receive some form of learning support from family members. Notably, even among children whose neither parent has studied beyond primary school, family members do provide support. Older siblings play an important role in providing learning support to children in these households.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Children in lower grades get more family support than in higher ones. Similarly, children with more educated parents receive more family support than those with less educated parents. For example, 54.8% of children whose parents had completed Std V or less received some form of family support, as compared to 89.4% of children whose parents had studied beyond Std IX.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; As children progress to higher grades, parents are able to provide less help. For example, 33% of mothers of young children in Std I-II were able to help their children, as opposed to 15% of mothers of children in Std IX and above. But for children in higher grades, support from elder siblings becomes steadily more important.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>ACCESS TO LEARNING MATERIALS AND ACTIVITIES</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Governments and others have used a variety of mechanisms to share diverse learning materials with students during school closures. These include activities using traditional materials like textbooks or worksheets; online or recorded classes; and videos or other materials shared via phone or in person, among others. ASER 2020 asked whether households had accessed or received any such materials from children&rsquo;s schools in the week prior to the survey in September 2020.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Overall, about one third of enrolled children had received some form of learning materials or activities from their teachers during the week preceding the survey. This proportion was higher in higher grades than in lower ones; and higher among students in private schools than in government schools.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; However, there are significant variations by state in children&rsquo;s receipt of learning materials or activities during the reference week. States where less than a quarter of all children had received any materials include Rajasthan (21.5%), Uttar Pradesh (21%), and Bihar (7.7%).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Regardless of school type, WhatsApp was the most common medium through which activities and materials were received. However, this proportion was much higher among children in private schools (87.2%) than those in government schools (67.3%).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; On the other hand, of children who had received some materials, those in government schools were much more likely to have received materials via personal contact with a teacher (31.8%) than those in private schools (11.5%), either when the teacher visited the household or else when a household member visited the school.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Among the roughly two-thirds of all households that reported not having received learning materials during the reference week, the majority said that the school had not sent any materials.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>CHILDREN&rsquo;S ENGAGEMENT WITH LEARNING MATERIALS AND ACTIVITIES</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Regular engagement with learning materials and activities is key to avoiding &lsquo;learning loss&rsquo; due to prolonged absences from school. ASER 2020 asked whether children had done any type of learning activity during the previous week, regardless of whether or not the school had shared learning materials during that week.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Although only a third of children had received materials from their teachers during the week preceding the survey, most children (70.2%) did do some sort of learning activity during that week. These activities were shared by diverse sources such as private tutors and family members themselves, in addition to or instead of what was received from schools.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The major types of activities done involved textbooks (59.7%) and worksheets (35.3%). The proportion of children in government schools and private schools doing these activities was similar.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; However, one major difference visible by school type is that children in private schools were much more likely to have accessed online resources than those in government schools. For example, 28.7% of children enrolled in private schools had watched videos or other prerecorded content online, as compared to 18.3% of government school students.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; For about a third of all students, teachers had some form of personal contact with households during the reference week.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>POLICY IMPLICATIONS</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">While some information is available about the measures that governments and others have put in place to ensure minimum disruptions to children&rsquo;s education, no systematic, large scale information has been available about whether children are able to access and use these mechanisms. ASER 2020 provides data on these issues at both state and national levels. A set of learnings from these findings suggest the following overarching policy implications for the country:</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>Fluid situation: </strong>When schools re-open, it will be important to continue to monitor who goes back to school; as well as to understand whether there is learning loss as compared to previous years.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>Building on and strengthening family support: </strong>Parents&rsquo; increasing levels of education can be integrated into planning for learning improvement, as advocated by NEP. &ldquo;Reaching parents at the right level&rdquo; is essential to understand how they can help their children. Older siblings also play an important role.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>&ldquo;Hybrid&rdquo; learning: </strong>Children are doing a variety of different activities at home. Effective ways of &ldquo;hybrid&rdquo; learning need to be developed, that combine traditional teaching-learning with newer ways of &ldquo;reaching-learning&rdquo;.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>Impact of digital modes and content: </strong>Many modes of providing digital content have been tried. In order to improve digital content and delivery for the future, an in-depth assessment of what works, how well it works, who it reaches, and who it excludes is needed.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>Mediating the &ldquo;digital divide&rdquo;: </strong>Expectedly, children from families who had low education and also did not have resources like smartphones had less access to learning opportunities. But even among such households, there is evidence of effort: family members who try to help and schools who try to reach them. These children will need even more help than others when schools reopen.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
The country-wide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and attendant issues have led to major violations of civil liberties and human rights in India. While some restrictions on rights may have been necessitated by the nature of the pandemic, we believe that a large number of violations were entirely excessive, arbitrary and totally avoidable. The impact of this curtailment of rights and of civil liberties has been felt across all sectors, including the economy, education, health, media, prisons, employment, migrant workers, women, domestic workers, sex workers, prisoners and their access to justice, etc.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Five months after, it has become palpably clear that the lockdown has also been used by the Government to push through undemocratic means laws and policies which are against the people. In this context, PUCL Maharashtra has put together &lsquo;Lockdown on Civil Liberties&rsquo;, a series of reports of the impact on these restrictions on various segments. While some of the reports focus on the situation in Maharashtra, others deal with a pan-India situation.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&ldquo;<a href="https://www.im4change.org/upload/files/pucl%20lockdown%20series%20-%20education.pdf">Broken Slates and Blank Screens:</a> <a href="https://www.im4change.org/upload/files/pucl%20lockdown%20series%20-%20education.pdf">Education Under Lockdown</a>&rdquo; is the third in the series. This report brings out the state of education in Maharashtra in context of the lockdown &ndash; its implications for the rights of children and youth. The analysis while focusing on immediate impact of the pandemic sets this in context of the systemic issues plaguing education. So while it highlights the main issues due to the lockdown, it raises questions about framing policies that violate the fundamental principles of federalism and constitutional rights and promise of &ldquo;Education for all&rdquo;. Among other things, the report finds that digital classrooms and compulsory examinations for final year college students, is doing more harm than good for the young student community.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The 48-page report entitled [inside]Broken Slates and Blank Screens: Education Under Lockdown (released in September 2020)[/inside], has been authored by Simantini Dhuru with the help of others from PUCL (Maharashtra), including Meena Gopal, Lara Jesani, Chayanika Shah, Sandhya Gokhale, John D&rsquo;Souza, Mihir Desai, and others.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">---</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
The key findings of the [inside]Parliamentary Standing Committee report on Demands for Grants 2020-21 (Demand No. 58) of the Department of School Education &amp; Literacy (presented to the Rajya Sabha on 5th March, 2020)[/inside], Report no. 312, are as follows (please <a href="https://www.im4change.org/upload/files/Parliamentary%20Standing%20Committee%205%20March%202020%281%29.pdf">click here</a> to access):</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The budgetary allocation for Department of School Education &amp; Literacy were Rs. 46,356.25 crore in 2017-18, Rs. 50,000.00 crore in 2018-19, Rs. 56,536.63 crore in 2019-20 and Rs. 59,845.00 crore in 2020-21.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; As compared to the proposed B.E. 2020-21 of Rs. 82,570.04 crores, only Rs. 59,845.00 crore has been allocated to the Department of School Education &amp; Literacy. A substantial reduction of Rs. 22,725.04 crore i.e. a reduction of 27.52 percent has been made in the proposals made by the Department of School Education &amp; Literacy.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; A substantial reduction has been made in the proposed B.E. 2020-21 of Centrally Sponsored Schemes (27.36 percent reduction) and in the Central Sector Schemes a reduction of 27.22 percent has been made. The Centrally Sponsored Schemes are Samagra Shiksha, Padhna Likhna Abhiyan, Appointment of Language Teachers, Umbrella Programme for Development of Minorities-Education Scheme for Madrasas and Minorities, and National Programme of Mid Day Meals in Schools (MDM). The Central Sector Schemes are National Means-Cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme, National Scheme for Incentive to Girl Child for Secondary Education, National Award to Teachers, Operation Digital Board and Pradhan Mantri Innovative Learning Programme (DHRUV).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The Department of School Education &amp; Literacy launched the Samagra Shiksha &ndash; an Integrated Scheme for School Education by subsuming the erstwhile Centrally Sponsored Schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE) from 2018-19 for universalization of quality education throughout the country in coordination and consultation with the states and UTs. Samagra Shiksha is an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class XII and aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of school education.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; At the national level, the proportion of vacant posts for teachers in elementary and secondary levels under Samagra Shiksha was 23.26 percent in 2017-18. The total number of vacancies in elementary (4,17,057) and secondary (61,108) levels under Samagra Shiksha was 4.78 lakhs during 2017-18. The state with the highest number of teacher vacancies in elementary and secondary levels under Samagra Shiksha in 2017-18 was Bihar (1,26,446), followed by Uttar Pradesh (1,01,159) and Jharkhand (61,737).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Under Samagra Shiksha (elementary level), the proportion of work completed for additional classrooms was 95.48 percent, drinking water 95.37 percent, boys&#39; toilet 92.12 percent, separate girls&#39; toilet 96.04 percent, toilets for Children with Special Needs (CWSN) 81.27 percent, ramps with hand rail 86.8 percent and electrification was 82.91 percent as on 31st December, 2019. &nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Under Samagra Shiksha (secondary level), the proportion of work completed for additional classrooms was 73.51 percent, integrated science lab 70.34 percent, computer rooms 76.09 percent, library 75.17 percent, art/ craft/ culture room 72.81 percent, drinking water facilities 83.31 percent, boys&#39; toilets 71.74 percent, girls&#39; toilets 67.73 percent, CWSN toilets 4.55 percent and ramps 2.83 percent as on 31st December, 2019. &nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Under Samagra Shiksha (higher secondary), the proportion of work completed for additional classrooms was zero percent, science lab zero percent, physics lab 0.22 percent, chemistry lab 0.23 percent, biology lab 0.22 percent, computer room zero percent, library zero percent and art/ craft/ culture room was zero percent as on 31st December, 2019.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; At the national level, the proportion of government schools having facilities like drinking water was 96.39 percent, boys&#39; toilet was 94.64 percent, girls&#39; toilet was 97.03 percent, boundary wall was 60.12 percent, playground was 56.98 percent, ramp was 71.50 percent, CWSN toilet was 19.59 percent, electricity was 56.45 percent and library was 79.36 percent, according to the Unified District Information System For Education (UDISE) 2017-18 (Provisional).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; States where most government schools don&#39;t have electricity are Assam (24.78 percent), Bihar (42.43 percent), Chhattisgarh (65.87 percent), Jammu and Kashmir (28.29 percent), Jharkhand (42.64 percent), Madhya Pradesh (19.61 percent), Odisha (30.13 percent), Rajasthan (51.59 percent), Uttar Pradesh (31.05 percent) and Uttarakhand (71.22 percent). Figures in bracket indicate percentage of government schools having electricity facility. &nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The Parliamentary Standing Committee has recommended the use of MGNREGS manpower for construction of boundary wall for school premises.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The Parliamentary Standing Committee has recommended that a study be made about the food items that can be procured locally in different parts of the country and included in the mid-day meal scheme (MDMS). This is expected to help make the food served to students more nutritious and also give a boost to local farmers growing these products. &nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The key hurdles in the implementation of the MDMS are: (i) Delay in the release of funds to the implementing agencies by the states; (ii) Lack of dedicated management structure at state, district &amp; block levels; (iii) Delay in construction of kitchen-cum-stores; (iv) Lack of convergence with other schemes; and (v) Constraints in availability and supply of LPG cylinders.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
Every year since 2005, Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) has reported on the schooling status and the ability to do basic reading and arithmetic tasks for children in the 5-16 age group in rural India. After ten years of producing an annual report, in 2016, ASER switched to an alternate-year cycle where this &lsquo;basic&rsquo; ASER is conducted every other year (2016, 2018, and next in 2020); and in alternate years ASER focuses on a different aspect of children&rsquo;s schooling and learning. In 2017, ASER &#39;Beyond Basics&#39; focused on the abilities, experiences, and aspirations of youth in the 14-18 age group.<br />
<br />
In 2019, ASER has attempted to shine the spotlight on the early years, reporting on the schooling status as well as on a range of important developmental indicators for young children in the age group 4-8.<br />
<br />
The early years, defined globally as age 0-8, is known to be the most important stage of cognitive, motor, social and emotional development in the human life cycle. A large body of worldwide research demonstrates that exposure to enabling environments and access to appropriate inputs during these years is fundamental to ensuring that children have a firm foundation on which to build, both in school and in life. However, in India, as in many low- and middle-income countries, there is little evidence on scale with respect to whether young children have access to pre-primary facilities and whether they are acquiring the foundational skills and abilities that are key to subsequent success in school and beyond.<br />
<br />
ASER 2019 &lsquo;Early Years&rsquo; was designed to begin to fill these gaps. Conducted in 26 districts across 24 states in India, the survey covered a total of 1,514 villages, 30,425 households, and 36,930 children in the age group of 4-8 years. Sampled children&rsquo;s enrollment status in pre-school or school was collected. Children did a variety of cognitive, early language, and early numeracy tasks; and activities to assess children&rsquo;s social and emotional development were also undertaken. All tasks were done one-on-one with children in their homes.<br />
<br />
The key findings of <span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">[inside]</span>ASER 2019 &#39;Early Years&#39; (released in January 2020)[/inside] are as follows, please click <a href="tinymce/uploaded/aser2019nationalpressrelease_final.pdf" title="ASER 2019 National Press Release_final">here</a>, <a href="tinymce/uploaded/alldistricts_mainfindings_aser2019final.pdf" title="All Districts_Main Findings_ASER 2019 Final">here</a> and <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%202019%20nationalfindings.pdf" title="ASER 2019 nationalfindings">here</a>:<br />
<br />
<strong>Pre-school and School Enrolment Patterns</strong><br />
<br />
&bull; ASER 2019 &lsquo;Early Years&rsquo; finds that more than 90% of children in the 4-8 age group are enrolled in some type of educational institution. This proportion increases with age, from 91.3% of all 4-year-olds to 99.5% of all 8-year-olds in sampled districts.<br />
<br />
&bull; However, young children of the same age vary enormously in terms of where they are enrolled. For example, at age 5, 70% children are in anganwadis or pre-primary classes, but 21.6% are already enrolled in Std I. At age 6, 32.8% children are in anganwadis or pre-primary classes, while 46.4% are in Std I, and 18.7% are in Std II or higher.<br />
<br />
&bull; Boys and girls have different enrollment patterns even among these young children, with a higher proportion of girls enrolled in government institutions and a higher proportion of boys in private institutions. These differences grow larger as children get older. For example, among 4- and 5-year-old children, 56.8% girls and 50.4% boys are enrolled in government pre-schools or schools, while 43.2% girls and 49.6% boys are enrolled in private pre-schools or schools. For 6- to 8-year-olds, 61.1% of all girls versus 52.1% of all boys in this age group are going to a government institution.<br />
<br />
<strong>Children in the Pre-school age group (age 4-5 years)</strong><br />
<br />
National policy recommends that children age 4 and 5 should be in pre-primary classes. At this stage, children should be encouraged to develop a range of abilities and skills, including cognitive, social and emotional skills as well as the conceptual foundations needed for formal schooling.<br />
<br />
&bull; At age 5, what we offer to and expect from children varies enormously across the country depending on state norms for entry to school. As a result, what a 5-year-old is doing depends largely on where she lives. For example, in Thrissur, Kerala, 89.9% of 5-year-olds are in a pre-primary grade and almost all the rest are in Std I. But in East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, just 65.8% are in pre-school, 9.8% are in Std I, and 16% are in Std II. On the other hand, in Satna, Madhya Pradesh, 47.7% are in pre-school, 40.5% are in Std I, and 4.1% are in Std II.<br />
<br />
&bull; From age 4 to age 5, children&rsquo;s ability to do all tasks improves substantially, in line with what child development experts expect and other studies have found. Regardless of whether or where they are enrolled, young children&rsquo;s ability to do cognitive, early language, early numeracy, and social and emotional learning tasks is higher among 5-year-olds than among 4-year-olds. For example, while 31% of 4-year-olds enrolled in anganwadis or government pre-primary classes were able to do a 4-piece puzzle, 45% of 5-year-olds attending these institutions could do so.<br />
<br />
&bull; However, although at age 5, children should be able to do most of these tasks with ease, a large proportion is unable to do so. Children from less advantaged homes are disproportionately affected. Although almost half of all 4-year-olds and more than a quarter of all 5-year-olds are enrolled in anganwadis, these children have far lower levels of cognitive skill and foundational ability than their counterparts in private LKG/UKG classes.<br />
<br />
&bull; Because these are young children who spend much of their time at home, these differences in outcomes may be driven mainly by children&rsquo;s home characteristics. For example, among the pre-primary age group, children with mothers who had completed eight or fewer years of schooling are more likely to be attending anganwadis or government pre-primary classes; whereas their peers whose mothers studied beyond the elementary stage are more likely to be enrolled in private LKG/UKG classes.<br />
<br />
&bull; ASER &#39;Early Years&#39; data shows that children&#39;s performance on tasks requiring cognitive skills is strongly related to their ability to do early language tasks and early numeracy tasks. This suggests that focusing on play-based activities that build memory, reasoning, and problem-solving abilities is more productive than an early focus on content knowledge.<br />
<br />
<strong>Children in Standard I</strong><br />
<br />
Std I is a critical year &ndash; the period when children transition into formal schooling, with the associated curriculum expectations for formal subject-specific learning.<br />
<br />
&bull; The Right to Education Act, 2009 (RTE) mandates that children should enter Std I at age 6. Many states allow entry to Std I at age 5+. However, 4 out of every 10 children in Std I are younger than 5 or older than 6. Overall, 41.7% of children in Std I are of the RTE-mandated age of 6 years, 36.4% are 7 or 8 years old, and 21.9% are 4 or 5 years old.<br />
<br />
&bull; Even within Std I, children&#39;s performance on cognitive, early language, early numeracy, and social and emotional learning tasks is strongly related to their age. Older children do better on all tasks. For example, within the Std I cohort, almost no children age 4 and 5 can read a Std I level text. This proportion increases steadily with age.<br />
<br />
&bull; Children in Std I in government schools are younger than those in the same grade in private schools. More than a quarter of Std I students in government schools are either 4 or 5 years old at 26.1%, while the corresponding proportion for private schools is ten percentage points lower at 15.7%. On the other hand, 30.4% students in Std I in government schools are 7-8 years old, while this proportion in private schools is far higher at 45.4%.<br />
<br />
&bull; As was seen among the 4- and 5-year olds, a clear relationship is visible between children&#39;s cognitive skills and their ability to do early language and early numeracy tasks in Std I. For example, children in Std I who could do 3 cognitive tasks correctly had higher reading ability and were also more likely to solve oral word problems than their peers who could not.<br />
<br />
<strong>Children in Early Primary Grades (Standard I, II, III)</strong><br />
<br />
In the first few years of primary school, children&#39;s progress towards developing foundational reading and arithmetic abilities should be consolidated, giving them a solid base on which to build. It is important that curriculum expectations and classroom activities are developed with this progression in mind.<br />
<br />
&bull; Findings from ASER &lsquo;Early Years&rsquo; show that the variation in age distribution within each grade is widest in Std I and decreases in each subsequent grade. But older children continue to do better than younger ones on every ASER task. For example, while most children in Std III in both government and private schools are either 7 or 8 years old, 53.4% of 8-year-olds in Std III could read a Std I level text, while only 46.1% of 7-year-olds could do so.<br />
<br />
&bull; Children&#39;s skills and abilities improve in each subsequent grade. But the huge jump between curriculum expectations at each grade means that by Std III, their early language and early numeracy outcomes are already well behind curriculum expectations. For example, children&#39;s ability to read Std I level text improves from 16.2% of children in Std I to 50.8% children in Std III. This means that half of all children in Std III are already at least two years behind where the curriculum expects them to be.<br />
<br />
&bull; Similarly, 41.1% of students in Std I can recognize 2-digit numbers, while 72.2% of students in Std III can do so. But according to NCERT&#39;s specification of learning outcomes, children are expected to be able to recognize numbers up to 99 in Std I itself.<br />
<br />
&bull; As before, there is a strong relationship between children&#39;s cognitive skills and their performance on early language and early numeracy tasks. For example, in Std III, 63.2% of children who did all 3 cognitive tasks correctly were able to read at Std I level, as compared to 19.9% of children who were able to do one or none of the cognitive tasks correctly.<br />
<br />
<strong>Policy Implications</strong><br />
<br />
Three key implications emerge from ASER 2019 &#39;Early Years&#39; findings.<br />
<br />
&bull; Anganwadis cater to large proportions of children well before they can enter pre-primary grades. The already significant scale of this network can be leveraged to reach those children who remain unreached. At the same time, the ability of these centres to implement appropriate school readiness activities for 3- and 4-year-olds needs to be strengthened.<br />
<br />
&bull; Data from ASER 2019 &#39;Early Years&#39; clearly shows that performance on cognitive, early language, early numeracy, and social and emotional development tasks is closely related to children&#39;s age, with older children doing better than younger ones. Permitting underage children into primary grades puts them at a learning disadvantage which is difficult to overcome.<br />
<br />
&bull; ASER 2019 &lsquo;Early Years&rsquo; data shows a clear relationship between children&rsquo;s performance on cognitive tasks and measures of early language and early numeracy, suggesting that a focus on activities that strengthen cognitive skills rather than subject learning in the early years may generate substantial benefits in terms of children&rsquo;s future learning. The entire age band from 4 to 8 needs to be seen as a continuum, and curriculum progression across grades and schooling stages designed accordingly. For an effective and implementable curriculum, the process of designing, planning, piloting, and finalizing needs to keep ground realities in mind.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
Please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Draft_NEP_2019_EN_Revised.pdf" title="Draft_NEP_2019_EN_Revised">click here</a> to access the [inside]Draft National Education Policy 2019[/inside], which has been prepared under the chairpersonship of Dr. K Kasturirangan. &nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">-----</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Press%20Note%20NSS%2075th%20Round%20Report%20Key%20Indicators%20of%20Social%20Consumption%20on%20Education%20in%20India%20July%202017%20to%20June%202018%20released%20on%2023rd%20November%202019.pdf" title="Press Note NSS 75th Round Report Key Indicators of Social Consumption on Education in India July 2017 to June 2018 released on 23rd November 2019">click here</a> to access the major findings of [inside]NSS 75th Round Report: Key Indicators of Household Social Consumption on Education in India, July 2017 to June 2018 (released on 23rd November 2019)[/inside].<br />
<br />
Kindly <a href="https://im4change.org/docs/772NSS_75th_Round_Report_Key_Indicators_of_Household_Social_Consumption_on_Education_in_India_July_2017_to_June_2018_released_on_23rd_November_2019.pdf">click here</a> to access the NSS 75th Round Report: Key Indicators of <span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Household </span> Social Consumption on Education in India, July 2017 to June 2018 (released on 23rd November 2019).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">-----</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">After conducting a &lsquo;Beyond Basics&rsquo; survey in ASER 2017, which looked at the preparedness of 14-18 year olds to lead useful and productive lives as adults, in 2018 ASER focused once again on schooling status of children age 3 to 16 and basic reading and arithmetic of children in the 5 to 16 age group across rural India.<br />
<br />
ASER 2018 reached 596 districts in rural India. A total of 354,944 households and 546,527 children in the age group 3 to 16 were surveyed.<br />
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The key findings of the [inside]Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2018[/inside] are as follows (please click <a href="tinymce/uploaded/aser2018pressreleaseenglish.pdf" title="ASER 2018 Press Release English">here</a>, <a href="tinymce/uploaded/aser2018nationalfindingsppt.pdf" title="ASER 2018 National Findings PPT">here</a> and <a href="http://img.asercentre.org/docs/ASER%202018/Release%20Material/aserreport2018.pdf">here</a> to access):<br />
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&bull; Overall enrollment (age 6-14): For more than ten years, since 2007, the enrollment of children for the age group 6 to 14 has been above 95%. The proportion of children (age 6-14) who are not enrolled in school has fallen below 3% for the first time and stands at 2.8% in 2018.<br />
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&bull; Girls out of school: In 2006, the all India proportion of girls in the age group 11 to 14 who were out of school stood at 10.3%. In that year, 9 major states had out of school figures for girls (age 11-14) above 10%. In 2018, the overall proportion of girls in the 11 to 14 age group out of school has fallen to 4.1%. This figure is more than 5% in only 4 states.<br />
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Further, ten years ago in 2008, nationally, more than 20% of girls in the 15 to 16 age group were not enrolled in school. In 2018, this figure has decreased to 13.5%.<br />
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&bull; Private school enrollment: The period 2006 to 2014 saw a year-on-year increase in the proportion of children (age 6-14) enrolled in private school. In 2014, this figure stood at 30.8%. Since then private school enrollment appears to have plateaued for this age group. The percentage of children (age 6-14) enrolled in private school was 30.6% in 2016 and is almost unchanged at 30.9% in 2018.<br />
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The national average hides changes in private school figures across states. There has been a decline in private school enrollment of more than 2 percentage points over 2016 levels in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Kerala. An increase of more than 2 percentage points over 2016 is visible in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, and Gujarat. Most states in the north-east, other than Mizoram, see an increase in private school enrollment between 2016 and 2018.<br />
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<em>Learning levels: foundational skills in reading and arithmetic</em><br />
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Reading: The ASER reading test assesses whether a child can read letters, words, a simple paragraph at Std I level of difficulty, or a &lsquo;story&rsquo; at Std II level of difficulty. The test is administered one on one to all children in the age group 5 to 16 and the child is marked at the highest level that she or he can reach.<br />
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&bull; Std III: The percentage of all children in Std III who can read at Std II level has been climbing slowly over the past few years. This figure has increased from 21.6% in 2013 to 23.6% in 2014 to 25.1% in 2016, and finally to 27.2% in 2018. Among children enrolled in Std III in government schools, six states (Punjab, Haryana, Mizoram, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Kerala) show an improvement of more than 5 percentage points over 2016 levels.<br />
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&bull; Std V: Slightly more than half of all children enrolled in Std V can read at least a Std II level text. This figure has inched up from 47.9% in 2016 to 50.3% in 2018. For government school children enrolled in Std V, states showing an increase of 5 percentage points or more from 2016 to 2018 are Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, and Mizoram; with Punjab and Andhra Pradesh close behind.<br />
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&bull; Std VIII: By Std VIII, the last year of compulsory schooling in India, children are expected not only to have mastered foundational skills but to have proceeded well beyond the basic stage. ASER 2018 data indicates that of all children enrolled in Std VIII in India, about 73% can read at least a Std II level text. This number is unchanged from 2016.<br />
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Arithmetic: The ASER arithmetic test assesses whether a child can recognize numbers from 1 to 9, recognize numbers from 10 to 99, do a 2-digit numerical subtraction problem with borrowing, or correctly solve a numerical division problem (3digit by 1-digit). The tasks are administered one on one to all children in the age group 5 to 16 and the child is marked at the highest level that she or he can reach.<br />
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&bull; Std III: The all India figure for children in Std III who are able to do at least subtraction has not changed much, from 27.6% in 2016 to 28.1% in 2018. For government school children, this figure was 20.3% in 2016 and 20.9% in 2018. However, government school children in some states are doing significantly better, with an increase of 3 percentage points or more over 2016. These include Punjab, Haryana, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Kerala.<br />
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&bull; Std V: The proportion of children in Std V across India who are able to do division has inched up slightly, from 26% in 2016 to 27.8% in 2018. But among government school children, some states have shown significant improvements of 5 percentage points or more over 2016 levels. These include Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.<br />
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&bull; Std VIII: The overall performance of Std VIII in basic arithmetic has not changed much over time. Currently about 44% of all children in Std VIII can solve a 3-digit by 1-digit numerical division problem correctly. While this figure has gone down from 2016 to 2018 in many states, government school children in some states show substantial improvements in the last two years: for example, Punjab (from 48% to 58.4%), Uttar Pradesh (from 25.5% to 32%), Maharashtra (from 32.4% to 41.4%), and Tamil Nadu (from 42.6% to 49.6%).<br />
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<em>Learning levels: &lsquo;beyond basics&rsquo;</em><br />
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In ASER 2018, children in the age group 14 to 16 were given a few tasks which required calculations to be done in everyday contexts. Children were asked to calculate time, compute how many tablets would be required to purify water (application of unitary method), figure out where to buy books given two different price lists (financial decision making), and compute a discount. Each of these tasks was done one on one. Results are reported for those children in this age group who could do at least subtraction correctly.<br />
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&bull; Gender differences in reading and arithmetic the 14-16 age group: For the age group 14 to 16, the all India figure for the proportion of girls who can read at least a Std II level text is very similar to that of boys. Both are around 77%. However, girls outperform boys in many states like Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.<br />
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In basic arithmetic, boys seem to hold a substantial advantage. Nationally, 50% of all boys in the age group 14 to 16 can correctly solve a division problem as compared to 44% of all girls. But in states like Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, girls in this age group are doing better than boys in arithmetic.<br />
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&bull; &lsquo;Beyond Basics&rsquo;-bonus tools: Of the 14-16 year olds who could solve a numerical division problem, a little under half could compute the time question correctly, 52% could apply the unitary method to calculate how many tablets were needed to purify a given volume of water, about 37% were able to take the correct decision regarding the purchase of books, and less than 30% could compute the discount correctly. In all cases, fewer girls could solve questions correctly as compared to boys.<br />
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Further, performance on these everyday tasks was uniformly lower among those in this age group who could do subtraction but not division, as compared to those who could do division.<br />
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<em>School observations</em><br />
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As part of the ASER survey, one government school with primary sections is visited in each sampled village. Preference is given to a government upper primary school (Std I-VII/VIII) if one exists in the village.<br />
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In 2018, ASER surveyors visited 15,998 government schools with primary sections. 9,177 were primary schools and 6,821 were upper primary schools. This represented an increase of almost 13.6% over the number of upper primary schools visited in 2016. Large increases in the number of sampled villages with upper primary schools were visible in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, and Madhya Pradesh.<br />
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<em>Small schools</em><br />
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&bull; Nationally, in 2018, 4 out of 10 government primary schools visited had less than 60 students enrolled. This number has increased every year over the last decade. It was 26.1% in 2009, 30% in 2011, 33.1% in 2013, 39.8% in 2016, and stands at 43.3% in 2018.<br />
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&bull; This decade-long pattern of year-on-year increase in the proportion of small schools is seen in Himachal Pradesh (from 58.1% in 2009 to 84% in 2018), Chhattisgarh (from 19.3% in 2009 to 40.7% in 2018), and Madhya Pradesh (from 18.1% in 2009 to 49.6% in 2018).<br />
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<em>Teacher and student attendance</em><br />
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&bull; At the all India level, no major change is seen in students&#39; and teachers&#39; attendance. Average teacher attendance has hovered at around 85% and average student attendance at around 72% for the past several years in both primary and upper primary schools.<br />
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&bull; However, states exhibit very different patterns of attendance. States with student attendance of 90% or more in primary schools in 2018 were Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Those with teacher attendance of 90% or more in 2018 were Jharkhand, Odisha, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.<br />
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&bull; In primary schools, student attendance improved by 3 percentage points or more over 2016 levels in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh.<br />
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<em>School facilities</em><br />
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&bull; The Right to Education Act was implemented in 2010 and the first cohort of students to benefit from its provisions completed 8 years of compulsory schooling in 2018. Nationally, substantial improvements are visible over this 8-year period in the availability of many school facilities mandated by RTE. The fraction of schools with usable girls&#39; toilets doubled, reaching 66.4% in 2018. The proportion of schools with boundary walls increased by 13.4 percentage points, standing at 64.4% in 2018. The percentage of schools with a kitchen shed increased from 82.1% to 91%, and the proportion of schools with books other than textbooks available increased from 62.6% to 74.2% over the same period.<br />
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&bull; However, the national averages hide major variations across states. Deficiencies are particularly marked in Jammu and Kashmir and most of the north-eastern states. In these states, less than 50% of schools had provision for drinking water or girls&#39; toilets available in 2018. With the exception of Assam, majority of schools in states in the north-east did not have library books available for students in 2018. While elsewhere in the country the mid-day meal was served on the day of the visit in well over 80% of schools, this proportion was less than 50% in many states in this region.<br />
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<em>Physical education and sports facilities</em><br />
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This year, ASER introduced a series of questions on the availability of sports infrastructure in schools.<br />
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&bull; In 2018, about 8 out of 10 schools had a playground available for students, either within the school premises or close by. A playground was accessible in more than 90% of schools in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and Maharashtra. But more than a quarter of all schools in Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Odisha, and Jharkhand did not have access to a playground.<br />
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&bull; Physical education teachers are scarce in schools across rural India. Only 5.8% of all primary schools and 30.8% of upper primary schools had a physical education teacher available. In majority of schools, another teacher was tasked with supervising physical education activities as well. But in Haryana, Rajasthan and Kerala, the proportion of schools with a physical education teacher is significantly higher than the national average.<br />
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&bull; Sports equipment of some kind was observed in 55.8% of primary schools and 71.5% of upper primary schools. States where significantly higher proportions of schools had sports equipment available included Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
The Annual Status of Education Report, [inside]ASER 2017: Beyond Basics (released in January, 2018)[/inside], covers 28,323 youth aged 14-18 years from 23,868 households belonging to&nbsp; 26 rural districts across 24 states. The ASER 2017 collected information for four domains - activity, ability, awareness and aspirations.<br />
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The key findings of the 12th ASER (i.e. 2017 ASER) are as follows (please click <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%202017%20National%20findings.pdf" title="ASER 2017 National findings">here</a> and <a href="http://img.asercentre.org/docs/Publications/ASER%20Reports/ASER%202017/aser2017fullreportfinal.pdf">here</a> to access):<br />
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<strong>ACTIVITY</strong><br />
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&bull; Overall, 86% of youth in the 14-18 age group are still within the formal education system, either in school or in college.<br />
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&bull; More than half of all youth in this age group are enrolled in Std X or below (54%). Another 25% are either in Std XI or XII, and 6% are enrolled in undergraduate or other degree courses. Only 14% are not currently enrolled in any form of formal education.<br />
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&bull; The enrollment gap between males and females in the formal education system increases with age. There is hardly any difference between boys&#39; and girls&#39; enrollment at age 14; but at age 18, 32% females are not enrolled as compared to 28% males.<br />
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&bull; The proportion of youth not enrolled in school or college increases with age. At age 14, the percentage of youth not enrolled is 5%. By age 18, this figure increases to 30%.<br />
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&bull; Overall, about 5% of youth are taking some type of vocational training or other courses. This includes those who are enrolled in school or college as well as those who are not currently enrolled.<br />
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&bull; Youth who take vocational courses tend to take short duration courses of 6 months or less. Of those who are doing vocational courses, the highest percentage of youth (34%) are enrolled in courses which are 3 months or shorter, and another 25% are enrolled in courses between 4 and 6 months in duration.<br />
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&bull; A substantial proportion of youth in the 14-18 age group are working (42%), regardless of whether they are enrolled in formal education or not. Of those who work, 79% work in agriculture - almost all on their own family&#39;s farm. Also, more than three quarters of all youth do household chores daily - 77 % of males and 89% of females.<br />
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<strong>ABILITY</strong><br />
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<em>Foundational skills</em><br />
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&bull; About 25% of this age group still cannot read basic text fluently in their own language.<br />
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&bull; More than half struggle with division (3 digit by 1 digit) problems. Only 43% are able to do such problems correctly. The ability to do division - a task that is usually done in ASER, can be thought of as a proxy for the ability to do basic arithmetic operations.<br />
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&bull; 53% of all 14 year-olds in the sample can read English sentences. For 18 year-old youth, this figure is closer to 60%. Of those who can read English sentences, 79% can say the meaning of the sentence.<br />
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&bull; Even among youth in this age group who have completed eight years of schooling, a significant proportion still lack foundational skills like reading and arithmetic.<br />
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&bull; Although reading ability in regional languages and in English seems to improve slightly with age (more 18 year-olds can read than 14 year-olds), the same does not seem to apply to arithmetic. The proportion of youth who have not acquired basic arithmetic skills by age 14 is the same as that of 18 year olds. Learning deficits seen in elementary school in previous years seem to carry forward as young people go from being adolescents to young adults.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>Applying basic literacy and numeracy skills to everyday tasks</em><br />
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&bull; ASER 2017 explored a variety of such tasks with young people in the age group 14 to 18. In terms of daily tasks, we picked some simple activities like counting money, knowing weights and telling time:<br />
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&bull; How much money is this? 76% of surveyed youth could count money correctly. For those who have basic arithmetic skills, the figure was close to 90%. (This task involves simple addition.)<br />
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&bull; 56% could add weights correctly in kilograms. For those who have basic arithmetic skills, the figure is 76%. (This task involves addition and conversion from grams to kilograms.)<br />
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&bull; Telling time is a common daily activity. For the easy task (hour), 83% got it correct. But for the slightly harder task (hour and minutes) a little less than 60% got it right.<br />
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&bull; For ASER 2017, a few such activities were picked like measuring length with a ruler, calculating time, and applying the unitary method (e.g. deciding how many chlorine tablets to use for purifying water).<br />
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&bull; 86% of youth could calculate the length of an object (measuring length with a ruler) if it was placed at the &#39;0&#39; mark on the ruler. But when the object was placed elsewhere on the ruler, only 40% could give the right answer.<br />
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&bull; How many hours has a girl slept (calculating time)? Less than 40% of all sampled youth could calculate the right answer. Of those who could at least do division, about 55% could answer correctly.<br />
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&bull; A map of India was shown to each young person who was surveyed. They were asked a series of questions: a) &ldquo;This is a map of which country?&rdquo; 86% answered India; b) &ldquo;What is the name of the capital of the country?&rdquo; 64% answered correctly; c) &ldquo;Which state do you live in?&rdquo; 79% answered correctly; d) &ldquo;Can you point to your state on the map?&rdquo; 42% could do so.&nbsp;<br />
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&bull; The overall patterns indicate that having basic foundational skills like reading and arithmetic are very helpful even for daily tasks and common calculations. However, not everyone who has these foundational skills can correctly complete these everyday tasks.<br />
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&bull; Although having completed at least 8 years of schooling is an advantage, not all youth who have done so can do these tasks. Females perform worse than males on almost all tasks. These data show that substantial numbers of young people who have completed 8 years of schooling have difficulty applying their literacy and numeracy skills to real world situations.<br />
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<strong>AWARENESS AND ASPIRATIONS</strong><br />
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&bull; Mobile phone usage is widespread in the 14-18 age group. 73% of the young people had used a mobile phone within the last week.<br />
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&bull; Significant gender differences are visible. While only 12% of males had never used a mobile phone, this number for females is much higher at 22%.<br />
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&bull; Mobile usage rises significantly with age. Among 14 year-olds, 64% had used a mobile phone in the last week. That figure for 18 year-olds is 82%.<br />
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&bull; For the young people, the use of internet and computers was much lower. 28% had used the internet and 26% had used computers in the last week, while 59% had never used a computer and 64% had never used internet.<br />
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&bull; For those who are currently enrolled in the education system, access to internet and computers is higher than those who are not currently enrolled. However mobile usage is high regardless of whether they are enrolled or not.<br />
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&bull; Girls and young women have far lower access to computer and internet as compared to boys. While 49% of males have never used the internet, close to 76% of females have never done so.<br />
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&bull; Almost every young person (85%) had watched television in the last week. 58% had read a newspaper and a little under half (46%) had listened to the radio in the previous seven days. Gender differences in access to traditional media is seen to be far lower than the differences in access to the digital world.<br />
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&bull; With respect to participation in financial processes and institutions, close to 75% youth have their own bank account. Interestingly, a slightly higher percentage of females have bank accounts than males in this age group. 51% have deposited or withdrawn money from the bank. 16% have used an ATM or debit card, but only 5% have ever done any transaction using a payment app or mobile banking.<br />
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&bull; ASER 2017 asked youth about their study and professional aspirations. About 60% youth in the age group 14 to 18 years wanted to study beyond Std XII. This percentage is almost half (35%) among youth who could not read a Std II level text fluently.<br />
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&bull; Professional aspirations are clearly gendered, with males aiming to join the army or police or becoming engineers and females showing preference for teaching or nursing careers. Almost a third of the youth who were currently not enrolled in an educational institution did not have a specific occupation that they aspired to. Finally, 40% youth did not have any role models for the profession they aspired to.<br />
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&bull; Unless it is ensured that young people reach adulthood with the knowledge, skills, and opportunities they need to help themselves, their families, and their communities move forward, India&#39;s much awaited &#39;demographic dividend&#39; will not materialize.<br />
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**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
The Annual Status of Education Report, [inside]ASER 2016 (released in January, 2017)[/inside], covers 589 rural districts. The survey was carried out in 17,473 villages, covering 350,232 households and 562,305 children in the age group 3-16 years.&nbsp;<br />
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The key findings of the 11th ASER (i.e. 2016 ASER) are as follows (please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/aser%202016.pdf" title="ASER 2016">click here</a> to access):<br />
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<strong><em>At the national level, enrollment increased for all age groups between 2014 and 2016. </em></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span></span></span>Enrollment for the age group 6-14 has been 96 percent or above since 2009. This proportion increased from 96.7 percent in 2014 to 96.9 percent in 2016.<br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span></span></span>Enrollment for the age group 15-16 has also improved for both boys and girls, rising from 83.4 percent in 2014 to 84.7 percent in 2016.<br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span></span></span>However, in some states, the fraction of out of school children (age 6-14) has increased between 2014 and 2016. These include Madhya Pradesh (from 3.4 percent to 4.4 percent), Chhattisgarh (from 2 percent to 2.8 percent), and Uttar Pradesh (from 4.9 percent to 5.3 percent).<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span></span></span>In some states the proportion of girls (age group 11-14 years) out of school remains greater than 8 percent. These states are Rajasthan (9.7 percent) and Uttar Pradesh (9.9 percent). Joining them in 2016 is Madhya Pradesh (8.5 percent).<br />
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<strong><em>No increase in private school enrollment between 2014 and 2016. </em></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span></span></span>At the all India level, the proportion of children (age 6-14 years) enrolled in private schools is almost unchanged at 30.5 percent in 2016, as compared to 30.8 percent in 2014.<br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span></span></span>The gender gap in private school enrollment has decreased slightly in both the 7-10 and the 11-14 age group. In 2014, among children age 11-14, the gap between boys&#39; and girls&#39; enrollment in private school was 7.6 percentage points. In 2016, this gap had decreased to 6.9 percentage points.<br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span></span></span>Two states show significant increases in government school enrollment relative to 2014 levels. In Kerala, the proportion of children (age 11-14) enrolled in government school increased from 40.6 percent in 2014 to 49.9 percent in 2016. In Gujarat, this proportion increased from 79.2 percent in 2014 to 86 percent in 2016.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span></span>Three states show substantial increases since 2014 in private school enrollment among children in the elementary school age group (age 6-14): Uttarakhand (from 37.5 percent to 41.6 percent), Arunachal Pradesh (from 24.4 percent to 29.5 percent), and Assam (from 17.3 percent to 22 percent).<br />
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<strong><em>Nationally, reading ability has improved especially in early grades in government schools. </em></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span>Nationally, the proportion of children in Std III who are able to read at least Std I level text has gone up slightly, from 40.2 percent in 2014 to 42.5 percent in 2016. This proportion shows substantial increases among children in government schools in many states: Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Telangana. All these states show an improvement of more than 7 percentage points since 2014.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span>Overall reading levels in Std V are almost the same year on year from 2011 to 2016. However, the proportion of children in Std V who could read a Std II level text improved by more than 5 percentage points from 2014 to 2016 in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tripura, Nagaland and Rajasthan. This improvement is driven by gains in learning levels in government schools in these states.<br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span>Nationally, reading levels in Std VIII show a slight decline since 2014 (from 74.7 percent to 73.1 percent). Then and now, three out of every four children enrolled in Std VIII can read at least Std II level (the highest level assessed in the ASER survey). The state-wise picture for Std VIII reading levels does not show much improvement except for government schools in Manipur, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.<br />
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<strong><em>Arithmetic shows improvement in government schools in primary grades. </em></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span>Although low, the all India (rural) figures for basic arithmetic have improved slightly for Std III in 2016 as compared to 2014. This is the first year since 2010, that there is an upward trend in arithmetic figures.<br />
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<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span>In 2014, for the country 25.4 percent of Std III children could do a 2-digit subtraction. This number has risen slightly to 27.7 percent in 2016.&nbsp; This improvement has come primarily from government schools where the percentage of Std III children who could do a 2-digit subtraction increased from 17.2 percent in 2014 to 20.2 percent in 2016.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span>In almost all states there is some improvement in the arithmetic levels of children enrolled in government schools in Std III. States with an increase of 5 percentage points or more since 2014 include Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>From 2014 to 2016, for Std V children, the level of arithmetic as measured by children&#39;s ability to do simple division problems has remained almost the same at 26 percent. Only five major states show an improvement of more than 5 percentage points. These are Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>However, the ability to do division among Std VIII students has continued to drop.&nbsp; This declining trend has been observed since 2010. The proportion of Std VIII students who could correctly do a 3-digit by 1-digit division problem was 68.4 percent in 2010. This number dropped to 44.2 percent in 2014, and has further declined to 43.3 percent in 2016. Only children in Manipur, Karnataka and Telangana show an increase of 5 percentage points or more.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Ability to read English is unchanged for lower primary grades.</em></strong><br />
&nbsp;<br />
Assessments of basic English have been carried out in 2007, 2009, 2012, 2014 and 2016.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>Children&#39;s ability to read English is slightly improved in Std III but relatively unchanged in Std V. In 2016, 32 percent children in Std III could read simple words in English as compared to 28.5 percent in 2009.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>In comparison, in 2016, 24.5 percent of children enrolled in Std V could read simple English sentences. This number is virtually unchanged since 2009. However, a few states show improvements since 2014 for government school children enrolled in Std V. These states are Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Maharashtra and Kerala (all with improvements of 5 percentage points or more). In nine states, the levels of English reading of private schools has also improved. These are Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Assam, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>However, the decline in upper primary grades continues. For example, in 2009, 60.2 percent of children in Std VIII could read simple sentences in English; in 2014, this figure was 46.7 percent and in 2016 this ability has further declined to 45.2 percent.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>In 2016, of those who can read words (regardless of grade), roughly 60 percent could explain the meanings of the words read. Of those who can read sentences, 62.4 percent in Std V could explain the meaning of the sentences. Both these levels are virtually unchanged since 2014.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>School observations </em></strong><br />
<br />
As part of the ASER survey, one government school with primary sections is visited in each sampled village.<br />
<br />
ASER 2016 visited 15,630 government schools with primary sections. Of these 9,644 were primary schools and 5,986 were upper primary schools which also had primary sections.<br />
<br />
<em><strong>Children&#39;s attendance shows no major change from 2014. </strong></em><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>In 2016, ASER data indicates that 71.4 percent of enrolled children in primary schools and 73.2 percent of enrolled children in upper primary schools were present on the day of the visit. In 2014, these figures were 71.3 percent in primary schools and 71.1 percent in upper primary schools.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>As in previous years, children&#39;s attendance varies considerably across the country. States like Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Nagaland, Mizoram, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have attendance levels that are above 80 percent. But in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Manipur, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh, attendance rates range from 50 to 60 percent.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>Trends over time show that children&#39;s attendance in both primary and upper primary schools was higher in 2009 as compared to 2016. In 2009, attendance was at 74.3 percent in primary schools. The figure for 2016 is 71.4 percent. Similar data for upper primary schools shows a decline from 77 percent in 2009 to 73.2 percent in 2016.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>The proportion of &quot;small schools&quot; in the government primary school sector continues to grow. The percentage of multigrade classrooms has also increased. </em></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>Of the government primary schools visited in 2016, close to 40 percent are &quot;small schools&quot; with a total enrollment of 60 children or less. 8.9 percent of the upper primary schools visited had a total enrollment of 60 children or less.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>In 2009, the percentage of government primary schools visited that were &quot;small&quot; was 26.1 percent. The corresponding number for upper primary schools was 4.5 percent.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>ASER also notes the proportion of children enrolled in Std II and Std IV who are sitting with other grades. This proportion has been going up over time. In primary schools, in 2010, 55.2 percent of Std II classes sat with other grades. This figure has gone up to 63.7 percent in 2016. Similar trends are also visible for Std IV. The proportion of classes in which Std IV children are sitting with other grades increased from 49 percent in 2010 to 58 percent in 2016.<br />
<br />
<em><strong>For the most part, improvement in school facilities continues. </strong></em><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>ASER records whether toilets are available and useable on the day of the visit. Since 2010, there has been significant progress in the availability of useable toilets. Nationally in 2016, 68.7 percent of schools visited had toilet facilities that were useable as compared 47.2 percent in 2010. In 2016, only 3.5 percent of the schools visited had no toilet facility.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>The proportion of schools visited where girls&#39; toilets were available and useable has gone up from 32.9 percent in 2010 to 55.7 percent in 2014 to 61.9 percent in 2016. In four states, 80 percent or more schools visited had useable girls&#39;toilets. These states are Gujarat, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>Drinking water was available in 74.1 percent of the schools that were visited in 2016, down from 75.6 percent in 2014. In 2010, this figure was 72.7 percent. In four states (Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh), drinking water was available in 85 percent or more of schools.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>There has been no change in the availability of computers in schools since 2014.&nbsp; The 2016 figure is 20 percent as compared to 19.6 percent in 2014. However, some states stand out in terms of high provision of computers. In Kerala, 89 percent of schools visited had computers; this number was 75.2 percent in Gujarat, 55.1 percent in Maharashtra and 57.3 percent in Tamil Nadu.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>The proportion of schools with libraries has fallen from 78.1 percent in 2014 to 75.5 percent in 2016. However, children were seen using library books in more schools in 2016. In 42.6 percent of schools that were visited, children were seen using library books as compared to 40.7 percent in 2014.<br />
<br />
**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
The 71st round National Sample Survey on &ldquo;Social Consumption: Education&rdquo; was conducted during January to June 2014. The information in the survey was collected from 36,479 households in rural areas and 29,447 households in urban areas during the 71st round.<br />
<br />
The key findings of the [inside]71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015)[/inside] are as follows (please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf" title="NSS 71st round Education">click here</a> to access the full report; please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Press%20Note%20Education.pdf" title="Press Note NSS 71st Education">click here</a> to read the summary of findings):<br />
<br />
<em>I. Literacy rates</em><br />
<br />
&bull; Literacy rate among persons of age 7 years and above in India was 75%. In rural areas, literacy rate was 71% compared to 86% in urban areas.<br />
<br />
&bull; Differences in literacy rate among persons of age 7 years and above was observed with male literacy rate being substantially higher (83%) than female literacy rate (67%).<br />
<br />
&bull; Adult literacy (age 15 years and above) rate in India was around 71%. For adults also, literacy rate in rural areas was lower than that in urban areas. In rural areas, adult literacy rate was 64% as compared to 84% in urban areas.<br />
<br />
<em>II. Accessibility of nearest primary, upper primary and secondary school</em><br />
<br />
&bull; No significant difference between rural and urban India existed in terms of distance for physical access to primary schooling. In both rural and urban areas, nearly 99% households reported availability of primary school within 2 kms from the house.<br />
<br />
&bull; For accessing educational institutions providing higher level of learning, say upper primary or secondary, a lower proportion of households in rural areas compared to the households in urban areas reported existence of such facilities within 2 kms.<br />
<br />
&bull; Nearly 86% of rural households and 96% of urban households reported upper primary schools within a distance of 2 kms from the house while nearly 60% of rural households and 91% of urban households reported secondary schools at such a distance.<br />
<br />
<em>III. Completed level of education among persons of age 5 years and above</em><br />
<br />
&bull; The proportion of persons having completed higher level of education, say, graduation and above, was more in the urban areas than in the rural areas.<br />
<br />
&bull; In the rural areas, nearly 4.5% of males and 2.2% of females completed education level of &lsquo;graduation and above&rsquo; while in the urban areas 17% of males and 13% of females completed this level of education<br />
<br />
<em>IV. Attendance and enrolment</em><br />
<br />
&bull; In both rural and urban areas, a very small proportion of persons (nearly 1 per cent) in the age group 5-29 years, were currently enrolled but not attending educational institutions.<br />
<br />
&bull; In rural areas 58.7% of males and 53% of females in the 5-29 age-group were currently attending educational institution. In urban areas, the percentages being 57% for males and 54.6% for females.<br />
<br />
<em>V. Attendance ratios</em><br />
<br />
&bull; Gross Attendance Ratio of or level &lsquo;primary&rsquo; was nearly 100% for both males and females in rural and urban areas.<br />
<br />
&bull; Gross Attendance Ratio at level &lsquo;primary to higher secondary&rsquo; was 91% and 88% for rural males and females respectively, marginally lower as compared to 93% for both males and females in urban sector.<br />
<br />
&bull; Net Attendance Ratio in India at primary level was 84% for male and 83 % for female children in the age-group 6-10 years, the official age-group for Classes I-V.<br />
<br />
&bull; There was no major rural-urban or male-female disparity at all-India level till elementary level (primary and upper primary) in the Net Attendance Ratio.<br />
<br />
<em>VI. Current attendance by type of education</em><br />
<br />
&bull; In India nearly 85% of the students in age-group 15-29 years were pursuing general education.<br />
<br />
&bull; Nearly 12.6% and 2.4% students in age-group 15-29 years were attending technical/ professional and vocational courses respectively.<br />
<br />
<em>VII. Attendance by type of courses</em><br />
<br />
&bull; Among the male students pursuing general education, 46% were pursuing humanities as compared to 54% of the female students, 35% of the male students were pursuing science compared to 28% female students and 20% of the male students were pursuing commerce compared to 18% of the female students.<br />
<br />
&bull; Among the male students pursing technical/ professional education, 46% were pursuing engineering compared to 29% of the female students and 4% of the male students were pursuing medicine (including nursing) compared to 14% of the female students.<br />
<br />
<em>VIII. Type of institution attended</em><br />
<br />
&bull; In rural areas, majority of the students were attending government institutions predominantly up to higher secondary levels, whereas a completely different picture was observed in urban areas.<br />
<br />
&bull; In rural areas, 72% of the students at primary level, 76% at upper primary level and 64% at secondary &amp; higher secondary level attended Government institutions, while in urban areas, 31% at primary level, 38% at upper primary level as well as secondary &amp; higher secondary level, attended Government institutions.<br />
<br />
<em>IX. Incentives received</em><br />
<br />
&bull; Almost 94% students from rural areas and 87% students from urban areas at primary level studying in government institutions were receiving free education.<br />
<br />
&bull; At upper primary level, 89% students in rural areas and 80% students in urban areas, studying in government institutions were receiving free education.<br />
<br />
&bull; At secondary and higher secondary level, 58% students in rural areas and 52% students in urban areas, studying in government institutions, received free education.<br />
<br />
&bull; 63% of students at primary level and 62% of students at upper primary level received mid-day meal.<br />
<br />
<em>X. Private coaching</em><br />
<br />
&bull; At the all-India level, nearly 26% of the students were taking private coaching.<br />
<br />
<em>XI. Students staying in hostel</em><br />
<br />
&bull; Nearly 5% of the students in India were staying in hostel for study.<br />
<br />
<em>XII. Private expenditure on education </em><br />
<br />
&bull; Average expenditure (Rs.) per student incurred and/or to be incurred during the current academic session was nearly Rs. 6788 for general education, <span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Rs.</span> 62841 for technical/ professional (except vocational) and <span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Rs.</span> 27676 for vocational course.<br />
<br />
&bull; At primary level, expenditure per student in urban areas was <span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Rs.</span> 10083, more than four times than that in rural areas (<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Rs.</span> 2811).<br />
<br />
&bull; Average expenditure on technical education in private aided &amp; unaided institutions varied between nearly 1.5-2.5 times of that in government institutions.<br />
<br />
&bull; Nearly 46% of the expenditure for general education and 73% of the expenditure for technical education was on course fee.<br />
<br />
&bull; For students pursuing general courses, 15% was spent on private coaching as against 3% for students pursuing technical/ professional education (including vocational).<br />
<br />
<em>XIII. Never-enrolment and discontinuance of education</em><br />
<br />
&bull; In India, nearly 11% of the persons of age 5-29 years in rural areas and 6% in urban areas never enrolled in any educational institution.<br />
<br />
&bull; In India, proportion of persons in the age group 5-29 years dropping out/ discontinued studies were nearly 33% in rural areas and 38% in urban areas.<br />
<br />
&bull; For the males of age 5-29 years, engagement in economic activities was the most common reason for dropping out (30% in rural areas and 34% in urban areas), whereas for the females, the dominant reason was engagement in domestic activities (33% in rural areas and 23% in urban areas).<br />
<br />
&bull; In rural areas, the major reason for&nbsp; never enrolment for persons of age 5-29 years was &lsquo;not interested in education&rsquo; (33% male and 27% female) while in urban areas, nearly 33% males and 30% females in the age group 5-29 years never&nbsp; enrolled&nbsp; because of &lsquo;financial constraints&rsquo;.<br />
<br />
<em>XIV. Access to computer and internet</em><br />
<br />
&bull; Nearly 6% of rural households and 29% of urban household possessed computer.<br />
<br />
&bull; In India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27% had internet access in the survey year, 2014. The proportions were 16% among rural households and 49% of urban households.<br />
<br />
&bull; Among persons of age 14-29 years, nearly 18% in rural areas and 49% in urban areas were able to operate a computer.<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
The [inside]Annual Status of Education Report 2014 (released in January 2015)[/inside] is based on a survey carried out in 16,497 villages, covering 341,070 households and 569,229 children in 577 rural districts of India.<br />
<br />
The key findings of the ASER 2014 report are as follows (Please click <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%20National%20Findings.pdf" title="ASER National findings">link1</a>, <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%202014%20Press%20Release.pdf" title="ASER 2014 press release">link2</a> &amp; <a href="http://img.asercentre.org/docs/Publications/ASER%20Reports/ASER%202014/fullaser2014mainreport.pdf">link3</a> to access):<br />
<br />
<em>Enrollment levels and Out-of-school proportions </em><br />
<br />
&bull; 2014 is the sixth year in a row that enrollment levels are 96% or higher for the 6-14 age group. The proportion of children currently not in school remains at 3.3%.<br />
<br />
&bull; In some states the proportion of girls (age group 11-14) out of school remains greater than 8%. These states are Rajasthan (12.1%) and Uttar Pradesh (9.2%).<br />
<br />
&bull; Although enrollment levels are very high for the age group covered by the Right to Education Act (i.e. 6 to 14 years), the proportion of 15 to 16 year olds not enrolled in school is substantial. Nationally, for rural areas, 15.9% of boys and 17.3% of girls in this age group are currently out of school.<br />
<br />
<em>Enrollment in private schools</em><br />
<br />
&bull; In 2014, 30.8% of all 6-14 year old children in rural India are enrolled in private schools. This number is up slightly from 29% in 2013.<br />
<br />
&bull; As in previous years, in each age group, a higher proportion of boys go to private schools as compared to girls. In 2014, in the age group 7-10 years, 35.6% of boys are enrolled in private schools as compared to 27.7% of girls. For the age group of 11-14 years, 33.5% of boys are in private schools as compared to 25.9% of girls.<br />
<br />
&bull; Five states in India now have private school enrollment rates in the elementary stage that are greater than 50%. These are Manipur (73.3%), Kerala (62.2%), Haryana (54.2%), Uttar Pradesh (51.7%), and Meghalaya (51.7%).<br />
<br />
<em>Reading levels</em><br />
<br />
&bull; Overall, the situation with basic reading continues to be extremely disheartening in India. In 2014, in Std III, only a fourth of all children can read a Std II text fluently. This number rises to just under half in Std V. Even in Std VIII, close to 75% children can read Std II level text (which implies that 25% still cannot).<br />
<br />
&bull; Some very small improvements in reading are visible in the last few years. For example, the proportion of Std V children who can read at least a Std II level text has inched upwards from 46.8% in 2012 to 47% in 2013 and to 48.1% in 2014. 38.7% of Std III children could read at least a Std I level text in 2012. This number is slightly higher at 40.2% in 2014.<br />
<br />
&bull; In some states, reading levels have improved since last year. For example, in 2014 a higher proportion of children in Std V in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar, Odisha and Karnataka can read at least a Std II level text than was the case last year. Tamil Nadu shows major gains in reading over last year for Std V.<br />
<br />
&bull; In some states, like Bihar, Assam, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra there are visible declines in reading levels over the last 5-6 years.<br />
<br />
<em>Poor outcome in Mathematics</em><br />
<br />
&bull; The All India (rural) figures for basic arithmetic have remained virtually unchanged over the last few years. In 2012, 26.3% of Std III children could do a two digit subtraction. This number is at 25.3% in 2014. For Std V children, the ability to do division has increased slightly from 24.8% in 2012 to 26.1% in 2014.<br />
<br />
&bull; The percentage of children in Std II who still cannot recognize numbers up to 9 has increased over time, from 11.3% in 2009 to 19.5% in 2014.<br />
<br />
&bull; The ability to do division among Std VIII students has been dropping since 2010. The proportion of Std VIII students who could correctly do a three digit by one digit division problem was 68.3% in 2010. This number has dropped to 44.1% in 2014.<br />
<br />
&bull; Looking over a five to eight year period, it is clear that math levels have declined in almost every state. Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are the exceptions where the situation has been more or less the same for the past several years.<br />
<br />
<em>English reading ability</em><br />
<br />
&bull; Children&rsquo;s ability to read English is relatively unchanged in lower primary grades. In 2014, about 25% of children enrolled in Std V could read simple English sentences. This number is virtually unchanged since 2009.<br />
<br />
&bull; A decline is visible in upper primary grades. For example, in 2009, 60.2% of children in Std VIII could read simple sentences in English but in 2014, this figure is 46.8%.<br />
<br />
&bull; In 2014, of those who can read words (regardless of grade), roughly 60% could explain the meanings of the words read. Of those who can read sentences, 62.2% in Std V could explain the meaning of the sentences.<br />
<br />
<em>School observations</em><br />
<br />
ASER 2014 visited 15,206 government schools with primary sections. Of these 8,844 were primary schools and 6,362 were upper primary schools which also had primary sections.<br />
<br />
<em>Teacher and child attendance</em><br />
<br />
&bull; In 2014, ASER data indicates that 71.4% of enrolled children in primary schools and 71.1% of enrolled children in upper primary schools were present on the day of the visit. In 2013, these figures were 70.7% in primary schools and 71.8% in upper primary schools.<br />
<br />
&bull; States like Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have children&#39;s attendance levels that range from 80 to 90%. But in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh, attendance rates are much lower and range from 50 to 60%.<br />
<br />
&bull; Children&rsquo;s attendance both in primary and upper primary schools was higher in 2009 as compared to 2014. In 2009, attendance was at 74.3% in primary schools and 77% in upper primary schools.<br />
<br />
&bull; Since 2009, there has been a small decrease in the attendance rates of teachers. For primary schools, in 2014, 85% of appointed teachers were present in school on the day of the visit as compared to 89.1% in 2009. The 2014 figure for teacher attendance in upper primary schools is 85.8% as against 88.6% in 2009.<br />
<br />
<em>&ldquo;Small schools&rdquo; in the government primary school sector</em><br />
<br />
&bull; Of the government primary schools visited in 2014, over one third are &ldquo;small schools&rdquo; with a total enrollment of 60 children or less. In 2009, the percentage of government primary schools visited that were &ldquo;small&rdquo; was 26.1%.<br />
<br />
<em>Improvement in school facilities</em><br />
<br />
&bull; The percentage of schools complying with RTE mandated pupil-teacher ratios has increased from 45.3% last year to 49.3% in 2014. In 2010, this figure was 38.9%.<br />
<br />
&bull; With respect to drinking water provision and availability, drinking water was available in 75.6% of the schools that were visited. In 2010, this figure was 72.7%. In four states (Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh), drinking water was available in more than 85% of schools.<br />
<br />
&bull; ASER records whether toilets are available and useable on the day of the visit. Since 2010, there has been significant progress in the availability of useable toilets. Nationally in 2014, 65.2% of schools visited had toilet facilities that were useable. In 2013, this figure was 62.6% and in 2010, it was 47.2%). The proportion of schools visited where girls&rsquo; toilets were available and useable has gone up from 32.9% in 2010 to 53.3% in 2013 to 55.7% in 2014. In four states, more than 75% of schools visited had useable girls&rsquo; toilets. These states are Gujarat, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.<br />
<br />
&bull; There is a small increase in the availability of computers in the schools visited. The 2014 figure stands at 19.6%, as compared to 15.8% in 2010. Several states stand out in this regard. In Gujarat, 81.3% of schools visited had computers; this number was 89.8% in Kerala, 46.3% in Maharashtra and 62.4% in Tamil Nadu.<br />
<br />
&bull; The proportion of schools with library books has increased substantially, from 62.6% in 2010 to 78.1% in 2014. In about 40.7% of schools that were visited, children were seen using library books as compared to 37.9% in 2010.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
According to the [inside]11th UNESCO Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2013-14[/inside] entitled Teaching and learning: Achieving quality for all (please click <a href="http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002256/225660e.pdf">link 1</a>, <a href="tinymce/uploaded/SouthWestAsia_Factsheet_v2.pdf" title="EFA Factsheet">link 2</a> and <a href="tinymce/uploaded/PressRelease_SWA_non_embargoed.pdf" title="EFA Press Release">link 3</a> to download):<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Ethiopia and India have contributed significantly to the overall reduction in out-of-school numbers since 2006. In 2011, India had out-of-school population of 16.74 lakhs whereas in 2006 its out-of-school population was 61.84 lakhs. India is among the top 10 countries with the highest out-of-school populations.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In India, despite increased resources for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, allocations are still not sufficiently reaching the states that are in need. In 2012/13, total expenditure per elementary pupil from both central and state funds was still much lower in states where education indicators were worse than in the states with some of the best education indicators. In one of India&rsquo;s wealthier states, Kerala, education spending per pupil was about US$685. Similarly, in Himachal Pradesh it was US$542. By contrast, in West Bengal it was US$127 and in Bihar US$100.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Increased financial allocations are still insufficient to translate into improved learning outcomes, suggesting that far more needs to be done. In Bihar, for example, where spending rose by 61% between 2010/11 and 2012/13 but remained low, only 48% of Standard 3 to 5 students could read a Standard 1 text in 2012 (Accountability Initiative, 2013).<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;India has by far the largest population of illiterate adults, 287 million, amounting to 37% of the global total. Its literacy rate rose from 48% in 1991 to 63% in 2006, the latest year it has available data, but population growth cancelled the gains so there was no change in the number of illiterate adults.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In India, the majority of tax revenue forgone is due to exemptions from custom and excise duties. The revenue lost to exemptions came to the equivalent of 5.7% of GDP in 2012/13. If 20% of this had been earmarked for education, the sector would have received an additional US$22.5 billion in 2013, increasing funding by almost 40% compared with the current education budget.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;India decreased its spending on education from 4.4% of GNP in 1999 to 3.3% in 2010, jeopardizing the huge progress it has made in getting more children into school, and its prospects for improving its poor quality of education. India, which faces huge challenges in improving the quality of its education, spent 10% of its government budget on education in 2011, a reduction from 13% in 1999.<br />
<br />
<strong>Education and its advantages</strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Women in India with at least secondary education were 30 percentage points more likely to have a say over their choice of spouse than their less educated peers. In India, reducing the gender literacy gap by 40% increased the probability of women standing for state assembly election by 16% and the share of votes that they received by 13%. Education helps overcome gender biases in political behaviour to deepen democracy.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In 2012, 1.41 million children under 5 died in India. If all women had completed primary education, the under-5 mortality rate would have been 13% lower in India. If all women had completed secondary education, it would have been 61% lower in India.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In northern India, analysis based on the Annual Health Survey and the census in 2011 showed that female literacy was strongly linked to child mortality, even after taking into account access to reproductive and child health services. An increase in the female literacy rate from 58%, the current average in the districts surveyed, to 100% would lead to a reduction in the under-5 mortality rate from 81 to 55 deaths per 1,000 live births (Kumar et al., 2012).<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In India, literate people with schooling up to lower secondary level were more than twice as likely as illiterate people to know that mosquitoes are the transmitters of malaria. They were also about 45% more likely to know that malaria can be prevented by draining stagnant water (Sharma et al., 2007).<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In rural India, mothers&rsquo; education has been shown to improve their mobility and their ability to make decisions on seeking care when a child is sick &ndash; and infant children of women with such increased autonomy are taller for their age (Shroff et al., 2011).<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Education contributes to other forms of political participation. In rural areas of the states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in India, education was positively associated with campaigning, discussing electoral issues, attending rallies and establishing contacts with local government officials (Krishna, 2006). In the state of West Bengal in India, a survey of 85 villages showed that the higher the level of household education, the more likely people were to attend the biannual gram sabha, or village forum, and, especially, to ask questions at the meetings (Bardhan et al., 2009).<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In parts of India, animosity among ethnic and linguistic groups can spark violence, so there is an urgent need to increase tolerance through education. Those with secondary education were 19% less likely to express intolerance towards people speaking a different language than those with less than primary education.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;The education level of a woman&rsquo;s spouse can have a key role in her fertility choices. In India, the likelihood that the fertility preferences of a woman with primary education were taken into account rose from 65% for those whose husbands had no education to at least 85% for those whose husbands had at least secondary education. Education helps prevent the abhorrent practice of infanticide in India, where strong preferences over the sex of the child have been linked to millions of killings of children. While 84% of women with no education would prefer to have a boy if they could only have one child, only 50% of women with at least secondary education would have such a preference.<br />
<br />
<strong>Learning crisis </strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In India, the richest young women have already achieved universal literacy but based on current trends, the poorest are projected to only do so around 2080. In rural India, there are wide disparities between richer and poorer states, but even within richer states, the poorest girls perform at much lower levels.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In the wealthier states of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, most rural children reached grade 5 in 2012. However, only 44% of these children in the grade 5 age group in Maharashtra and 53% in Tamil Nadu could perform a two-digit subtraction. Among rich, rural children in these states, girls performed better than boys, with around two out of three girls able to do the calculations. Yet despite Maharashtra&rsquo;s relative wealth, poor, rural girls there performed only slightly better than their counterparts in the poorer state of Madhya Pradesh.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Widespread poverty in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh affects the chance of staying in school until grade 5. In Uttar Pradesh, 70% of poor children make it to grade 5 while almost all children from rich households are able to do so. Similarly, in Madhya Pradesh, 85% of poor children reach grade 5, compared with 96% of rich children.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Once in school, poor girls have a lower chance of learning the basics. No more than one in five poor girls in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are able to do basic mathematics. The huge disparities within India point to a failure to target support adequately towards those who need it most.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Children who learn less are more likely to leave school early. In India, children who achieved lower scores in mathematics at age 12 were more than twice as likely to drop out by age 15 than those who performed better.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Where gender-responsive curricula have been developed, as in projects in Mumbai, test scores measuring attitudes on several gender-related issues improved.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Digital Study Hall is a small, innovative project that uses ICT to improve the accessibility and quality of education for disadvantaged children in India. An evaluation of four schools in Uttar Pradesh state in India found that, after eight months, 72% of pupils had improved test scores; of these, 44% had an increase greater than 150% and almost a third improved by more than 200%.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;A study in India evaluated computer-assisted mathematics programmes, implemented both as a stand-alone substitute for regular teaching in an in-school programme and as an after-school programme to reinforce teachers&rsquo; curriculum delivery. The results showed that the in-school programme, far from leading to improved scores, actually caused pupils to learn significantly less than they otherwise would have done. By contrast, using the after-school programme to supplement regular teaching brought increased learning gains, particularly for low achievers.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In rural India, an after-school programme for children from low income families used mobile phone games to help them learn English. This resulted in significant learning gains in tests of the spelling of common English nouns, particularly for children in higher grades who had stronger foundation skills.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, primary students learn at their own pace, using self-evaluation cards that can be administered alone or with the help of another child; teachers strategically pair more advanced learners with less advanced ones for certain exercises. Overall, children&rsquo;s self-confidence has grown as a result of the approach, and learning achievement in the state is high.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Small class sizes also enable teachers at private schools to interact more with their students. In Andhra Pradesh, India, 82% of teachers regularly corrected exercises given to children, compared with only 40% in government schools.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In India, schools with trained female community volunteers helped increase the proportion of children able to do two-digit addition. While only 5% of pupils were able to carry out simple subtraction at the start of the study, 52% could by the end of the year, compared with 39% in other classes.<br />
<br />
<strong>Teaching crisis</strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In India, teacher unions have a major influence on state legislatures and governments. In Uttar Pradesh, this led to higher pay and security of tenure for civil service teachers, but also to neglect of teacher absenteeism and to low quality of teaching.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In the Indian state of Bihar, government school teachers received training to use new learning materials adapted to the local context. Combine with other initiatives, including using village volunteers to provide children with support outside school hours, the programme increased achievement.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In Rajasthan state, India, the School and Teacher Education Reform Programme, established in 2010, aims to move schooling away from rote learning and towards teaching based on understanding and grounded in the local context of the child. In an innovative move to build legitimacy and ownership among teacher educators, a group made up of faculty from state, private and NGO teacher training colleges and universities was established to help develop teacher education and school curricula and materials.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In India, several states no longer recruit civil service teachers, and contract teachers now account for 16% of government primary school teachers. In 2007, contract teachers received 14% of the salary paid to regular teachers in West Bengal, 23% in Andhra Pradesh and 25% in Rajasthan.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In India, most studies find that employing contract teachers does not lead to learning outcomes that are lower than those achieved by civil service teachers, showing that contract teachers can be at least as effective as civil service teachers. However, achievement remains undesirably low in India regardless of the type of teacher a student is taught by.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Across India, absenteeism varied from 15% in Maharashtra and 17% in Gujarat &ndash; two richer states &ndash; to 38% in Bihar and 42% in Jharkhand, two of the poorest states. There is much evidence of the harm done to students&rsquo; learning because of teacher absenteeism. In India, for example, a 10% increase in teacher absence was associated with 1.8% lower student attendance.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In India, only one head teacher in 3,000 government schools reported dismissing a teacher for repeated absence. By contrast, 35 private school head teachers, out of 600 surveyed, reported having dismissed teachers for this reason.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In India, illness accounted for just 10% of absences. In India, official non-teaching duties accounted for only 4%. In India, teacher absenteeism was lower when teachers were born in the district where they worked, where the school had better infrastructure and where students&rsquo; parents were literate.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Combining monitoring with incentives could be more beneficial than penalties for tackling absenteeism. In 2003&ndash;2006, in 120 NGO non-formal education centres in rural Rajasthan, photographs were taken of teachers and students every day at the beginning and end of class to monitor attendance and the length of the school day. Teachers&rsquo; pay depended on the number of days they taught at least eight students for at least six hours. Over the period of the programme, teacher absenteeism fell from 44% to 21%, showing that linking pay with attendance can be effective. However, it is less clear whether camera-based monitoring of attendance could be scaled up and extended beyond NGO education programmes.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Greater involvement of parents and the community in school management had limited impact on teacher attendance in India and no impact on student achievement.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In rural India, government school teachers have been found to spend 75% of their time at school teaching, compared with 90% for private school teachers (Kingdon and Banerji, 2009).<br />
<br />
<strong>Global scenario</strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Based on current trends, the Report projects that it will take until 2072 for all the poorest young women in developing countries to be literate.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;The Report calculates that the cost of 250 million children around the world not learning the basics translates into a loss of an estimated $129 billion. In total, 37 countries are losing at least half the amount they spend on primary education because children are not learning. By contrast, the Report shows that ensuring an equal, quality education for all can generate huge economic rewards, increasing a country&rsquo;s gross domestic product per capita by 23 per cent over 40 years.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Ten per cent of global spending on primary education is being lost on poor quality education that is failing to ensure that children learn.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;The report warns that without attracting and adequately training enough teachers the learning crisis will last for several generations and hit the disadvantaged hardest.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In order to improve the quality of education, between 2011 and 2015, South and West Asia needs to recruit an additional 1 million additional teachers per year to reach a ratio of 32 pupils per teacher in lower secondary education. However, teachers also need training. In a third of countries analysed by the Report, less than three-quarters of existing primary school teachers are trained to national standards.<br />
<br />
<strong>Recommendations</strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;The Report makes the following recommendations: 1. New education goals after 2015 must include an explicit commitment to equity so that every child has an equal chance of an education; 2. New goals after 2015 must ensure that every child is in school and learning the basics; 3. Ensure the best teachers reach the learners who need them most.<br />
<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>
</div>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER-rural) is an annual household survey to assess children&rsquo;s schooling status and basic learning levels in reading and arithmetic. The 9th ASER 2013 report, facilitated by PRATHAM, covers 550 districts, 15941 villages, 14724 schools, 3.27 lakh households and 5.7 lakh children in the age group 3-16 years.<br />
<br />
According to the [inside]ASER 2013 report[/inside] (click <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%202013%20Findings.pdf" title="ASER 2013 Findings">link 1</a>, <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%20Press%20Release.pdf" title="ASER Press Release">link 2</a> to download):<br />
<br />
<strong>Schooling: Enrollment Attendance &amp; School Facilities</strong><br />
<br />
<em>Overall Enrollment</em><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The percentage of children (age group 6-14) enrolled in school is very high at 96.7% in 2013. The enrollment figures have been 96% or more since 2009. There is hardly any gender difference between the proportions of children who are still out of school.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; At the all India level, the proportion of girls in the age group 11 to 14 who are not enrolled in school dropped from 6% in 2012 to 5.5% in 2013. The greatest progress is visible in Uttar Pradesh, where this percentage dropped from 11.5% in 2012 to 9.4% in 2013. However, in Rajasthan the proportion of out of school girls age 11 to 14 rose for the second year in a row, from 8.9% in 2011 to 11.2% in 2012 to 12.1% in 2013.<br />
<br />
<em>Private School Enrollment</em><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The percentage of children (age group 6-14) enrolled in private schools is 29% in 2013. Private school enrolment figures were 28.3% in 2012. This number has risen from 18.7% in 2006. Boys are more likely to attend private school than girls.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There are wide variations in private school enrollment across rural India. In Manipur and Kerala more than two thirds of all children in the 6 to 14 age group are enrolled in private schools. Less than 10% are in private school in Tripura (6.7%), West Bengal (7%), and Bihar (8.4%), although these numbers have grown substantially since 2006.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; As with private schooling, the incidence of private tuition varies across states. In Tripura and West Bengal, more than 60% of children in Std. I-V take paid private tuition. This proportion is high in Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand also. But in Chhattisgarh and Mizoram, less than 5% of children in Std. I-V take paid private tuition.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The proportion of children in Std. I-V who receive some form of private input into their schooling (private school, private tuition or both) has increased from 38.5% in 2010 to 42% in 2011, 44.2% in 2012 and to 45.1% in 2013.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; For the first time, ASER 2013 measured the amount families pay for a child&rsquo;s private tutoring. Nationally, 68.4% of Std. I-V government school students who go to private tutors pay Rs. 100 or less per month. Among private school students of Std. I-V, 36.7% pay Rs. 100 or less per month and the same proportion pay between Rs. 101 and Rs. 200 per month for private tuition.<br />
<br />
<em>Out of School Girls </em><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; States like Rajasthan (12.1%) and Uttar Pradesh (9.4%), apart from Bihar (4.6%), West Bengal (4.0%), Jharkhand (5.2%), Odisha (5.3%), Chhattisgarh (3.8%) and Gujarat (6.6%), have a high proportion of girls out of school during 2013.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
<em>School Attendance</em><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Overall, children&rsquo;s attendance in school on the day of the visit has gone up from 74.3% in 2009 to 70.7% in 2013 in primary schools but declined from 77% in 2009 to 71.8% in 2013 in upper primary schools. Children&rsquo;s attendance in school varies across the states with Tamil Nadu as the best performer.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Teacher attendance in both primary and upper primary schools shows no change over the 2012 level of 85%. But student attendance shows a slight decline, especially in upper primary schools from 73.1% in 2012 to 71.8% in 2013.<br />
<br />
<em>School Facilities (Compliance with RTE)</em><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Of all schools visited in 2013, percentage of schools which have drinking water available and useable is 73.8%, toilets available and useable is 62.6%, girls&#39; toilet available and useable is 53.3%, library available and books being used is 40.7%, kitchen shed in school available is 87.0%, and mid day meal served on day of visit is 87.2%.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The proportion of schools that comply with RTE pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) norms has increased every year, from 38.9% in 2010 to 45.3% in 2013.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The proportions of schools with an office/store, a playground, and a boundary wall have increased slightly over 2012 levels.<br />
<br />
<strong>Learning Outcomes-Policies, plans and practice-Evidence to action</strong><br />
<br />
<em>Reading Ability</em><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; At the All India level, for Std. III, the proportion of children able to read at least a Std. I level paragraph has risen slightly from 38.8% in 2012 to 40.2% in 2013. This increase is mainly coming from improvements among private school children. Among Std. III students in government schools the proportion of children able to read Std. I level text remains unchanged from 2012 at around 32%.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; States which show steady improvement in reading ability among Std. III students since 2009 are Jammu &amp; Kashmir and Punjab.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Nationally, the proportion of all children in Std. V who can read a Std. II level text remains virtually the same since 2012, at 47%. This proportion decreased each year from 2009 to 2012, dropping from 52.8% in 2009 to 46.9% in 2012. Among Std. V children enrolled in government schools, the percentage of children able to read Std. II level text decreased from 50.3% (2009) to 43.8% (2011) to 41.1% (2013).<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In 2013, states in which more than 60% children in Std. V in government schools could read a Std. II level text were Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Mizoram and Kerala. Over time, reading levels among government school students in Std. V students have shown improvement in Jammu &amp; Kashmir and Gujarat.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The reading levels of government school children had declined especially in the period 2010 to 2012. Private school children&rsquo;s reading levels increased since last year.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ASER estimates that the number of children not able to read fluently is substantial in Std. III to V. Indications are that there may be a significant proportion of such children in Std. VI to VIII as well.<br />
<br />
<em>Arithmetic Ability</em><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The percentage of Std. III students who can at least do subtraction problems has declined from 36.3% in 2010 to 26.1% in 2013.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The percentage of Std. V students who can at least do subtraction problems has declined from 70.8% in 2010 to 52.3% in 2013.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Nationally, the proportion of all children in Std. V who could solve a three-digit by one-digit division problem increased slightly, from 24.9% in 2012 to 25.6% in 2013. Typically, this kind of division problem is part of the Std. III or Std. IV curriculum in most states.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Among Std. V children in government schools, 20.8% children could do this level of division in 2013. The figure for private schools is 38.9%. In arithmetic, a large fraction of children are lagging several years behind where they are expected to be.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In 2013, over 40% of government school children in Std. V in three states, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Mizoram could do three-digit by one-digit division problems.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In 2010, 33.2% children of Std. III in government schools could at least do subtraction, as compared to 47.8% in private schools. The gap between children in government and private schools has widened over time. In 2013, 18.9% of Std. III students in government schools were able to do basic subtraction or more, as compared to 44.6% of Std. III children in private schools.<br />
<br />
**page** </span></p>

<div>
<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">According to the [inside]NSS report no. 551 (66/10/6) titled Status of Education and Vocational Training in India (66th Round)[/inside], July 2009-June 2010, published in March 2013, MoSPI, <a href="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/nss_report_551.pdf">http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/nss_report_551.pdf</a>: </span></p>
</div>

<p style="text-align:justify">In the present survey, NSSO collected data on educational particulars like educational level attained - both general and technical, current attendance in educational institution, type of institution, vocational training received/ being received, etc. from the household members.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong><em>Literacy Rate in the Population</em></strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In India, the overall literacy rate was 67 percent during 2009-10, and it was 62 percent in the rural areas and 79 percent in the urban areas.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; During 2009-10, in India, in as many as 20 percent of households in the rural areas and 6 percent in the urban areas, there was not a single member in the age-group 15 years and above who could read and write a simple message with understanding. This means that all the adult members in those households were illiterate. Further, as high as 40 per cent of the rural households and 15 per cent of the urban households had no literate female member.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In the rural areas, 63 per cent of the households had at least one literate member of age 15 years and above in 1993-94; the proportion increased to 68 percent in 1999-2000, to 74 per cent in 2004-05 and 80 per cent in 2009-10. The corresponding proportions were about 86 percent, 88 percent, 92 percent and 94 percent, respectively, in the urban areas.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; About 71 percent of rural males and 53 percent of rural females were literate. The literacy rates among their urban counterparts were much higher at 84 percent and 74 percent, respectively.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The literacy rate increased steadily over the years for all the categories of persons. Over a period of around 27 years since 1983, the literacy rate increased by 26 percentage points from 45 per cent for rural males, 31 percentage points from 22 per cent for rural females, 15 percentage points from 69 per cent for urban males, and by 22 percentage points from 52 per cent for urban females.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong><em>Literacy rate for persons of age 7 years and above</em></strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; About 73 per cent among persons of age 7 years above were literate in India during 2009-10.The proportion was 69 percent in the rural areas and 85 percent in the urban areas. As usual, the rate is found to be higher among the males (82 percent) than that among the females (64 percent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong><em>Educational Level of the literates</em></strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; About 44 per cent of the literates of age 15 years and above were educated, i.e., with level of education secondary and above (including diploma/ certificate course), and about 11 per cent of the persons of age 15 years and above were graduates and above.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Among all the categories of persons, that is, rural male, rural female, urban male and urban female, the proportion of the educated was the highest among urban males (63 per cent), followed by the urban females (58 per cent) and rural males (38 percent), and it was the lowest among rural females (30 percent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The proportion of persons with level of education graduate and above was also the highest among urban male (22 percent) and the lowest among rural female (only 4 percent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong><em>Educational level and household type</em></strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In the rural areas, the proportion of not-literates was the highest among persons belonging to the household type rural labour (46 per cent) and was the lowest among the household type others (26 percent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In the urban areas, the proportion of not-literates was the highest among the persons belonging to the household type casual labour (35 percent) and the lowest among the household type regular wage/salaried employees (11 percent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The proportion of the educated persons was found to be the highest for the household type others in both rural (42 percent) and urban (65 percent) areas.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong><em>Technical Education</em></strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In India, among the persons of age 15 years and above, only 2 per cent had technical degrees or diplomas or certificates. The proportion was only 1 per cent in the rural areas and 5 per cent in the urban areas. Moreover, the rate among females was lower than that among males-the rates being nearly 1 per cent in the rural and about 3 percent in the urban areas for females, and nearly 1 per cent in the rural and about 7 percent in the urban areas for males.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The distribution of persons by level of attainment of technical education also reveals that among those who had technical education, about 17 percent had degree in technical education of graduate level or above and the remaining had some certificate or diploma in technical education - about 55 per cent below graduate level and 28 percent at graduate and above level.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The proportion of persons with technical degrees of graduate level or above was much higher in the urban areas (21 per cent) than in the rural areas (8 per cent). The proportion is also much higher among males than among females. Among females, this proportion was 4 per cent (as against 9 percent for males) in the rural areas and was 16 per cent (as against 23 per cent for males) in the urban areas.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong><em>Current Attendance in educational institution</em></strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; It is found that about 54 percent of the people in the age-group 5-29 years were currently attending educational institution. The said proportion was higher for males at 58 percent than for females (50 percent). The current attendance rate is found to be the highest among urban males (59 percent) and the lowest among the rural females (49 percent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Among persons who were currently not attending, about 25 per cent never attended any educational institution. It may be noted that this proportion is found to be the lowest among the urban males (13 per cent) and the highest among rural females (34 per cent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong><em>Age-Specific Current Attendance Rate</em></strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Current attendance rate is much higher for the age-group 5-14 years compared to the age-groups 15-19, 20-24 and 25-29 years. This is due to reason that discontinued or drop-out cases increase as the age of person increases. While the overall current attendance rate was 54 percent for the age-group 5-29 years, it was 87 per cent for the age-group 5-14 years, 58 percent for the age-group 15-19 years, 18 per cent for the age-group 20-24 years and 3 percent for the age- group 25-29 years.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong><em>Current Attendance by Type of Institution</em></strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Government institutions accounted for 62 per cent of the students (i.e., those who were attending), followed by private unaided institutions (20 per cent), private aided institutions (13 per cent) and local body institutions (only 5 per cent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In rural areas, 70 per cent of the students were attending some Government institutions compared to 40 per cent in the urban areas.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In the rural areas it is observed that, while among the male students, 73 per cent attended government or local body institutions, among the female students about 77 per cent attended government or local body institutions. The corresponding proportions in the urban areas were 43 per cent and 46 percent, respectively.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In the rural areas, among the major states, the proportion of students attending government institutions was the highest in Chhattisgarh (97 percent) and lowest in Maharashtra (32 percent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The share of Government institutions in the total number of students, in the urban areas, is found to be the highest in Assam (76 per cent) and lowest in Maharashtra (23 per cent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong><em>Type of institution and level of education</em></strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In rural areas, among males, 72 per cent were attending primary level of education in government institutions followed by 16 per cent of males who were attending primary level of education in private unaided institutions and 67 per cent of males were attending secondary level of education in government institutions followed by 15 per cent of males who were attending secondary level of education in private aided institutions.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In case of rural females, we see that 76 percent of the students were attending primary level of education in government institutions followed by 14 percent of the students who were attending primary level of education in private unaided institutions while for secondary level of education, 71 per cent of students were attending government institutions followed by 13 per cent of students who were attending private aided institutions.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In urban areas, 37 per cent of males were attending primary level of education in government institutions against 38 per cent attending private unaided institutions and 41 per cent of males were attending secondary level of education in government institutions against 27 per cent of student attending secondary level of education in private unaided institutions.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; For urban females the picture is almost the same. 39 per cent of females were attending primary level of education in government institutions against 36 per cent attending private unaided institutions and 46 per cent of females were attending secondary level of education in government institutions and 26 percent of students were attending secondary level of education in private unaided institutions.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong><em>Gross and Net attendance ratio*</em></strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In primary, middle, secondary and higher secondary level the Gross attendance ratios were 99 percent, 89 percent, 91 percent and 61 percent respectively. The picture is almost the same in rural and urban areas.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In India the Net attendance ratio was 78 percent, 56 percent, 47 percent and 33 percent for primary, middle, secondary and higher secondary level of attendance, respectively.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Among the major states, in rural areas, for primary level of education, Uttarakhand showed the maximum Net attendance ratio (93 per cent) followed by Jammu &amp; Kashmir (90 per cent) while Bihar and Jharkhand showed the minimum Net attendance ratio (63 per cent each). For secondary level of education, in rural areas, Kerala showed the highest Net attendance ratio (77 per cent) followed by Karnataka (69 per cent) while Rajasthan showed the minimum Net attendance ratio (31 per cent) followed by Bihar and Madhya Pradesh (33 per cent each).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Among the major states, in urban areas, for primary level of education, Uttarakhand showed the maximum Net attendance ratio (87 per cent) followed by Haryana and Himachal Pradesh (86 per cent each) while Bihar showed the minimum Net attendance ratio (68 per cent). For secondary level of education, in urban areas, Kerala showed the highest Net attendance ratio (81 per cent) followed by Karnataka (78 per cent) and Rajasthan showed the minimum Net attendance ratio (32 per cent) followed by Uttarakhand (35 per cent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>* The Gross attendance ratio for a particular level of education has been defined as the ratio of number of persons with current attendance in that particular level and estimated persons in a specified age-group.</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>* The Net attendance ratio for a particular level of education has been defined as the ratio of number of persons belonging to a particular age-group with current attendance in that particular level and estimated persons in that specified age-group.</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong><em>Reason for Not Currently Attending any educational institution</em></strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Ever attended persons: In the rural areas, about 62 per cent of males who were currently not attending any educational institution reported the reason &lsquo;to supplement household income&#39; and in the urban areas it was 66 percent of males. The reason &lsquo;to attend domestic chores&#39; was reported by 46 per cent of females in the rural areas and 47 per cent of females in the urban areas. About 13 per cent in the rural areas and 9 per cent in the urban areas considered &lsquo;education not necessary&#39; and therefore, they were not currently attending any educational institution. It may be noted that about 23 per cent of persons, in rural areas and 26 per cent of persons in urban areas, reported &lsquo;others&#39; as the cause for not attending any educational institution, that is for these persons, some reasons other than the specified ones in the survey, had been the cause for not attending.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Never attended persons: Among the specified reasons, the highest proportion of persons reported &lsquo;education not considered necessary&#39; as the reason for not attending an educational institution - the proportion being 23 percent in both rural and urban areas. Moreover, about 8 percent in the rural areas and 5 percent in the urban areas reported that they never attended any educational institution as the schools were too far. It has also been observed that about 38 to 40 per cent of persons reported &lsquo;others&#39; had been the cause for never attending any educational institution.</p>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>**page**</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
Key findings of the [inside]Annual Status of Education Report 2012[/inside] prepared by PRATHAM, <a href="http://img.asercentre.org/docs/Publications/ASER%20Reports/ASER_2012/nationalfinding.pdf">http://img.asercentre.org/docs/Publications/ASER%20Reports/ASER_2012/nationalfinding.pdf </a>are as follows:<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Enrollment in the 6-14 age group continues to be very high. But the proportion of out of school children has increased, especially among girls in the age group of 11 to 14</em></strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Overall, enrollment numbers remain very high. Over 96% of all children in the age group 6 to 14 years are enrolled in school. This is the fourth consecutive year that enrollment levels have been 96% or more.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Nationally, the proportion of children (age 6 to 14) who are not enrolled in school has gone up slightly, from 3.3% in 2011 to 3.5% in 2012. A slight increase is seen for all age groups and for both boys and girls.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Girls in the age group of 11 to 14 years are often the hardest to bring to school and keep in school. In 2006, in eight major states, more than 11% girls in this age group were not enrolled in school. By 2011, this figure had dropped to less than 6.5% in 3 of these states (Jharkhand, Gujarat and Odisha) and less than 5% in 3 others (Bihar, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal). The situation in these states remained more or less unchanged in 2012. However in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, the proportion of out of school girls (age 11-14) has increased from 8.9% and 9.7% respectively in 2011 to more than 11% in 2012<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Private school enrollment continues to rise in almost all states</em></strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; At the All India level private school enrollment has been rising steadily since 2006. The percentage of 6 to 14 year olds enrolled in private schools rose from 18.7% in 2006 to 25.6% in 2011. This year this number has further increased to 28.3%. The increase is almost equal in primary (Std. I-V) and upper primary (Std. VI-VIII) classes. In 2012, among all private school children (age 6-14), 57.9% were boys.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In 2012, more than 40% of children (age 6-14 years) in Jammu &amp; Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Meghalaya are enrolled in private schools. This percentage is 60% or more in Kerala and Manipur.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Increase in private school enrollment is seen in almost all states, with the exception of Kerala, Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya (where private school enrollment was over 40% even last year) and Tripura.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Since 2009, private school enrollment in rural areas has been rising at an annual rate of about 10%. If this trend continues, by 2018 India will have 50% children in rural areas enrolled in private school<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Reading levels continue to be a cause for serious concern. More than half of all children in Std. V are at least three grade levels behind where they should be</em></strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In 2010 nationally, 46.3% of all children in Std. V could not read a Std. II level text. This proportion increased to 51.8% in 2011 and further to 53.2% in 2012. For Std. V children enrolled in government schools, the percentage of children unable to read Std. II level text has increased from 49.3% (2010) to 56.2% (2011) to 58.3% (2012).<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; For all children in Std. V, the major decline in reading levels (of 5 percentage points or more) between 2011 and 2012 is seen in Haryana, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Kerala. Even private schools in Maharashtra and Kerala, with a large proportion of aided schools, show a decline in reading ability for Std. V.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The percentage of all children enrolled in Std. III who cannot read a Std. I level text has increased steadily from 53.4% (2009) to 54.4% (2010) to 59.7% (2011) to 61.3% in 2012. For children enrolled in government schools, this figure has increased from 57.6% in 2010 to 64.8% in 2011 to 67.7% in 2012.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>2012 was the year of mathematics. But it has been a bad year for basic arithmetic for children in India</em></strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In 2010, of all children enrolled in Std. V, 29.1% could not solve simple two-digit subtraction problems with borrowing. This proportion increased to 39% in 2011 and further to 46.5% in 2012. Barring Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala, every major state shows signs of a substantial drop in arithmetic learning levels.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Comparing the cohort of children who were in government schools in Std. V in 2011 with the cohort in Std. V in 2012, there is evidence of a more than 10 percentage point drop in the ability to do basic subtraction in almost all states. Exceptions are Bihar, Assam and Tamil Nadu where the drop is less; and Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala where there has been either improvement or no change from 2011.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The proportion of all children enrolled in Std. V who could not do division problems has increased from 63.8% in 2010 to 72.4% in 2011 to 75.2% in 2012. In rural India as a whole, two years ago about two thirds of all children in Std. V could not do simple division. In 2012 this number is close to three fourths.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra are all states where the cohort in Std. V in 2012 seems to be substantially weaker than the cohort in Std. V in 2011. In the southern states, the situation is unchanged from 2011 except in Kerala where there is a significant improvement<br />
<br />
<strong><em>ASER 2012 assessed basic English</em></strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In ASER 2012, children were given a set of simple English reading and comprehension tasks. Across rural India, 48.9% children enrolled in Std. V could read English words or more, and 22.5% could read simple English sentences. Among all children enrolled in Std. VIII, 47% could read sentences. Of those who could read words or sentences, well above 60% could convey the meaning in their own language<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Private inputs into children&rsquo;s education, such as private schooling and private tutoring, are widespread</em></strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And their influence on children&rsquo;s learning outcomes is substantial.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Whether enrolled in government schools or private schools, across rural India in the elementary grades (Std. I-VIII) about a quarter of all children also go to paid private tutors.<br />
<br />
Another way to think about private inputs into education is to categorize children into four groups:<br />
<br />
1. Children in government schools who do not go to private tutors;<br />
<br />
2. Children in government schools who go to private tutors;<br />
<br />
3. Children in private schools who do not go to private tutors; and<br />
<br />
4. Children in private schools who go to private tutor<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In 2012, the above four groups comprised 54.5%, 18.8%, 20.7% and 6% of all students in Std. V. Children in categories 2, 3 and 4 &ndash; amounting to about 45% of all children in Std. V in rural India - receive some form of private input into their education, either in the form of schooling or tuition.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The influence of additional inputs in the form of tuition on children&rsquo;s ability to read or to do arithmetic is clear.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>The proportion of small schools is rising in India</em></strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A total of 14,591 schools were visited during ASER 2012. Of these about 60% were government primary schools with classes up to Std. IV or V and the rest were upper primary schools which had primary sections.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The proportion of government primary schools with enrollment of 60 or fewer students has increased over time. In the last 3 years, this figure has increased from 26.1% in 2009 to 32.1% in 2012.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The proportion of children in primary grades who sit in multigrade classrooms is also rising. For Std. II, this number has gone up from 55.8% in 2009 to 62.6% in 2012. For Std. IV, it has risen from 51% in 2010 to 56.6% in 2012<br />
<br />
<strong><em>School facilities show improvement over time</em></strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Based on RTE norms, the pupil teacher ratio shows improvement. In 2010, the proportion of schools meeting these norms was 38.9%. This number has risen to 42.8% in 2012.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 73% of all schools visited had drinking water available. However, just under 17% did not have drinking water facility at all. A water facility was available, though not usable in the remaining schools.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The proportion of schools without toilets has reduced from 12.2% in 2011 to 8.4% in 2012 and the proportion of schools with useable toilets has increased from 47.2% in 2010 to 56.5% in 2012. Approximately 80% of schools visited had separate provision for girls&rsquo; toilets. Of schools which had this separate provision, close to half had useable girls&rsquo; toilets, as compared to a third in 2010.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The mid-day meal was observed being served in 87.1% schools that were visited</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">**page** </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">According to [inside]Children in India 2012-A Statistical Appraisal[/inside], Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI,</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="https://im4change.org/docs/659Children_in_India_2012.pdf">http://www.im4change.org/docs/659Children_in_India_2012.pdf</a><em>: &nbsp;</em> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Statistics of School Education (2009-10) shows that there are 14,49,420 educational institutions in the country, of which there are 67,822 Pre-Primary/ Pre-basic schools, 8,23,162 Primary/ Junior basic schools, 3,67,745 Middle/ Sr. Basic schools, 1,23,726 High/ Post Basic schools, 66,917 Pre-degree/ junior colleges/ Higher secondary schools and 48 Boards of intermediate/ Secondary education.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; 89% teachers in the Higher Secondary Schools/ Junior Colleges were trained whereas the corresponding level in High /Post Basic Schools, Middle/ Sr.Basic School and Pre-Primary/ Primary/ Jr. Basic School are 90%, 88% and 86% respectively.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The Economic Survey 2011-12 points out that pupil-teacher ratio improved from 38.9% in 2010 to 40.7% in 2011.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; At all India level, there has been a marginal decline in the proportion of schools with at least one classroom per teacher, from 76.2% in 2010 to 74.3% in 2011.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Pupil-teacher ratio stood at 39 for Higher Secondary Schools/ Inter Colleges, 30 for High /Post Basic Schools, 34 for Middle/ Sr. Basic School and 42 for Pre-Primary/ Primary/ Jr. Basic School, as per Statistics of School Education 2009-10.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Percentage of trained teachers stood at 89 percent for Higher Secondary Schools/ Inter Colleges, 90 percent for High /Post Basic Schools, 88 percent for Middle/ Sr. Basic School and 86 percent for Pre-Primary/ Primary/ Jr. Basic School, as per Statistics of School Education 2009-10.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Number of female teachers per hundred male teachers stood at 65 for Higher Secondary Schools/ Inter Colleges, 61 for High /Post Basic Schools, 72 for Middle/ Sr. Basic School and 86 for Pre-Primary/ Primary/ Jr. Basic School, as per Statistics of School Education 2009-10.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The number of primary schools in India has increased from 7.38 lakh in 2005-06 to 8.23 lakh in 2009-10.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The number of Upper Primary schools in India has increased from 3.85 lakh in 2005-06 to 4.91 lakh in 2009-10.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Number of teachers in Government schools increased from 3.4 million in 2005-06 to 3.9 million in 2009-10.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Gross enrolment ratio (GER is the total enrolment in a specific level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the eligible official school-age population corresponding to the same level of education in a given school year) for primary schools has improved from 104 percent in 2005-06 to 115 percent in 2009-10.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Net enrolment ratio (NER is the ratio of children of official school age who are enrolled in school to the population of the corresponding official school age) has improved significantly from 84.5 percent in 2005-06 to 98 percent in 2009-10.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Gender parity index (GPI is the ratio of the number of female students enrolled at primary and secondary levels in public and private schools to the number of male students) in primary education has gone up from 0.76 in 1990-91 to 1.00 in 2009-10 showing 31.6% increase and in secondary education the increase is from 0.60 in 1990-91 to 0.88 in 2009-10 thereby showing 46.7% increase.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Key findings of the [inside]Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2011[/inside],&nbsp;<a href="http://pratham.org/images/PRESS-RELEASE%20Jan14_1.pdf">http://pratham.org/images/Aser-2011-report.pdf</a>, are as follows:&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em><strong>Very high enrollment figures for rural India</strong></em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; 96.7% of all 6-14 year olds in rural India are enrolled in school. This number has held steady since 2010.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; States that had a high proportion (over 10%) of 11-14 year old girls out of school in 2006 have made significant progress. For example Bihar out of school numbers have dropped from 17.6% in 2006 to 4.3% in 2011. Rajasthan shows a decline from 18.9% in 2006 to 8.9% in 2011. Uttar Pradesh has shown the least progress with 11.1% 2006 and 9.7% in 2011.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Substantial numbers of five year old children are enrolled in school. The All India figure stands at 57.8% for 2011. &nbsp;This proportion varies across states, ranging from 87.1% in Nagaland to 18.8% in Karnataka.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em><strong>Private school enrollment is rising in most states</strong></em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Nationally, private school enrollment has risen year after year for the 6-14 age group, increasing from 18.7% in 2006 to 25.6% in 2011. These increases are visible in all states except Bihar.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In states like Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur and Meghalaya there has been an increase of over 10 percentage points in private school enrollment in the last five years.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; According to ASER 2011 data, between 30 to 50% of children in rural areas of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Punjab, Jammu &amp; Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are enrolled in private schools.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em><strong>Basic reading levels showing decline in many states</strong></em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Nationally, reading levels are estimated to have declined in many states across North India. The All India figure for the proportion of children in Std V able to read a Std 2 level text has dropped from 53.7% in 2010 to 48.2% in 2011. Such declines are not visible in the southern states.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In a few states there is good news. In Gujarat, Punjab and Tamil Nadu the numbers for 2011 are better than for 2010. &nbsp;Several states in the north-eastern region of India also show positive change. Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh numbers remain unchanged from last year</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em><strong>Arithmetic levels also show a decline across most states</strong></em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Basic arithmetic levels estimated in ASER 2011 show a decline. For example, nationally, the proportion of Std III children able to solve a 2 digit subtraction problem with borrowing has dropped from 36.3% in 2010 to 29.9% in 2011. Among Std V children, the ability to do similar subtraction problems has dropped from 70.9% in 2010 to 61.0% in 2011.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; This decline is visible in almost every state; only Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu show improvements from 2010 to 2011. &nbsp;Several states in the north-eastern region of India also show positive change. There is no change in arithmetic levels in Gujarat.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Main findings from school visits:</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em><strong>Children&rsquo;s attendance has declined</strong></em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; At the All India level, children&#39;s attendance shows a decline from 73.4% in 2007 to 70.9% in 2011 in rural primary schools.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In some states, children&#39;s attendance shows a sharp decline over time: for example in primary schools of Bihar, average attendance of children was 59.0% in 2007 and 50.0% in 2011. &nbsp;In Madhya Pradesh this figure has fallen from 67.0% in 2007 to 54.5% in 2011 and in Uttar Pradesh from 64.4% (2007) to 57.3% (2011).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em><strong>More than half of all Std 2 and Std 4 classes are sit together with another class</strong></em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; During the school visit, ASER focuses on Std 2 and Std 4 and observes whether children in these classes are sitting together with children from other classes.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Nationally, for rural government primary schools, data suggests that over half of all classes visited are multigrade. For example, all India Std 2 was sitting with one or more other classes in 58.3% of Std 2 classes in primary schools were sitting with another class. This figure is 53% for Std 4.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Schools get their grants, but not on time</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Main findings: Tracking RTE Indicators</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em><strong>Not much change in compliance on Pupil-teacher ratio and Classroom-teacher ratio</strong></em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; At the All India level, there has been a marginal improvement in the proportion of schools complying with RTE norms on pupil-teacher ratio, from 38.9% in 2010 to 40.7% in 2011. In 2011, Kerala stands out with 94.1% of schools in compliance, and in Jammu &amp; Kashmir, Nagaland and Manipur, more than 80% schools are in compliance with these norms.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; At the All India level, there has been a marginal decline in the proportion of schools with at least one classroom per teacher, from 76.2% in 2010 to 74.3% in 2011. In Mizoram, 94.8% of schools comply with the teacher-classroom norms and in Punjab, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra more than 80% of schools are in compliance.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em><strong>No major changes in buildings, playgrounds, boundary walls or drinking water</strong></em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; All India figures for 2011 show no significant improvement in the proportion of schools with an office cum store. &nbsp;This figure remains at 74%. &nbsp;Similarly, for the country has a whole, about 62% of visited schools had a playground, both in 2010 and in 2011. &nbsp; However, there has been an increase in the proportion of all schools that have a boundary wall, from 50.9% in 2010 to 54.1% in 2011.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Nationally, the proportion of schools with no provision for drinking water remained almost the same &ndash; 17.0% in 2010 and 16.6% in 2011. The proportion of schools with a useable drinking water facility has remained steady at about 73%. &nbsp;Kerala has the best record with 93.8% schools that have a useable drinking water facility.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em><strong>Better provision of girls&rsquo; toilets</strong></em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The proportion of schools where there was no separate girls&#39; toilet has declined from 31.2% in 2010 to 22.6% in 2011. &nbsp;Also, there has been a substantial improvement in the proportion of schools that have separate girls&#39; toilets that are useable. &nbsp;This figure has risen nationally from 32.9% in 2010 to 43.8% in 2011</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em><strong>More libraries in schools, and more children using them</strong></em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The proportion of schools without libraries has declined from 37.5% in 2010 to 28.6% in 2011. Children were seen using the library in more schools as well-up from 37.9% in 2010 to 42.3% in 2011.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">According to [inside]Global Education Digest 2011-Comparing Education Statistics Across the World[/inside], UNESCO,&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><a href="http://www.uis.unesco.org/Library/Documents/global_education_digest_2011_en.pdf">http://www.uis.unesco.org/Library/Documents/global_education_digest_2011_en.pdf</a><em>: &nbsp;&nbsp;</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The most populated country in South Asia, India, accounts for three-quarters of the regional leap in enrolment. From 1970 to 2009, enrolment in secondary education increased from 21 million to 102 million in this country alone.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In Afghanistan and India lower secondary enrolment ratios are below 80%.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The biggest increases in total numbers of primary and secondary school teachers from 1990 to 2009 were observed in sub-Saharan Africa (79% and 157%), the Arab States (71% and 112%) and South and West Asia (49% and 83%). In sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia (in particular in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan), growth has been especially rapid since 2000 with the passage of international agreements set out in the EFA Dakar Framework for Action. However, all three regions are still faced with acute teacher shortages in their bid to meet the EFA goals by 2015.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In 2009, 702 million children were enrolled worldwide in primary education, compared to 646 million in 1999. This marked improvement in access to primary education represents an increase of 9% worldwide.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The gross enrolment ratio (GER) in lower secondary education increased from 72% to 80% worldwide between 1999 and 2009, with notable increases in the Arab States and sub-Saharan Africa. Yet despite this progress, the participation rate for this level of education remains very low in sub-Saharan Africa at 43%. In addition, one-third of the world&rsquo;s children still live in countries where lower secondary education is formally considered compulsory but where the commitment is not met. This is especially the case in South and West Asia. &nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Between 1999 and 2009, the GER for girls increased from 69% to 79% in lower secondary and from 43% to 55% in upper secondary education worldwide. However, the Arab States and sub-Saharan Africa still faced serious gender disparities at the lower secondary level, while disparities at the upper secondary level intensified in South and West Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Key findings of the [inside]Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2010[/inside], <a href="http://images2.asercentre.org/aserreports/ASER_2010_PRESS_RELEASE.pdf">http://images2.asercentre.org/aserreports/ASER_2010_PRESS_RELEASE.pdf</a>, are as follows:</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull;&nbsp;<em><strong>Enrollment: </strong></em>In 2010, ASER found that 96.5% of children in the 6 to 14 age group in rural India is enrolled in school. While 71.1% of these children are enrolled in government schools, 24.3 % are enrolled in private schools.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull;&nbsp;<em><strong>Out of school girls: </strong></em>5.9% of girls in the 11-14 age group are still out of school. However, this percentage has gone down as compared to 6.8% in 2009. In states like Rajasthan (12.1%) and Uttar Pradesh (9.7%), this percentage remains high and shows little change since 2009. Noteworthy in this regard is the performance of Bihar where the percentage of out of school girls and boys in all age groups has been declining steadily since 2005. In 2006, 12.3% of boys and 17.6% girls were out of school in the 11-14 age group. By 2010, these numbers had declined to 4.4% for boys and 4.6% for girls, showing very little difference by gender.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull;&nbsp;<em><strong>Rise in private school enrolment:</strong></em> Enrollment in private schools in rural India increased from 21.8% in 2009 to 24.3% in 2010. This number has risen steadily since 2005 when it was 16.3% nationally. Between 2009 and 2010, the southern states have shown a substantial increase in private school enrollments. The percentage of children in private school increased from 29.7% to 36.1% in Andhra Pradesh, from 19.7% to 25.1% in Tamil Nadu, from 16.8% to 20% in Karnataka and from 51.5% to 54.2% in Kerala. Among other states, Punjab showed an increase from 30.5% to 38%. However, this proportion remains low in Bihar (5.2%), West Bengal (5.9%), Jharkhand (8.8%), Orissa (5.4%) and Tripura (2.8%).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull;&nbsp;<em><strong>Increasing numbers of five year olds enrolled in school: </strong></em>Nationally, the percentage of five year olds enrolled in schools increased from 54.6% in 2009 to 62.8% in 2010. The biggest increase was visible in Karnataka where the proportion of five year olds enrolled in school increased from 17.1% in 2009 to 67.6 in 2010. Enrollment of five year olds increased substantially between 2009 and 2010 in several other states such as Punjab (68.3% to 79.6%), Haryana (62.8% to 76.8%), Rajasthan (69.9% to75.8%), Uttar Pradesh (55.7% to 73.1%) and Assam (49.1% to 59%).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull;&nbsp;<em><strong>Nationally, not much change in reading ability, except in some states:</strong></em> Even after five years in school, close to half of all children are not even at the level expected of them after two years in school. Only 53.4% children in Std V could read a Std II level text.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull;&nbsp;<em><strong>Math ability shows a declining trend: </strong></em>On average, there has been a decrease in children&rsquo;s ability to do simple mathematics. The proportion of Std I children who could recognize numbers from 1-9 declined from 69.3% in 2009 to 65.8% in 2010. Similarly, the proportion of children in Std III who could solve two digit subtraction problems decreased from 39% to 36.5% in the same period. Children in Std V who could do simple division problems also dropped from 38% in 2009 to 35.9% in 2010. Contrary to this trend, Punjab&#39;s performance in basic arithmetic has improved over the last few years. For example, the percentage of children in Std II who could recognize numbers up to 100 in 2008 was 56.3%. This number increased to 59.6% in 2009 and to 70.4% in 2010. Similarly, the proportion of Std IV children who could do subtraction increased from 66.9% in 2008 to 81.4% in 2010. The percentage of Std V children who could do division rose from 43.5% in 2008 to 69.8% in 2010.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull;&nbsp;<strong><em>Middle school children weak in everyday calculations:</em> </strong>In 2010, children in Std V and above were asked a set of questions based on everyday calculations. The tasks included calculations from a menu card, reading a calendar, estimating volume and calculating area. Overall, in Std VIII, three quarters of all children were able to do the calculations based on the menu. About two thirds of all children could answer questions based on a calendar and only half could do the calculations related to area. The questions related to area seemed to be the most difficult for children to solve, even though such problems are usually found in textbooks in Std IV or V. Children in Std VIII in Kerala and Bihar solved the area related questions the best, 79% and 69% respectively.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull;&nbsp;<em><strong>Tuition going down for private school children: </strong></em>A clear decrease is seen in the incidence of tuition among children enrolled in private schools across all classes up to Std VIII. This proportion has not changed much among children enrolled in government schools, although in states like Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha, where private school enrollment is low, the proportion of children in Std V enrolled in government schools who take tuition classes is high (West Bengal-75.6%, Bihar-55.5% and Odisha-49.9%).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull;&nbsp;<em><strong>RTE compliance: </strong></em>ASER 2010 found that over 60% of the 13,000 schools visited satisfied the infrastructure norms specified by the RTE. However, more than half of these schools will need more teachers. A third will need more classrooms. 62% of the schools visited had playgrounds, 50% had a boundary wall or fence and 90% had toilets. However, toilets were useable in only half of these schools. 70% of schools visited had a separate girls&rsquo; toilet, but this facility was useable in only 37% of the schools. 81% schools had a kitchen shed and 72% had drinking water available. The all India percentage of primary schools (Std 1-4/5) with all teachers present on the day of the visit shows a consistent decrease over three years, falling from 73.7% in 2007 to 69.2% in 2009 and 63.4% in 2010. For rural India as a whole, children&rsquo;s attendance shows no change over the period 2007-2010. Attendance remained at around 73% during this period. But there is considerable variation across states.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**&nbsp;</p>

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<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&nbsp; </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium">The [inside]Annual Status of Education Report 2009[/inside],</span><br />
<a href="http://www.asercentre.org/asersurvey/aser09/pdfdata/national%20highlights.pdf"><span style="font-size:medium">http://www.asercentre.org/asersurvey/aser09/pdfdata/national%20highlights.pdf</span></a><span style="font-size:medium"> show: </span></span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u><strong>Fewer girls 11-14 out of school</strong></u></span> </span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;The overall percentage of children (6-14) who are out of school has dropped from 4.3% in 2008 to 4% in 2009.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;Out of school girls in the age group 11 to 14 has dropped from 7.2% in 2008 to 6.8% in 2009. In terms of a decline in percentage points, this decrease is clearly visible in Chhattisgarh (3.8), Bihar (2.8), Rajasthan (2.6), Orissa (2.1), Jammu and Kashmir (1.9). Other than Meghalaya all other states in the North East also show a drop.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;Andhra Pradesh records an increase in the percentage of 11-14 year old girls out of school from 6.6% in 2008 to 10.8% in 2009. So does Punjab from 4.9% in 2008 to 6.3% in 2009.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u><strong>Private school enrolment hasn&rsquo;t changed much</strong></u></span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;Overall, for 6-14 year olds, between 2008 and 2009 there has been a slight decline in the percentage of children enrolled in private school (0.8 percentage points). However, six states show a decline in private school enrolment of more than 5 percentage points. Of these, Punjab which has one of the highest private school enrollments in the country shows the greatest drop (11.3 percentage points).</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u><strong>Half of India&rsquo;s five year olds are enrolled in primary school</strong></u></span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;In 2009 as in 2008, well over 50% of 5 year olds are enrolled in school.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;Although for the country as a whole, the status of 3 and 4 year olds going to preschool (anganwadi or balwadi) has not changed much since 2008, among the major states Bihar, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat record a more than five percentage point increase in the proportion of children going to anganwadi.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u><strong>Learning levels improving in Std 1</strong></u></span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;The foundation of children&rsquo;s learning is built in early grades. Overall, the percentage of children in Std 1 who can recognize letters or more has increased from 65.1% in 2008 to 68.8% in 2009. Similarly there is an increase in number recognition, with percentage of children recognizing numbers or more increasing from 65.3% in 2008 to 69.3 in 2009.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;For Std 1 children in government schools in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Orissa there is an increase of 10 percentage points or more as compared to last year in their ability to at least recognize letter and numbers up to 9. In Tamil Nadu and Goa, there is an improvement in both reading and maths of more than 5 percentage points. Similar increases are visible in Uttarakhand and Maharashtra in maths and in Karnataka in letter recognition.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u><strong>No major improvements in learning levels for children in Std 5 except in Tamil Nadu for reading and in a few states in maths</strong></u></span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;The all India figure for percentage of all rural children in Std 5 reading text at Std 2 level shows a decline from 56.2% in 2008 to 52.8% in 2009. This means that well over 40% of all rural children in Std 5 in India are at least three grade levels behind.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;In reading, for government school children in Std 5 in Tamil Nadu there is an 8 percentage point increase over 2008 levels. Karnataka and Punjab also show improvements over last year. Hardly any change in other states in reading as compared to 2008.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;In maths, for children in Std 5, for the country as a whole, the ability to do division problems has hardly increased. However 7 states show increases of 5 to 8 percentage points. These states are Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Assam, West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u><strong>Wide variation in the ability to read and comprehend English across India</strong></u></span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;The all India numbers indicate that a quarter of all rural children in Std 5 children can read simple sentences. Of those who can read sentences, over 80% can understand the meaning of the sentence.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;By Std 8, 60.2% of all children can read simple sentences. In all the north-eastern states (except Tripura), Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala more than 80% of children in Std 8 can not only read simple sentences fluently but also understand the meaning.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u><strong>Increase in tuition classes for all children across all grades</strong></u></span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;Nationally, between 2007 and 2009, the percentage of children taking paid tuition increased for every class, in both government and private schools. Only Kerala and Karnataka show a small but consistent decline in the incidence of tuition across government school children in most classes.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;Among government school children, the percentage going to tuition class increases steadily as children move into higher classes: from 17.1% in Std 1 to 30.8% in Std 8.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;Among children attending private schools, almost a quarter (23.3%) take private tuition from Std 1 onwards. The percentage peaks at 29.8% in Std 4.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;Children in West Bengal are by far the most intensive users of paid private tuition in the country; more than half of all Std 1 and almost 90% of all Std 8 government school children take some kind of paid tuition. The incidence of tuition in Bihar and Orissa is also high, with very large numbers of government school children taking tuition, ranging from about a third in Std 1 to well over half in Std 8.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u><strong>Children&rsquo;s attendance needs improvement in some states</strong></u></span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;Comparisons across the three years (2005, 2007 and 2009) indicate that children&rsquo;s attendance in school, as observed on a random day in the school year, varies considerably across states. There are states like Bihar where less than 60% of enrolled children are attending on the day of the visit to southern states where average attendance is well above 90%. In addition, states like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh need to pay more attention to raising attendance in schools. In most states, on the day of the visit, close to 90% of appointed teachers were present in the school.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u><strong>Multigrade grouping is widespread</strong></u></span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;In 2007 and 2009, surveyors were asked to observe if Std 2 and Std 4 were grouped and sitting together with any other grade. In both years, the incidence of multi-grade groupings was high. At the all-India level close to 50% children in class 2 and 4 were sitting with other classes.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u><strong>Increase in useable toilets and improvements in availability of drinking water</strong></u></span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;All India figures indicate that overall, the percentage of schools with no water or toilet provision is declining over time. Water is available in 75% of government primary schools and 81% of upper primary schools. Useable toilets can be found in over 50% of government schools. Four out of ten government primary schools do not have separate toilets for girls. This number is lower for upper primary schools at 26%. About 12 -15% girls&rsquo; toilets are locked and only about 30 - 40% are useable.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u><strong>Not all schools received the annual school grants for the last school year</strong></u></span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;There is considerable variation across states for grants received in the last school year. In Nagaland close to 90% of schools visited had received all their annual grants, where as the percentage of visited schools receiving their grants in the 2008-2009 school year was 60% or below in Jharkhand, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. </span></span></p>

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<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">**page**&nbsp;</span></span>&nbsp; </span></p>

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<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">According to [inside]Education in India: 2007-08[/inside], Participation and Expenditure<br />
NSS 64th Round, (July 2007&ndash;June 2008), Report No. 532(64/25.2/1): </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;A survey on &lsquo;Participation and Expenditure in Education&rsquo; was conducted in NSS 64th round (July 2007 - June 2008). A sample of 445960 persons, from 63318 rural households and 37263 urban households spread over the country, was surveyed. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;The states with relatively high literacy are- Kerala (94%), Assam (84%), Maharashtra (81%) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;The states with relatively low literacy are- Bihar (58%), Rajasthan (62%), Andhra Pradesh (64%) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Other low-literacy states included Rajasthan (61.7%), Andhra Pradesh (63.5%), Jharkhand (64.6%), Uttar Pradesh (66.2%), J&amp;K (67.7%) and Orissa (68.3%) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;66% of the country&rsquo;s adult population (population of age 15 &amp; above) was found to be literate. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;In rural India, 51.2% of the population in the lowest decile class of monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) were not literate. Even in the highest decile class, 22.8% persons were not literate. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;The literacy rate (i.e. percentage of literates) for all ages among rural female (RF), rural male (RM), urban female (UF) and urban male (UM) populations was found to be 51.1%, 68.4%, 71.6% and 82.2% respectively. The corresponding rates two decades ago as estimated in NSS 42nd round (1986-87) were 24.8%, 47.6%, 59.1% and 74.0% respectively. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;98% of rural households &amp; 99% of urban households have school with primary classes within 2 km </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;79% of rural households &amp; 97% of urban households have school with middle classes within 2 km </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;47% of rural households &amp; 91% of urban households have school with secondary classes within 2 km </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Among persons in age-group 5-29: 46% were not currently enrolled in any educational institution; 2% were currently enrolled but not attending; 52% were currently attending educational institutions </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Among persons aged 5-29 attending education of level primary &amp; above - 49% were in Primary level; 24% were in Middle level; 20% in Secondary/HS level; 7% in above-HS level </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;For major course attended: type of education was General in 97.8%, Technical in 1.9%, Vocational in 0.3% cases. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Net Attendance Ratio (NAR) for Classes I-VIII (All-India): 86% </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Major states with relatively high NAR (I-VIII): Himachal Pr. (96%), Kerala (94%), Tamil Nadu (92%) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Major states with relatively low NAR (I-VIII): Bihar (74%), Jharkhand (81%), Uttar Pradesh (83%) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;At Primary level &ndash; 73% of students in private unaided institutions attended recognized institutions </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;At Middle level &ndash; 78% of students in private unaided institutions attended recognized institutions </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;At Primary level: 71% students got free education (Rural- 80%, Urban- 40%) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;At Middle level: 68% students got free education (Rural- 75%, Urban- 45%) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;At Secondary/ HS level: 48% students got free education (Rural- 54%, Urban- 35%) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Average annual private expenditure per student at Primary level - Rs. 1413 (Rural- Rs. 826, Urban- Rs.3626) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Average annual private expenditure per student at Middle level - Rs. 2088 (Rural- Rs.1370, Urban- Rs.4264) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Average annual private expenditure per student at Secondary/ HS level- Rs. 4351 (Rural- Rs.3019, Urban- Rs.7212) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Average annual private expenditure per student at Above HS level- Rs. 7360 (Rural- Rs.6327, Urban- Rs.8466) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Average annual private expenditure per student for Technical Education: Rs.32112 (Rural- Rs.27177, Urban- Rs.34822) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Average annual private expenditure per student for Vocational Education: Rs.14881 (Rural- Rs.13699, Urban- Rs.17016) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Average annual private expenditure on education at primary level varied from around Rs. 600-800 in states like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa to more than Rs. 3500 in states like Punjab and Haryana. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;For primary education, students in the poorest category in the rural sector incurred an average expenditure of Rs. 352, compared to Rs.3516 for the richest class. In the urban sector the disparity in average educational expenditure was greater still, from Rs. 1035 in the lowest decile class to Rs.13474 in the highest decile class of MPCE. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;For the country as a whole average expenditure on tuition fees (Rs. 1034), examination fee, other fees and payments (Rs. 459) together contributed about half of total expenditure (Rs. 3058) on education. Books and stationery (Rs. 586) was reported to be the next major component of expenditure followed by private coaching (Rs. 354). </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;In rural India, tuition fee, together with examination fee and other fees and payments, contributed 40% of total expenditure while another 25% was spent on books and stationery. In the urban sector tuition fee alone contributed 40% of total expenditure. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;In rural areas, the majority of students were attending government schools &ndash; 76% of primary level students, 73% of middle level students, and 62% of secondary and HS level students.&nbsp; </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;In urban areas, on the other hand, 59% of students at primary level were in private schools. At middle and secondary/ HS level, 54-55% was in private schools. Government schools accounted for only 35% of primary level students, 40% of middle level students, and 43% of secondary/ HS level students. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;While in states like Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Orissa, more than 90% of students at primary level attended schools run by government or local bodies, the corresponding proportion was only 35% in Kerala and 45% in Punjab. In these two states, the majority of students, even at primary level, were in private schools &ndash; aided or unaided. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;About 60% of students in government and local-body-run institutions got mid-day meals compared to 16% in aided private institutions and 2% in unaided private only. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Differentials across institution types were equally marked in case of free/ subsidised books, with 69% of students in government-run schools receiving such books compared to 22% in aided private and only 4% in unaided private institutions. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Major reasons for Discontinuance/ drop-out: Financial constraints (21%), Child not interested in studies (20%), Unable to cope up or failure in studies (10%), Completed desired level or class (10%), Parents not interested in studies (9%) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;The three most frequently given reasons for non-enrolment were a) parents not interested in education of their children (33.2%), b) financial constraints (21%) and c) education not considered necessary (21.8%). </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
<em><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:small"><strong>Note: </strong>Net Attendance Ratio (I-VIII)=(Number of persons in age-group 6-13 currently attending Classes I-VIII divided by Estimated population in the age-group I-VIII years) multiplied by hundred&nbsp; </span></span></em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">**page**</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">According to the [inside]Education for All Report 2010[/inside],</span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"> </span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><a href="http://www.unesco.org/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/ED/GMR/pdf/gmr2010/gmr2010-highlights.pdf">http://www.unesco.org/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/ED/GMR/pdf/gmr2010/gmr2010-highlights.pdf</a>:&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Human development indicators are deteriorating. An estimated 125 million additional people could be pushed into malnutrition in 2009 and 90 million into poverty in 2010.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;With poverty rising, unemployment growing and remittances diminishing, many poor and vulnerable households are having to cut back on education spending or withdraw their children from school.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;National budgets in poor countries are under pressure. Sub-Saharan Africa faces a potential loss of around US$4.6 billion annually in financing for education in 2009 and 2010, equivalent to a 10% reduction in spending per primary-school pupil.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;The number of children out of school has dropped by 33 million worldwide since 1999. South and West Asia more than halved the number of children out of school &ndash; a reduction of 21 million.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;The share of girls out of school has declined from 58% to 54%, and the gender gap in primary education is narrowing in many countries.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Between 1985&ndash;1994 and 2000&ndash;2007, the adult literacy rate increased by 10%, to its current level of 84%. The number of adult female literates has increased at a faster pace than that of males.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Malnutrition affects around 175 million young children each year and is a health and an education emergency.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;There were 72 million children out of school in 2007. Business as usual would leave 56 million children out of school in 2015. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Literacy remains among the most neglected of all education goals, with about 759 million adults lacking literacy skills today. Two-thirds are women.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Some 1.9 million new teacher posts will be required to meet universal primary education by 2015.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;In twenty-two countries, 30% or more of young adults have fewer than four years of education, and this rises to 50% or more in eleven sub-Saharan African countries. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp; </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">According to [inside]Secondary Education in India: Universalizing Opportunity (2009)[/inside], January, prepared by Human Development Unit, South Asia Region, The World Bank, </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><a href="http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2009/05/18/000333037_20090518003954/Rendered/PDF/485210v20SR0wh10Box338913B01PUBLIC1.pdf"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">http://www</span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">-wd</span>.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2009/05</a><br />
<a href="http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2009/05/18/000333037_20090518003954/Rendered/PDF/485210v20SR0wh10Box338913B01PUBLIC1.pdf">/18/000333037_20090518003954/Rendered<br />
/PDF/485210v20SR0wh10Box338913B01PUBLIC1.pdf</a>:&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;On the supply side, four key constraints limit access to secondary education: (i) insufficient and uneven distribution of school infrastructure; (ii) lack of trained teachers and inefficient teacher deployment; (iii) suboptimal use of the private sector to expand enrollment capacity and to achieve social objectives; and (iv) insufficient open schooling opportunities for those who have left the formal system.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;There is a 40 percentage point gap in secondary enrollment rates between students from the highest and lowest expenditure quintile groups (70 percent versus 30 percent enrollment, respectively). In addition, there is a 20 percentage point gap between urban and rural secondary enrollment rates, and a persistent 10 percentage point gap between secondary enrollment rates of boys and girls. Enrollment of STs, SCs and Muslims is well below their share in the population at large.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;India&rsquo;s gross enrollment rate (GER) at the secondary level of 40 percent is far inferior to the GERs of its global competitors in East Asia (average 70 percent) and Latin America (average 82 percent). Even countries such as Vietnam and Bangladesh, which have lower per capita incomes than India, have higher gross enrollment rates.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;At the lower secondary level (grades 9 and 10), the gross enrollment rate (GER) is 52 percent, while at the senior secondary level (grades 11 and 12) it is just 28 percent, for a combined GER of 40 percent (2005). In absolute terms, total secondary enrollment (lower and senior secondary) in 2004/05 was 37.1 million students, with 65 percent (24.3 million) in lower secondary and 35 percent (12.7 million) in senior secondary. It is estimated at over 40 million in 2008.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Projections suggest an increase in absolute demand for secondary education between 2007/08 and 2017/18 of around 17 million students per year, with total enrollment growing from 40 to 57 million students.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Wealthier children are more than twice as likely to be enrolled in secondary education as poor children. In some states (e.g. Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh) there is more than a twenty-point percentage gap in enrollment between boys and girls. Secondary attendance of the general population is 80 percent higher than that for STs, SCs and Muslims. Finally, secondary enrollment by state varies greatly, from 22 percent in Bihar to 92 percent in Kerala; and from 4 percent in Jharkhand to 44 percent in Tamil Nadu at the senior secondary level. Such huge differences reflect, in part, a lack of central government involvement in secondary education to equalize opportunities, particularly in the poorer states.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Secondary education currently accounts for less than a third of India&rsquo;s total public spending on education, equivalent in absolute terms to about US$7.2 billion per year (less than 10 percent of this on investment). About 75 percent of the public spending on secondary education comes from the states, which spend less than 1 percent of their per capita incomes for this purpose. Compared with international benchmarks, India&rsquo;s per student public spending on secondary education as a percentage of GDP per capita is somewhat high (27 percent, compared to a benchmark for fast-growing economies of 18 percent). India&rsquo;s per-student public spending on secondary education is also high as a ratio of per student spending on primary education (2.9, compared to a benchmark for fast-growing economies of 1.4). On the other hand, by international standards, India&rsquo;s per student spending on secondary education appears quite reasonable in absolute terms (average US$173, compared to spending per student in secondary education of US$577 in Latin America and the Caribbean, US$257 in Sub-Saharan Africa, and US$ 117 in South Asia). Public teacher salaries as a ratio of GDP/capita are 4:1 (private teacher salaries as a ratio of GDP/capita are 2.3:1).</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;With current low levels of efficiency in India&rsquo;s secondary schools, the estimated cost of producing a lower secondary graduate is high, at around Rs. 21,500 (about US$500 in 2005), or about Rs. 40,000 (US$911) for both levels of secondary education. Government schools spend less per student than private aided schools; approximately half of public funds in secondary education are spent through grants-in-aid to private schools, although these schools constitute just 30 percent of the total number. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The [inside]Annual Status of Education Report 2008 (Rural)[/inside] </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://asercentre.org/asersurvey/aser08/pdfdata/aser08national.pdf">http://asercentre.org/asersurvey/aser08/pdfdata/aser08national.pdf</a> shows:&nbsp;</span><br />
&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><u><strong>Percentage of children not in school is dropping. Bihar has done well</strong></u></span><br />
&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Nationally, the proportion of 7-10 year-olds not-in school is at 2.7%, and proportion of 11-14 year olds not in school is at 6.3%</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">All India proportion of 11 &ndash; 14 year old out of school girls remains steady at 7.3% over 2007 and 2008.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The percentage of out of school children in most states has decreased since 2007. UP and Rajasthan are exceptions.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In Bihar, children (6 &ndash; 14 year old) not on school have dropped steadily over the last four years from 13.1% in 2005 to 5.7% in 2008. Over the same period, the proportion of girls 11-14 not in school has dropped from 20.1% to 8.8%.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><u><strong>Enrollment in private schools is increasing</strong></u></span></span><br />
&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Among all 6-14 year olds, the proportion of children attending private schools has increased from 16.4% in 2005 to 22.5% in 2008. This increase in private school enrollment represents a 37.2 percent increase over the baseline of 2005. This increase is particularly striking in Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In 2008, private schools have 20% more boys than girls in both age groups; 7-10 and 11-14.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Half of all school going children in Kerala and Goa go to private schools. (According to DISE, 95% of private schools in Kerala and 70% of private schools in Goa are government aided.)</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Between 32% to 42% of all school going children In Nagaland, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan go to private schools. (DISE data indicates that In these states private schools are mostly unaided).</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><strong><u>Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh show dramatic improvement in reading</u></strong> </span></span></p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Chhattisgarh has shown a dramatic improvement in children&rsquo;s reading ability. The proportion of children in Std III who could read a Std I level text has increased from 31% in 2007 to 70% in 2008. The proportion of Std V children who could read a Std II level text in 2007 was 58% . By 2008, this figure had gone up to 75% in 2008. Reading levels in Chhattisgarh have improved dramatically across the board.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In Madhya Pradesh too, reading levels in 2008 show a big jump at every level over 2006, and 2007. With 86.8% government school children in Std V being able to read Std. II level text, Madhya Pradesh tops the ASER scale of reading among all states including Kerala and Himachal where 73-74% children in Std V can read a Std II text in government schools.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, and Himachal Pradesh are states that lead the country in terms of children&rsquo;s basic reading fluency. In these states children who can read letters or more in Std I are over 85% and those who can read Std II text or more in Std V is over 75%.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Madhya Pradesh has achieved progress in two stages with the first jump coming in 2006 and the next in 2008.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Karnataka, and Orissa show a steady increase in proportion of children who can read from Std II to Std IV. Over 2006 to 2008, the reading levels recorded show about 5-6 percentage point improvement.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">ASER has used essentially the same tool and the same method for four years.1 Barring some states such as Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal, Andhra, and Chhattisgarh, no major change has been observed in basic reading in other states.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><u><strong>Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh show improvement in arithmetic also</strong></u></span></span><br />
&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">ASER tests indicate that Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have made remarkable strides in improving basic math skills over the last year. In both states more than 91% children in Std I can identify numbers 1-9 or more. Although in Kerala this proportion is 96% in Std I, the highest literacy state loses its lead by Std III.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In Std III, the proportion of children in Madhya Pradesh who can solve at least a subtraction problem has jumped from 61.3% in 2007 to 72.2% in 2008, while Kerala is at 61.4%.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In 2008, 78.2% of children in Std V in Madhya Pradesh, could correctly solve a division problem. This is the highest recorded in the country. In several other states, this figure is around 60%; for example in Himachal, Chattisgaroh, Manipur and Goa.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In Chhattisgarh, the improvement in arithmetic is dramatic, indicative of a focused intervention. In 2008, Std II children who could identify numbers up to 100 or do higher level operations was at 77.8. This figure for Std II in 2007 was 37.2%. Similarly, those who could at least solve subtraction in Std III jumped from 21.8% in 2007 to 63.5% in 2008.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><u><strong>Telling time</strong></u></span></span><br />
&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">61% of children in Std V in India can tell time on a clock correctly.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In states such as UP, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, about 50% children in Std V can tell time. Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Haryana, J&amp;K, Punjab, Uttarakhand are all above the national average.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, where math and reading ability is recorded to be much better than the national average, more than 75% children in Std V can tell time.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;<strong><u>Other interesting findings from the survey</u></strong></span><br />
&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">ASER (Rural) 2008 also explored village infrastructure and household characteristics to find links with education. The links will be explored later. However, here are some findings.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Primary schools are available within 1 km of 92.5% rural habitations and 67.1% villages have government middle school, and 33.8% have government secondary schools. Private schools are available in 45.6% Indian villages.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">STD booths are present in 58.5% villages while 48.3% village households have a cell phone or a land line connection.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Electrical connections were available in 65.9% households surveyed.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Pukka road connects 71.9% villages to the outside world. Lowest numbers are Assam (32.7%), West Bengal (44.2%), Bihar (53.2%) and Madhya Pradesh (58.9%%) are states among the poorest connected states.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium">According to the [inside]Literacy and Levels of Education in India 1999-2000 of the 55th Round NSS[/inside], July 1999- June 2000: </span></span><br />
&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In urban India, the proportion of literates was 798 out of 1000. Therefore, about one-fifth of the urban population was not literate. Among the literates, 325 persons (out of 798) attained education level secondary and above. This is much higher compared to rural India. Among the males, the literacy rate was as high as 865 out of 1000 while the same for females was about 72%. </span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In rural India, the literacy rate was the lowest for persons belonging to ST households (42%) followed by persons belonging to SC households (47%).&nbsp; But in urban India, the literacy rate was the lowest for SC households (66%) followed by ST households (70%).&nbsp; For both the sectors the literacy rate was the highest for persons belonging to social group &lsquo;others&#39;.&nbsp; &nbsp;</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The proportions of persons in each education level were lower for females than for males. The proportion of persons in any education level was an increasing function of monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) as in rural areas for each education level and also for both males and females. </span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In rural India, literacy rate per thousand was the highest (737) for household type &lsquo;others&#39; followed by self-employed in non-agriculture (630). The rate was the lowest (426) for agricultural labour households. &nbsp;</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Literacy rate in rural India is a very slowly increasing function of the area of land possessed for both males and females and so for all persons. For the lowest size class of land possessed the literacy rate of all persons was 52% while it was 64% for the highest size class of land possessed. </span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Literacy rate in rural India for males was much higher than that of females for any specified size class of land possessed, the differential being above 20 for different size classes.&nbsp; &nbsp;</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">It is seen that the literacy rate was rather low for both males and females in rural India for &lsquo;Islam&#39; compared to other religions. &lsquo;Hinduism&#39; and &lsquo;others&#39; are not much better, especially for females.&nbsp; In urban India, the literacy rate was 88-89% for males following three religions, namely, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism. Further, males who followed Christianity or Jainism had a still higher rate of literacy, 94% or more. Here also &lsquo;Islam&#39; shows a lower literacy rate. The picture is similar for females in urban areas.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In rural areas, gender disparity in literacy rate was very large for Hinduism and Islam, compared to other religions. The pattern was similar to some extent in urban areas, but here the gender disparities were generally smaller. </span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Among the rural areas of 15 major states, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh showed the highest increase in literacy rate for males and females over 1993-94 to 1999-2000.&nbsp; The increase was by 9% for males and by 10% for females.&nbsp; For females, there was one more major state, namely, Maharashtra, for which the increase in literacy rate was 10%. Among urban areas of the major states, the increase over 1993-94 to 1999-2000 was more than the national increase in urban areas of Karnataka, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Among the major States, the rural literacy rate for all persons was the highest in Kerala. It was around 90% in both the NSS rounds-50th and 55th. The second highest literacy rate among the rural areas of major States was found for Assam (69%). The rate was the lowest for Bihar (42%) followed by Andhra Pradseh (46%) and Rajasthan (47%). The literacy rate was also relatively low (between 50 and 60%) in the rural areas of the following States: Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In urban India, the literacy rate was distinctly low for casual labour households compared to other households. It was 59% (593 out of 1000) of persons belonging to casual labour households compared to the national average of 80%. For the remaining household types, the proportions of literates among males, females or persons were the highest for regular wage /salary earning households. &nbsp;</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In urban areas the variation of literacy rates across States/UT&#39;s was much smaller compared to the rural areas.&nbsp; It ranged from 70% to 99% over the urban areas of different States and UTs while it varied from 42-91% in rural areas.&nbsp; The urban literacy rate (%)was very high in Kerala (94), Meghalaya (92), Mizoram (99), Nagaland (94) and relatively low in Andhra Pradesh (75), Bihar (70), Orissa (76), Punjab (79) and Uttar Pradesh (70).&nbsp; &nbsp;</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Out of a total of 32 States and UTs, there were only 8 where the rural literacy rate was 80% and above.&nbsp; These States and UTs were Goa, Kerala, Mizoram, Nagaland, Andaman &amp; Nicobar Islands, Daman and Diu, Delhi and Lakshadweep. </span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">At the national level, literacy rate (%) increased during the period from 1993-94 to 1999-2000.&nbsp; For males, it increased from 63 to 68 in rural areas and from 85 to 87 in urban areas.&nbsp; For females, the corresponding figures were 36 and 43 in rural areas and 68 and 72 in urban areas.&nbsp; The figures for persons were 50 and 56 in rural areas and 77 and 80 in urban areas</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">At the national level, the difference in census and NSS estimates of literacy was 3% for both males and females.&nbsp; For rural males, NSS literacy rate was 73% while census literacy rate was 76%.&nbsp; Similarly, for females NSS estimate was 51% and the census estimate was 54%. </span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The difference in literacy rate between NSS 55th round and Census 2001 was roughly similar for males and females for any State/UT. For persons, the absolute difference in literacy rate was more than 5% in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa and Rajasthan and was less than 2% in Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Chandigarh, Lakshadweep and Pondicherry.&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:Arial; font-size:medium">**page**</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><strong>Progress in Elementary Education since 1999</strong> </span></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><img alt="Progress in Elementary Education since 1999" src="tinymce/uploaded/chart1.jpg" style="height:163px; width:500px" /></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><em><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><strong>Source:</strong> RGI; SES, MHRD </span></em></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><strong>Growth of Educational Institutions since 1999 </strong></span></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium">&nbsp;</span></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><img alt="Growth of Educational Institutions since 1999" src="tinymce/uploaded/chart2.jpg" style="height:162px; width:500px" /> </span></div>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><em><span style="font-size:small"><strong>Source: </strong>SES, MHRD</span></em><br />
<br />
From the table below, one can decipher that although enrolment of both boys and girls has increased in between 1999-2000 and 2004-2005, yet there exist gender disparities in enrolment. </span><br />
&nbsp;</p>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><strong>Sex-wise Enrolment by Stages, 1999-2000 to 2003-04</strong> </span></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;<img alt="Sex-wise Enrolment by Stages, 1999-2000 to 2003-04" src="tinymce/uploaded/chart3.jpg" style="height:279px; width:510px" /></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><em><strong>Source: </strong>SES, MHRD *Provisional </em></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><em><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Seminar Report &quot;Right to Education - Actions Now&quot; 19 December 2007, New Delhi by Confederation of Indian Industry show: </span></em></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">According to the VII Educational Survey (2002), the number of habitations, which had a primary school within a distance of 1 km was 10.71 lakh (87%); the uncovered habitations numbered 1.6lakh.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Access facilities in the upper primary schooling is, however, still an issue as, only 78% of the habitations had such facilities within a radius of 3 Km. In 2002-03. This catered to the need of 86% of the rural population. Nearly, 88,930 new upper primary schools have been opened since 2002-03. However, a gap still remains.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In Madhya Pradesh, only one third of the teachers attend school, in UP, the figure is 20% and in Bihar 25%.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">There is a need of more upper primary schools. At the national level, there was one upper primary school for 2.8 primary schools in 2004-05. In 2005-06 this ratio of number of primary to upper primary schools was 2.5:1. To bring the ratio of primary: upper primary school to 2:1 (SSA norm), the additional need for upper primary schools works out to 1,40,000.&rdquo;</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) has recruited 7.95 lakh teachers to improve the pupil-teacher ratio from 44:1 to 40:1 at the primary level in addition to providing annual in-service training, free distribution of textbooks to the tune of Rs 6.9 crores. </span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The dropout rates were 15% in 2002-03, which reduced to 13% in 2003-04 and further reduced to 12% in 2004-2005. Although the trend is encouraging, concerted efforts would be needed to ensure further reduction.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In absolute terms, a substantial increase in the number of teachers has been registered since 1999-2000. At the primary stage, there were 19.2 lakh teachers in 1999-2000. This increased to 20.9 lakh in 2003-04. With respect to the upper primary stage, this increased from 12.98 lakh to 16.02 lakh</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The government has set up institutions like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA), District Primary Education programme (DPEP), National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE), the Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) and the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme (KGBVS).</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><em>According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics:</em> </span></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">40% of children are enrolled in pre-primary school </span></strong></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><img alt="40% of children are enrolled in pre-primary school" src="tinymce/uploaded/chart4.jpg" style="height:211px; width:500px" /> </span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium">&nbsp;<strong>87% of girls and 90% of boys are in primary school </strong></span></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><img alt="87% of girls and 90% of boys are in primary school" src="tinymce/uploaded/chart5.jpg" style="height:257px; width:500px" /> </span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">12% of the population of tertiary age are in tertiary education </span></strong></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><img alt="12% of the population of tertiary age are in tertiary education" src="tinymce/uploaded/chart6.jpg" style="height:203px; width:500px" /> </span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><strong>86% of children complete a full course of primary</strong> </span></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><img alt="86% of children complete a full course of primary" src="tinymce/uploaded/chart7.jpg" style="height:237px; width:570px" /> </span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><strong>10.7% of government spending goes to education</strong></span></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><img alt="10.7% of government spending goes to education" src="tinymce/uploaded/chart8.jpg" style="height:337px; width:537px" /> </span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">65.2% of adults and 81.3% of youth are literate</span></strong></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><img alt="65.2% of adults and 81.3% of youth are literate" src="tinymce/uploaded/chart9.jpg" style="height:239px; width:526px" /> </span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="height:268px; width:500px">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><strong>Education at a glance</strong> </span></span></div>

			<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

			<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

			<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Youth (15&ndash;24 years) literacy rate, 2000&ndash;2007*, male 87<br />
			Youth (15&ndash;24 years) literacy rate, 2000&ndash;2007*, female 77<br />
			Number per 100 population, 2006, phones 15<br />
			Number per 100 population, 2006, Internet users 11<br />
			Primary school enrolment ratio 2000&ndash;2007*, gross, male 90<br />
			Primary school enrolment ratio 2000&ndash;2007*, gross, female 87<br />
			Primary school attendance ratio 2000&ndash;2007*, net, male 85<br />
			Primary school attendance ratio 2000&ndash;2007*, net, female 81<br />
			Secondary school enrolment ratio 2000&ndash;2007*, gross, male 59<br />
			Secondary school enrolment ratio 2000&ndash;2007*, gross, female 49<br />
			Secondary school attendance ratio 2000&ndash;2007*, net, male 59<br />
			Secondary school attendance ratio 2000&ndash;2007*, net, female 49<br />
			Note: Enrolment ratio means total enrolment in a specific level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the eligible official school-age population corresponding to the same level of education in a given school year. For the tertiary level, the population used is that of the five-year age group following on from the secondary school leaving<br />
			<br />
			<span style="font-size:small"><em><strong>Source:</strong> UNICEF, </em></span></span><a href="http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/india_statistics.html"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><em>http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/india_statistics.html</em></span></a><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-size:small"><em> </em></span></span></p>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<div style="text-align:justify"><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp; </span></div>
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&bull; At&nbsp;the&nbsp;national&nbsp;level,&nbsp;the&nbsp;proportion of&nbsp;government schools&nbsp;having facilities like drinking water was 96.39 percent, boys&#39; toilet was 94.64 percent, girls&#39; toilet was 97.03 percent, boundary wall was 60.12 percent, playground was 56.98 percent, ramp was 71.50 percent, CWSN toilet was 19.59 percent, electricity was 56.45 percent and library was 79.36 percent, according to the Unified District Information System For Education (UDISE) 2017-18 (Provisional) *12

&nbsp;

&bull; ASER 2019 &lsquo;Early Years&rsquo; data shows a clear...'
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	'title' => 'Education',
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	'description' => '<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">KEY TRENDS</span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&bull; At&nbsp;the&nbsp;national&nbsp;level,&nbsp;the&nbsp;proportion of&nbsp;government schools&nbsp;having facilities like drinking water was 96.39 percent, boys&#39; toilet was 94.64 percent, girls&#39; toilet was 97.03 percent, boundary wall was 60.12 percent, playground was 56.98 percent, ramp was 71.50 percent, CWSN toilet was 19.59 percent, electricity was 56.45 percent and library was 79.36 percent, according to the Unified District Information System For Education (UDISE) 2017-18 (Provisional) <strong>*12</strong></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&bull; ASER 2019 &lsquo;Early Years&rsquo; data shows a clear relationship between children&rsquo;s performance on cognitive tasks and measures of early language and early numeracy, suggesting that a focus on activities that strengthen cognitive skills rather than subject learning in the early years may generate substantial benefits in terms of children&rsquo;s future learning. The entire age band from 4 to 8 needs to be seen as a continuum, and curriculum progression across grades and schooling stages designed accordingly. For an effective and implementable curriculum, the process of designing, planning, piloting, and finalizing needs to keep ground realities in mind <strong>*11</strong><br />
<br />
&bull; From the National Sample Survey (NSS) 75th Round one gets that in rural areas, average expenditure per student pursuing general course in the current academic year was Rs. 5,240, while in urban areas it was Rs. 16,308. In rural areas, average expenditure per student pursuing technical/professional course in the current academic year was Rs. 32,137, while in urban areas it was Rs. 64,763 <strong>*10</strong></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&bull; The Right to Education Act was implemented in 2010 and the first cohort of students to benefit from its provisions completed 8 years of compulsory schooling in 2018. Nationally, substantial improvements are visible over this 8-year period in the availability of many school facilities mandated by RTE. The fraction of schools with usable girls&#39; toilets doubled, reaching 66.4 percent in 2018, says the ASER 2018. The proportion of schools with boundary walls increased by 13.4 percentage points, standing at 64.4 percent in 2018. The percentage of schools with a kitchen shed increased from 82.1 percent to 91 percent, and the proportion of schools with books other than textbooks available increased from 62.6 percent to 74.2 percent over the same period <strong>*9</strong></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&bull; Girls and young women have far lower access to computer and internet as compared to boys. While 49 percent of males have never used the internet, close to 76 percent of females have never done so <strong>*8</strong></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&bull; Nationally, the proportion of children in Std III who are able to read at least Std I level text has gone up slightly, from 40.2 percent in 2014 to 42.5 percent in 2016, as per the 11th ASER <strong>*7</strong></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&bull; Nearly 6 percent of rural households and 29 percent of urban household possessed computer. In India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27 percent had internet access in the survey year, 2014. The proportions were 16 percent among rural households and 49 percent of urban households <strong>*6 </strong><br />
<br />
&bull; In India nearly 85 percent of the students in age-group 15-29 years were pursuing general education. Nearly 12.6 percent and 2.4 percent students in age-group 15-29 years were attending technical/ professional and vocational courses respectively <strong>*6</strong></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&bull; As per 2014 ASER report, 2014 is the sixth year in a row that enrollment levels are 96% or higher for the 6-14 age group. The proportion of children currently not in school remains at 3.3 percent. Although enrollment levels are very high for the age group covered by the Right to Education Act (i.e. 6 to 14 years), the proportion of 15 to 16 year olds not enrolled in school is substantial. Nationally, for rural areas, 15.9 percent of boys and 17.3 percent of girls in this age group are currently out of school. In some states the proportion of girls (age group 11-14) out of school remains greater than 8 percent such as Rajasthan (12.1 percent) and Uttar Pradesh (9.2 percent)<strong> *5</strong><br />
<br />
&bull; Overall, the situation with basic reading continues to be extremely disheartening in India. In 2014, in Std III, only a fourth of all children can read a Std II text fluently. This number rises to just under half in Std V. Even in Std VIII, close to 75 percent children can read Std II level text (which implies that 25 percent still cannot)<strong> *5</strong><br />
<br />
&bull; Looking over a five to eight year period, the ASER 2014 concludes that math levels have declined in almost every state. Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are the exceptions where the situation has been more or less the same for the past several years <strong>*5</strong></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&bull;<span style="font-size:medium"> </span>In India, the richest young women have already achieved universal literacy but based on current trends, the poorest are projected to only do so around 2080. Children who learn less are more likely to leave school early. In India, children who achieved lower scores in mathematics at age 12 were more than twice as likely to drop out by age 15 than those who performed better <strong>*4</strong><br />
<br />
&bull; Of all schools visited in 2013, percentage of schools which have drinking water available and useable is 73.8 percent, toilets available and useable is 62.6 percent, girls&#39; toilet available and useable is 53.3 percent, library available and books being used is 40.7 percent, kitchen shed in school available is 87.0 percent, and mid day meal served on day of visit is 87.2 percent. The proportion of schools that comply with RTE pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) norms has increased every year, from 38.9 percent in 2010 to 45.3 percent in 2013 <strong>*3</strong><br />
<br />
&bull; The proportion of children (age group 6-14) enrolled in private schools was 29 percent in 2013. Private school enrolment figures were 28.3 percent in 2012. This number has risen from 18.7 percent in 2006 <strong>*3</strong><br />
<br />
&bull; In 2010, 33.2 percent children of Std. III in government schools could at least do subtraction, as compared to 47.8 percent in private schools. The gap between children in government and private schools has widened over time. In 2013, 18.9 percent of Std. III students in government schools were able to do basic subtraction or more, as compared to 44.6 percent of Std. III children in private schools <strong>*3</strong><br />
<br />
&bull; In the rural areas, the proportion of not-literates was the highest among persons belonging to the household type rural labour (46 percent) and was the lowest among the household type others (26 percent) <strong>*2</strong><br />
<br />
&bull; In rural areas, 70 per cent of the students were attending some Government institutions compared to 40 per cent in the urban areas <strong>*2</strong><br />
<br />
&bull; Gross enrolment ratio (GER) is the total enrolment in a specific level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the eligible official school-age population corresponding to the same level of education in a given school year) for primary schools has improved from 104 percent in 2005-06 to 115 percent in 2009-10 <strong>*1</strong><br />
<br />
&bull; The percentage of trained teachers stood at 89 percent for Higher Secondary Schools/ Inter Colleges, 90 percent for High /Post Basic Schools, 88 percent for Middle/ Sr. Basic School and 86 percent for Pre-Primary/ Primary/ Jr. Basic School, as per Statistics of School Education 2009-10 <strong>*1</strong></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><strong>12. </strong>Parliamentary Standing Committee report on Demands for Grants 2020-21, Demand No. 58 of the Department of School Education &amp; Literacy, presented to the Rajya Sabha on 5th March, 2020, Report no. 312, please <a href="https://www.im4change.org/upload/files/Parliamentary%20Standing%20Committee%205%20March%202020%281%29.pdf">click here</a> to access</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><strong>11.</strong> ASER 2019 &#39;Early Years&#39;, released in January 2020, please click <a href="tinymce/uploaded/aser2019nationalpressrelease_final.pdf" title="ASER 2019 National Press Release_final">here</a>, <a href="tinymce/uploaded/alldistricts_mainfindings_aser2019final.pdf" title="All Districts_Main Findings_ASER 2019 Final">here</a> and <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%202019%20nationalfindings.pdf" title="ASER 2019 nationalfindings">here</a> to access<a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%202019%20nationalfindings.pdf" title="ASER 2019 nationalfindings"> </a></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><strong>10. </strong>NSS 75th Round Report: Key Indicators of Household Social Consumption on Education in India, July 2017 to June 2018, released on 23rd November 2019</span>, <span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">p</span></span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">lease <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Press%20Note%20NSS%2075th%20Round%20Report%20Key%20Indicators%20of%20Social%20Consumption%20on%20Education%20in%20India%20July%202017%20to%20June%202018%20released%20on%2023rd%20November%202019.pdf" title="Press Note NSS 75th Round Report Key Indicators of Social Consumption on Education in India July 2017 to June 2018 released on 23rd November 2019">click here</a> and </span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="https://im4change.org/docs/772NSS_75th_Round_Report_Key_Indicators_of_Household_Social_Consumption_on_Education_in_India_July_2017_to_June_2018_released_on_23rd_November_2019.pdf">click here</a></span>&nbsp;</span>&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><strong>9.</strong> <span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2018, please click <a href="tinymce/uploaded/aser2018pressreleaseenglish.pdf" title="ASER 2018 Press Release English">here</a>, <a href="tinymce/uploaded/aser2018nationalfindingsppt.pdf" title="ASER 2018 National Findings PPT">here</a> and <a href="http://img.asercentre.org/docs/ASER%202018/Release%20Material/aserreport2018.pdf">here</a> to access</span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><strong>8. </strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">ASER 2017: Beyond Basics</span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">, please click <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%202017%20National%20findings.pdf" title="ASER 2017 National findings">here</a> and <a href="http://img.asercentre.org/docs/Publications/ASER%20Reports/ASER%202017/aser2017fullreport.pdf">here</a> to access</span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><strong>7. </strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">11th </span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Annual Status of Education Report </span> (i.e. 2016 ASER), please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/aser%202016.pdf" title="ASER 2016">click here</a> to access</span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><strong>6.</strong> <span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015), please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf" title="NSS 71st round Education">click here</a> to access the full report; please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Press%20Note%20Education.pdf" title="Press Note NSS 71st Education">click here</a> to read the summary of findings</span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><strong>5.</strong> <span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">ASER 2014 (Please click <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%20National%20Findings.pdf" title="ASER National findings">link1</a>, <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%202014%20Press%20Release.pdf" title="ASER 2014 press release">link2</a> &amp; <a href="http://img.asercentre.org/docs/Publications/ASER%20Reports/ASER%202014/fullaser2014mainreport.pdf">link3</a> to access)</span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">
<div><br />
<strong>4.</strong> 11th UNESCO Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2013-14 entitled Teaching and learning: Achieving quality for all <span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">(please click <a href="http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002256/225660e.pdf">link 1</a>, <a href="tinymce/uploaded/SouthWestAsia_Factsheet_v2.pdf" title="EFA Factsheet">link 2</a> and <a href="tinymce/uploaded/PressRelease_SWA_non_embargoed.pdf" title="EFA Press Release">link 3</a> to download)</span><br />
<br />
<strong>3.</strong> ASER 2013 report <span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">(click <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%202013%20Findings.pdf" title="ASER 2013 Findings">link 1</a>, <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%20Press%20Release.pdf" title="ASER Press Release">link 2</a> to download)</span></div>
</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><strong>2.</strong> NSS report no. 551 (66/10/6) titled Status of Education and Vocational Training in India (66th Round), July 2009-June 2010, published in March 2013, MoSPI,&nbsp;<a href="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/nss_report_551.pdf">http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/nss_report_551.pdf</a></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:Arial; font-size:medium"><strong>1.</strong> Children in India 2012-A Statistical Appraisal, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI,&nbsp;<a href="https://im4change.org/docs/659Children_in_India_2012.pdf">http://www.im4change.org/docs/659Children_in_India_2012.pdf</a></span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Please note that information about Right to Education and many more related themes is also given under &quot;Empowerment&quot; section of the im4change website. For best results please check out both sections. Please <a href="https://im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=60">click here</a> to access.</span>&nbsp; <span style="font-family:Arial; font-size:medium"> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<div>
<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">**page** </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
The key findings of the report titled [inside]Gloom in the Classroom: The Schooling Crisis in Jharkhand, prepared by Gyan Vigyan Samiti Jharkhand, released in December 2022[/inside], are as follows (please <a href="https://im4change.org/docs/Gloom-in-the-Classroom.pdf">click here</a> to access):&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The schooling system in Jharkhand is shot through with teacher shortages. Only 53 percent of primary schools and 19 percent of upper-primary schools in the sample had a pupil-teacher ratio below 30, as prescribed under the Right to Education Act.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Out of 138 schools in the sample, 20 percent had a single teacher. In a majority of these schools, the single teacher is a male para-teacher. Almost 90 percent of pupils in these single-teacher schools are Dalit or Adivasi children.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Para-teachers account for a majority (55 percent) of teachers at the primary level, and 37 percent of teachers at the upper-primary level. About 40 percent of primary schools in the sample are run entirely by para-teachers.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In a majority of schools, teachers felt that &ldquo;most&rdquo; pupils had forgotten how to read and write by the time schools reopened in February 2022.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Pupil attendance on the day of the survey was just 68 percent in primary schools and 58 percent in upper-primary schools.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Not a single school in the sample had functional toilets, electricity and water supply (all three).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Two thirds of primary schools in the sample had no boundary wall, 64 percent did not have a playground and 37 percent had no library books.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; A large majority (two thirds) of the teachers said that the school did not have adequate funds for the midday meal at the time of the survey.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Many schools (10 percent as per teachers&rsquo; responses, more according to survey teams) are still not serving eggs twice a week, as prescribed.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In most of the sample schools, little had been done to help children who had forgotten how to read and write during the Covid-19 crisis, except for the&nbsp;distribution of &ldquo;foundational literacy and numeracy&rdquo; (FLN) material.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; GVSJ survey of 138 primary and upper-primary schools in 16 districts of Jharkhand, SeptemberOctober 2022. The sample schools were selected at random within the 26 sample blocks, among those where at least 50 percent of pupils are SC/ST.<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Kindly click <a href="https://im4change.org/upload/files/NCEE-Survey-Report-Cries-of-Anguish-March-22.pdf">here</a>, <a href="https://im4change.org/upload/files/Cries%20of%20Anguish%20-%20Report%20Summary%20-%20English.pdf">here</a>, and <a href="https://im4change.org/news-alerts-57/reality-is-stranger-than-the-fad-for-online-education-most-schools-lack-it-infrastructure.html">here</a> to access the main findings of the report titled [inside]Cries of Anguish (released in March 2022)[/inside] by National Coalition on the Education Emergency (NCEE).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">---</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The key findings of the report titled [inside]India Needs To Learn -- A Case for Keeping Schools Open (released in January 2022)[/inside], which has been jointly prepared by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Teach for India in collaboration with various NGOs and CSOs (please <a href="https://im4change.org/upload/files/India%20Needs%20To%20Learn-A%20Case%20for%20Keeping%20Schools%20Open.pdf">click here</a> to access), are as follows:&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">--India has now had pandemic-driven school closures for ~2 years</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Schools were mostly shut from Mar 2020 till year end; 2021 saw small phases of opening<br />
&bull; In 2021, while secondary schools were open for 40-50% time, elementary schools have mostly remained shut for 12/22 major Indian states</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">--While many efforts have been made towards online education, penetration and effectiveness remain woefully inadequate</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; 40-70% children don&#39;t have a device at home; &gt;80% teachers expressed impossibility of maintaining emotional connect<br />
&bull; ~90% children lost at least one specific language ability, significant SEL (Social &amp; Emotional Learning) losses (more so for children with special needs)<br />
&bull; As per World Bank, every year of schooling lost translates to potentially ~9% lower future earnings for a student</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">--Prolonged school closures have serious implications, extending beyond learning e.g., increased child exploitation, lower nutrition with constrained mid-day meals, social and emotional issues</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">--80%+ parents would like schools to open for in-person learning per multiple surveys, given multiple challenges with online learning:</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Academic: ~37% parents responded their child didn&#39;t study at all at home, 71% responded child didn&#39;t have a test/exam in last 3 months<br />
&bull; Behavioral: ~49% parents responded their child is facing an improper schedule (e.g., for studying, sleeping, eating etc.)</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">--While schools were globally shut in 2020 (first half), many countries kept schools largely open through 2021; e.g., Australia (85-90% open), Japan (85-90% open), South Africa (80-85% open), US (75-80% open), UK (70-75% open), Portugal (60-65% open), China (90%+ open)</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; This is despite considerably higher disease incidence vs India (25k cases per million population) in other countries e.g., UK (197k), US (169k), Portugal (141k), South Africa (58k)<br />
&bull; In fact, many countries prioritized keeping schools open vis-a-vis malls, shops, gyms etc. (e.g., France, UK, Canada) such that schools were last to close and first to open</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">--Public health arguments indicate low school re-opening risk</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Children &lt;20 yrs had 3-6x lower incidence; 17x+ lower fatality vs adults even in countries with open schools<br />
&bull; Infection transmission in school-going children was observed to be lower e.g., new cases per 1000 population lower in school children vs community; despite school re-opening across select Indian states in mid-2021, cases didn&#39;t spike (e.g., Punjab, Maharashtra etc.)<br />
&bull; Increasing vaccination penetration (~45% fully vaccinated in India) likely to lead to lower hospitalization and fatality; and infection severity expected to be 40%+ further lower in Omicron vs Delta (for vaccinated individuals)&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">--India&#39;s continued centralized decision making implies that even in districts with &lt;25 daily cases, schools are shut (~70% districts pan India)</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Since 2020, many countries have moved from national/state level to a lower unit of governance to avoid mass school closures<br />
&bull; For e.g., US, UK, Australia, Pakistan, Nepal have defined clear norms for schools to open and close at district/county/school level</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">--Countries which have re-opened schools have undertaken initiatives to curb transmission on multiple dimensions</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Social distancing e.g., single row desk arrangement in &lsquo;face-to-back&rsquo; setting (Hong Kong), outdoor classes (Denmark)<br />
&bull; Masks/ face shields e.g., mandatory masks (Spain), face shield mandate for younger students (Singapore)<br />
&bull; Testing e.g., twice-a-week compulsory rapid antigen tests (UK &amp; Germany)<br />
&bull; Staggering school timings e.g., classes in 2 shifts (Hong Kong), staggered school start/recess/end times (UK)<br />
&bull; Forming student pods/bubbles e.g., classmates divided into cohorts, &amp; do not mix with members of other cohorts (Norway)<br />
&bull; Vaccination e.g., prioritized booster doses for teachers (Canada, US), in-school vaccination for students (UK)</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">--Hence, critical for India to move to a philosophy of schools being &quot;last to close, first to open&quot; and act on 4 key implications</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Decentralize school re-opening and closures (e.g., ward, Gram Panchayat, school level) with clearly defined norms<br />
&bull; Offer blended learning construct through the year i.e. in addition to offline, continue online education<br />
&bull; Strengthen testing (e.g., weekly antigen tests), vaccination (e.g., mandatory for school staff), safety protocol (e.g., masking etc.) and ventilation (e.g., leverage outdoors spaces, keep doors/ windows open, monitor ventilation etc.)<br />
&bull; Prepare to bridge learning gaps caused by pandemic-driven school closures, and allocate sufficient resources for the same</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">--However, beyond just re-opening, it will take considerable mission-mode resilience from all stakeholders to gain what is lost &amp; build back better</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Govt: Build a robust mid-term (3-5 year) roadmap to bridge learning gap, with adequate infrastructure upgradation and funding support<br />
&bull; Local administrators &amp; school staff: Make education a priority by regularly monitoring in-school preparedness and adherence to protocols<br />
&bull; Parents: Trust the system by sending their children to school and encourage children to follow Covid-appropriate behavior</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The recent policy documents, including the NIPUN Bharat guidelines (2021), highlight the importance of developing Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) skills to ensure future success. In simple terms, FLN refers to basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">If learning in the foundational years encompassing three years of preschool followed by two years of grade 1 and 2 is not done well, it often leads to children falling behind, unable to ever catch up, even if supported by the so called &lsquo;remediation programmers&rsquo;. It acts as the base upon which all future learning is built. It&rsquo;s relevance in improving not just the future learning capacities but also influencing economic, social and developmental factors over long term have been established beyond doubt.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Sadly, the state of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy in India is dismal with data from ASER surveys, National Achievement Surveys (NAS) showing poor literacy and numeracy skills across grades. What is worrisome is also that the performance of children is not just low, it is seen to be falling over the last few years. In addition to this, there also exists wide variations across the country with some states like Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana clearly outperforming states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. Lack of focus on quality of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy and ultimately leads to generations of children unable to become productive citizens of the economy, leading to massive economic and social losses.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">There are issues that make it difficult to achieve quality learning, some of which include poor quality teaching in anganwadis, and primary grades that is partially supported by obsolete curriculum and textbooks in addition to a multilingual reality that we are unequipped to handle. Besides, low quality teacher professional development, lack of monitoring and support and inadequate research further leads to a complex cycle of low expectations, poor implementation and low quality of real teaching learning in the classroom.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">India needs a futuristic approach to ensure universal access to quality levels and equity for all pre-primary and primary education children. The Index on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy is a first step in the same direction, establishing an understanding of the overall state of Foundational Learning across children aged below ten years in Indian States and Union territories. It provides 41 different indicators across five key domains: Educational Infrastructure, Access to Education, Basic Health, Learning outcomes and Governance. The methodology adopted to assign weights in the index is Principal component analysis (PCA) .&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The key findings of the report titled [inside]State of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy in India (released on 16th December, 2021)[/inside], which has been prepared by Institute for Competitiveness in association with Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), are as follows (please click <a href="https://im4change.org/upload/files/Report_on_state_of_foundational_learning_and_numeracy_web_version.pdf">here</a> and <a href="/upload/files/PIB%20Foundational%20Literacy.pdf">here</a> to access):&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The top-scoring regions are Kerala (67.95) and West Bengal (58.95) in Small and Large states, respectively. Lakshadweep (52.69) and Mizoram (51.64) are top-scoring regions in Union Territory and Northeast state category</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Out of the five pillars, it has been observed that states have performed particularly worse in Governance. More than 50 percent of the states have scored below the national average, i.e. 28.05, the lowest across all pillars. These pillar-wise analyses will help states assess the state of the budgetary measures and steps needed to improve the status of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy identify existing gaps that obstruct their growth.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; There is a huge gap between Kerala and the rest of the Indian States in the Index on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy scores. This vast variation is observed in the Learning outcomes and Educational Infrastructure, which necessitates immediate attention for the rest of the country.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The challenge of access to education is a component that requires immediate attention within the states. The large states like Rajasthan (25.67), Gujarat (22.28) and Bihar (18.23) notably lags on this front, whereas the north-eastern states show the highest scores due to their better performance.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Best practices can be adopted from the highest-scoring states/ UTs. Kerala, West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh to further develop policy reforms to improve in those areas where the state of education has scope for improvement.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Some states may serve as role models for others in certain aspects, but they too need to learn from other districts while tackling their challenges. This holds not only for high performers but also for low performing states. For instance, while Kerala has the best performance in the small state, it can also learn from some lower-scoring regions, such as Andhra Pradesh (38.50), which outperforms Kerala (36.55) with respect to access to education.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The indicators are assigned weights after being categorized under specific heads used to make the index more robust. For calculating the weights of indicators within a component, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) has been used. Parameters were then run through PCA to check for a fit between the indicators.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The percentage of GDP that goes into education needs to be increased on an urgent basis. The current chunk is 3.1 percent. This needs to at least be doubled or more to ensure the wide-scale establishment of necessary prerequisites and implementation of &lsquo;quality&rsquo; Foundational Literacy and Numeracy across the continuum.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Efforts would need to be made to ensure basic infrastructural facilities for a child &ndash; including drinking water and sanitation facilities as well as healthy nutritious food. Additionally, adequate internet facilities and basic tech resources need to be provided in all the schools to ensure access and use of the newer digital learning opportunities, along with offline reading materials and libraries. These form the backbone of all efforts directed towards the achievement of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Since nutrition and education are both equally important and require significant time and effort, it may be worthwhile to consider having two anganwadi workers--AWWs per anganwadi. While one of them may be trained and specialised in the health component, including providing supplementary nutrition, the other can focus on ensuring non-formal education to children. (N. Vinayak, 2015).&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The report highlights the role of well-planned early interventions like the National Education Policy (2020) and the NIPUN Bharat guidelines, leading to long-term improved learning outcomes.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Research indicates that 90 percent of a child&rsquo;s brain&nbsp;development happens by five years of age. Hence, focus&nbsp;on early education years becomes one of the most important indicators of productive and efficient human capital.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In the schooling system, Foundational Literacy and Numeracy refers to education of a child between 3-8 years of age. This essentially includes the initial three years of pre school, followed by early primary education up to grade 2, as per the National Education Policy (NEP 2020). However, the NIPUN Bharat guidelines for implementation of NEP talks of four foundational years, namely one year of pre school plus formal schooling up to grade 3.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In simple terms Foundational Literacy refers to the ability to read and understand an age appropriate text. However, it is critical to understand what it really means and entails.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The NIPUN Bharat guidelines talk of nine key skills to be focused on for Foundational Literacy. They are: 1. Oral&nbsp;Language Development; 2. Phonological Awareness; 3. Decoding; 4. Concept About Print; 5. Writing; 6. Culture of Reading; 7. Vocabulary; 8. Reading Comprehension; and 9. Reading Fluency.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Foundational Numeracy means the ability to reason and to apply simple numerical concepts in every day problem solving situations, as per the NIPUN Bharat guidelines 2021.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The NIPUN Bharat guidelines talk of five key skills to be focused on for Foundational Numeracy. They are: 1. Pre Math Concept; 2. Numbers and Operations; 3. Measurement; 4. Geometry; and 5. Patterns.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The sixteenth Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) 2021 was released online on 17th November 2021. The ASER 2021 was conducted in 25 states and 3 Union Territories. It reached a total of 76,706 households and 75,234 children in the age group of 5-16 years, as well as teachers or headteachers from 7,299 government schools offering primary grades.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Every year from 2005 to 2014, and then every alternate year till 2018, ASER has reported on the schooling status of children in the 5-16 age group across rural India and their ability to do basic reading and arithmetic tasks.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Last year, COVID-19 interrupted this trajectory, along with so much else. But with schools being closed since March 2020, understanding the effect of the pandemic on schools, families, and children was crucial. To address the need for large-scale nationally representative data on the impact of the pandemic on children&#39;s education, in 2020, ASER developed an entirely new design, consisting of a phone-based survey that explored children&#39;s access to learning opportunities.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">With the pandemic extending into yet another year, field-based survey operations were still not possible on a national scale. As a consequence, ASER 2021 followed the same format of a phone-based survey. Conducted in September-October 2021, eighteen months after the first lockdown, the survey explores how children in the age group of 5-16 studied at home since the onset of the pandemic and the challenges that the schools and households now face as schools reopen across states.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The key findings of the [inside]Sixteenth Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) 2021 (released on 17th November, 2021)[/inside] are as follows (please click <a href="/upload/files/ASER%202021%20Full%20Report%281%29.pdf">here</a>, <a href="/upload/files/pressrelease_aser2021_english_final1%281%29.pdf">here</a>, <a href="/upload/files/Main%20findings%20nationalppt%281%29.pdf">here</a>, <a href="/upload/files/household%20major%20findings.pdf">here</a>, <a href="/upload/files/additional%20household%20tables.pdf">here</a>, and <a href="/upload/files/school%20survey%20major%20findings.pdf">here</a> to access) :&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>SCHOOL ENROLLMENT PATTERNS</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Enrollment data from ASER 2021, 2020, and 2018 show that:</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; At an all-India level, there has been a clear shift from private to government schools: For children in the age group of 6-14, enrollment in private schools has decreased from 32.5 percent in 2018 to 24.4 percent in 2021. This shift is seen in all grades and among both boys and girls. However, boys are still more likely to be enrolled in private schools than girls.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; No change in children aged 6-14 not enrolled in school: The proportion of children not currently enrolled in school increased from 1.4 percent to 4.6 percent in 2020. This proportion remained unchanged between 2020 and 2021.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; More older children in school than ever before: Among older children in the age group of 15-16, an increase in government school enrollment from 57.4 percent in 2018 to 67.4 percent has been driven by a marked decline in the proportion of out of school children in this age group, from 12.1 percent in 2018 to 6.6 percent in 2021, as well as by decreasing private school enrollment.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; There is a fair amount of variation in enrollment at the state level. The national increase in government school enrollment is driven by large northern states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana and southern states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh. In contrast, in many northeastern states, government school enrollment has fallen during this period, and the proportion of children not enrolled in school has increased. &nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>TUITION</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The ASER survey routinely collects data on paid private tuition classes that children take to supplement their education.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Big increase in children taking tuition: At an all-India level, in 2018, less than 30 percent of children took private tuition classes. In 2021, this proportion has jumped to almost 40 percent. This proportion has increased across both sexes and all grades and school types.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Increase in tuition-taking highest among the less advantaged: Taking parental education as a proxy for economic status, the proportion of children with parents in the &#39;low&#39; education category who are taking tuition increased by 12.6 percentage points, as opposed to a 7.2 percentage point increase among children with parents in the &#39;high&#39; education category.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Fewer children whose schools have reopened are taking tuition: Some differences are visible in the proportion of children taking tuition by school reopening status, with tuition classes more common among children whose schools were still closed at the time of the survey.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Tuition is up across the country: The incidence of tuition has increased across all states except Kerala.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>ACCESS TO SMARTPHONES</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Smartphones became the predominant source of teaching-learning when schools shut down and moved to a remote model of teaching-learning last year, giving rise to concerns about the most marginalised being left behind.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Smartphone ownership has almost doubled since 2018: The availability of smartphones has increased from 36.5 percent in 2018 to 67.6 percent in 2021. However, more children in private schools have a smartphone at home (79 percent) as opposed to government school-going children (63.7 percent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Household economic status makes a difference in smartphone availability: As parents&#39; education level increases (a proxy for economic status), the likelihood that the household has a smartphone also increases. In 2021, over 80 percent of children with parents who have studied up to Std IX or higher had a smartphone available at home, as compared to just over 50 percent of children whose parents had studied till Std V or less. However, even among children whose parents are in the &lsquo;low&rsquo; education category, over a quarter bought a smartphone for their studies since March 2020.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Smartphone availability does not translate into access for children: Although over two-thirds of all enrolled children have a smartphone at home (67.6 percent), over a quarter of these have no access to it (26.1 percent). There is also a clear pattern by grade, with more children in higher classes having access to a smartphone as compared to children in lower grades.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>LEARNING SUPPORT AT HOME</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">ASER 2021 followed up on the questions asked in ASER 2020 about whether the child is provided learning support at home and who is providing it.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Learning support at home has decreased over the last year: The proportion of enrolled children who received learning support at home has decreased from three-quarters of all enrolled children in 2020 to two-thirds in 2021, with the sharpest drops visible among children in higher grades.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; School reopening is driving decreasing support: Among both government and private school-going children, those whose schools have reopened get less support from home. For example, 75.6 percent of private school-going children whose schools have not reopened receive help at home as opposed to 70.4 percent whose schools have reopened. The reduction in help is driven largely by less support from fathers.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>ACCESS TO LEARNING MATERIALS</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">ASER 2021 followed up on the questions asked in ASER 2020 about whether children have textbooks for their current grade and whether they received any additional materials from their school teachers in the week prior to the survey (reference week). These could take the form of traditional materials like worksheets in print or virtual form; online or recorded classes; and videos or other activities sent via phone or received in person. For children whose schools had reopened, these materials could also include homework given by the school.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Almost all children have textbooks: Almost all enrolled children have textbooks for their current grade (91.9 percent). This proportion has increased over the last year, for children enrolled in both government and private schools.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Slight increase in additional materials received: Overall, among enrolled children whose schools had not reopened, 39.8 percent of children received some kind of learning materials or activities (other than textbooks) from their teachers during the reference week. This is a slight increase over 2020 when 35.6 percent of children received learning materials in the reference week.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; More children in reopened schools received learning materials: In the reference week, 46.4 percent of children in reopened schools received learning materials/activities as compared to 39.8 percent of children whose schools had not reopened, mainly because of the inclusion of homework in reopened schools.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>POLICY IMPLICATIONS</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">As schools reopen after 18 months of lockdown, it is essential to understand the impact of school closures so that policies to address these issues can be formulated accordingly. Some overarching policy implications from ASER 2021 are as follows:</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Enrollment: The enrollment of children in government schools has increased notably over the last two years. Government schools and teachers need to be equipped to deal with this influx.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Building on family support: Family support has reduced since 2020 as schools reopen, but remains significant especially for early primary grades. Parental engagement with children&rsquo;s learning can be integrated into planning for learning improvement, as advocated by the National Education Policy. &ldquo;Reaching parents at the right level&rdquo; is essential to understand how they can help their children.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; &ldquo;Hybrid&rdquo; learning: Children are doing a variety of different activities at home; many of these are provided by family members and private tutors in addition to schools. Effective ways of &ldquo;hybrid&rdquo; learning need to be developed that combine traditional teaching-learning with newer ways of &ldquo;reaching-learning&rdquo;.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Tuition: The proportion of children attending private tuition classes has shot up since 2018 during an extended period of school closures and uncertainty. This might lead to a bigger learning gap between students who can and cannot afford paid tuition.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Mediating the &ldquo;digital divide&rdquo;: Expectedly, children from families who had low education and also did not have resources like smartphones had less access to learning opportunities. There is evidence of effort even in these households: parents have been purchasing smartphones specifically for their children&rsquo;s education. However, these children will need even more help than others as schools reopen.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Smartphone access: ASER 2021 confirms that even if there is a smartphone in the family, children often do not have access to it. This finding needs to be taken into account as future plans are made for remote learning or the use of digital content and devices.<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Kindly click <a href="https://im4change.org/latest-news-updates/as-schools-re-open-address-language-mathematics-competences-at-different-grades-asks-ncee.html">here</a> and <a href="https://im4change.org/upload/files/A%20Future%20at%20Stake%20-%20National%20Coalition%20on%20the%20Education%20Emergency.pdf">here</a> to access the document titled [inside]A Future at Stake &ndash; Guidelines and Principles to Resume and Renew Education (released on 2nd November, 2021)[/inside], which has been prepared by the National Coalition on the Education Emergency (NCEE).&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">---</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
The [inside]2021 State of the Education Report for India: No Teacher, No Class (released in October, 2021)[/inside] has been prepared by UNESCO New Delhi office in collaboration with Centre of Excellence in Teacher Education at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai. Experts from other educational institutions too have played a key role in preparing the report.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">This third edition of the State of Education Report, focused on the theme of teachers, teaching and teacher education, underscores that the work of teaching is complex. It attempts to provide an understanding of key aspects of the teaching profession, provides a profile of the 9.6 million teaching workforce, as well as the challenges of their intricate teaching routine and their professional development.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">With an in-depth analysis of the current state of teachers in India, highlighting best practices, the UNESCO State of the Education report for India 2021 aims to serve as a reference for enhancing the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) and towards the realization of the SDG.4 target 4c on teachers. The NEP, adopted in 2020, acknowledges teachers as crucial elements in the learning process, while stressing the importance of their recruitment, continuous professional development, good work environment and service conditions.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The report also looks at teachers&rsquo; experience of ICT and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the teaching profession. The ongoing pandemic has drawn attention to the centrality of the profession and the importance of quality of teaching. During this unprecedented health crisis, most teachers were found to have positive attitudes and beliefs about integrating technology in education, even though they perceived a lack of professional skills. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The key findings of the &#39;2021 State of the Education Report for India: No Teachers, No Class&#39; are as follows (please click <a href="/upload/files/2021%20State%20of%20the%20Education%20Report%20for%20India%20No%20Teachers%20No%20Class.pdf">here</a>, <a href="https://en.unesco.org/news/unesco-launches-2021-state-education-report-india-no-teacher-no-class">here</a> and <a href="https://www.tatatrusts.org/insights/survey-reports/no-teacher-no-class-state-of-the-education-report-for-india-2021-released-by-unesco-with-cete">here</a> to access the sources):&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>Profile of teachers in India</em>&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Using data from the Unified District Information System for Education, the report profiles the current teaching workforce and reveals aspects of teacher availability, deployment, and working conditions.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The private, unaided sector accounts for 30 percent of the teaching workforce, while the government sector employs about 50 percent. While teacher availability has improved, pupil-teacher ratios are adverse in secondary schools. Moreover, there is no information on availability of special education, music, arts and physical education teachers. The availability and deployment of subject teachers too, is not well documented and monitored. Almost all single-teacher schools are in rural areas. There is a pronounced need to improve both availability and deployment of qualified teachers in the north-eastern states of India. In terms of basic amenities, the working conditions of teachers in the north-east and the &lsquo;aspirational districts&rsquo; are poor. Provision of school libraries is low, information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure is very low, and there is marked rural-urban disparity.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The profession is overall gender balanced, with women accounting for about 50 percent of the teaching workforce, but there are significant inter-state and urban-rural variations.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The majority of teachers in urban areas are women, in contrast with rural areas. The early childhood education, special education and private unaided schools sectors are also highly feminized.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The work force has a deficit of over 1 million teachers (at current student strength) and the need is likely to grow, given the shortages of teachers in certain education levels and subjects such as early childhood education, special education, physical education, music, arts, and curricular streams of vocational education. In fifteen years, about 30 per cent of the current workforce will need to be replaced.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>Status and terms of employment</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The teaching profession has average status in India, but it is a career of choice for women and youth from rural areas in particular. Private school teachers and early childhood education teachers are highly vulnerable groups, with many working without contracts at low salaries, with no health or maternity leave benefits.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Several states have introduced the teacher eligibility test as part of their recruitment processes in order to improve teacher quality. Some states have also adopted technology aided teacher deployment. Teacher governance remains a focal area for systemic reform, accounting for 70 percent of the governance metric score in the Performance Grading Index.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>Teaching practices in India</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Teacher-centric practices dominate the Indian pedagogical landscape in both government and private schools, and in most subject areas. These practices are linked to teachers&rsquo; beliefs regarding their learners, the process of learning, subject matter and the aims of education. Teachers who successfully address the learning needs of children from underprivileged and marginalized groups are found to have positive attitudes towards their students. They think of pedagogy as inclusive communication, and create an environment in which children feel cared for. Perceptions of ineducability, on the other hand, lead to teachers neglecting their students. Having an academic and collegial ethos in school, and better teaching-learning environments motivate teachers and enhance teaching quality. Teachers are more likely to change their practices in sustained ways when professional development engages with their beliefs and they experience the satisfaction of seeing their students learn.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Teacher workload is high &ndash; contrary to public perception &ndash; although invisible, and a source of stress. Teachers value being given professional autonomy, and disregard of this is demotivating. Teachers&rsquo; voices in the system in matters of policy and governance can be enhanced through professional teacher networks, and unions. Most accountability systems tend to emphasize monitoring. Professional standards need to be made a part of a larger system and used in the context of professional development rather than accountability.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>Pre and in-service professional training</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; A large proportion of teacher education programmes in India are run in &lsquo;self-financed&rsquo; colleges. Their geographic spread across the country is uneven. There are very few programmes to prepare special education, vocational education, arts and music education teachers. The volume of admission in Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) programmes seems to be stable, and quality of intake is found to have improved due to the adoption of entrance examinations. However, in some states, there are fewer science students opting for programmes. Admissions in Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed.) and Master of Education (M.Ed.) programmes are shrinking. Pre-service teacher education curricula still need to be improved, and supported with Indian language teaching-learning resources. While in-service teacher education is widespread and now incorporates technology, research is needed to understand its impact and to identify which models work.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>Teachers and ICT</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The report looks at teachers&rsquo; experience of ICT and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the teaching profession. Most teachers are found to have positive attitudes and beliefs about integrating technology in education. However they feel that it is time-consuming, and that they lack professional skills. Teachers have largely used smartphones as their primary EdTech tool during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a large proportion of students have had limited or no access to devices and data, compelling teachers to use hybrid modalities to keep in touch. Professional development using tech platforms can offer possibilities for building communities and new professional learning pathways by enabling greater agency and interaction among teachers. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has also exposed the vulnerability and insecurity of teachers.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The report concludes with a set of ten action-oriented recommendations to address the challenges facing the teaching profession in India, and thus help achieve the NEP 2020 vision and objective &ndash; &ldquo;Ensuring quality education for all in the country&rdquo;.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>The ten recommendations are:&nbsp;</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Improve the terms of employment of teachers in both public and private schools<br />
&bull; Increase the number of teachers and improve working conditions in North Eastern states, rural areas and &#39;aspirational districts&#39;&nbsp;<br />
&bull; Recognize teachers as frontline workers&nbsp;<br />
&bull; Increase the number of physical education, music, art, vocational education, early childhood and special education teachers.&nbsp;<br />
&bull; Value the professional autonomy of teachers<br />
&bull; Build teachers&#39; career pathways<br />
&bull; Restructure pre-service professional development and strengthen curricular and pedagogical reform<br />
&bull; Support communities of practice<br />
&bull; Provide teachers with meaningful ICT training<br />
&bull; Develop teaching governance through consultative processes, based on mutual accountability</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em><strong>Sources: </strong>Please click <a href="https://en.unesco.org/news/unesco-launches-2021-state-education-report-india-no-teacher-no-class">here</a> and <a href="https://www.tatatrusts.org/insights/survey-reports/no-teacher-no-class-state-of-the-education-report-for-india-2021-released-by-unesco-with-cete">here</a> to access. &nbsp;</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">**page**</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Kindly click <a href="https://im4change.org/news-alerts-57/why-is-it-difficult-for-children-from-underprivileged-sections-of-the-society-to-get-their-lessons-online-read-this-new-report.html">here</a>, <a href="https://im4change.org/latest-news-updates/school-survey-discloses-the-dark-underbelly-of-online-education-during-school-closures.html">here</a> and <a href="https://im4change.org/upload/files/LOCKED-OUT-Emergency-Report-on-School-Education-6-Sept-2021.pdf">here</a> to access the key findings of the report titled&nbsp;[inside]Locked Out: Emergency Report on School Education (released on 6th September, 2021)[/inside].</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>---</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools across the country, as in many parts of the world, were closed in mid-March impacting approximately 286 million students (48 percent girls) from pre-primary to upper secondary education. This is in addition to the more than 6 million children (48 percent girls) who were already out of school prior to the COVID-19 crisis.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">During school closures, measures were taken by Ministry of Education (MoE) and the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) from the national level; by Governments in states and union territories (UTs) to implement programmes to support distance/ home-based learning for children by varying degree of teacher&nbsp;interaction and follow-up and by parents. Different means, including television, radio, online platforms and paper-based materials, have been used to provide distance/ homebased learning. These efforts have also been supported by civil society organizations and other agencies including UNICEF.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">While these strategies and initiatives aim to ensure continued learning for all children, there is a lack of clear evidence of the extent to which children, particularly from the most marginalized groups, are able to access learning from home and the modalities and means that are the most effective in reaching them. Globally, data show that, in general, the poorest and most marginalized children are missing out on schooling compared to their counterparts.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">In this context UNICEF undertook a rapid assessment to fill the data and evidence gaps, to gain an understanding of which interventions may be most effective in supporting distance/ home-based learning of children, particularly from the most marginalized groups, during school closures. The <a href="https://im4change.org/upload/files/LOCKED-OUT-Emergency-Report-on-School-Education-6-Sept-2021.pdf">report</a>&nbsp;titled &#39;Rapid assessment of learning during school closures in the context of COVID-19&#39; would be able to inform states to better prepare the education system to ensure continued learning of children moving forward and in case of future crises.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">This rapid assessment has been conducted by Dalberg Advisors. The purpose of this study is to assess the perceived impact on student learning due to school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, and ways to better support student learning now and once the schools re-open. The study strives to identify the needs of parents, students and teachers for continued learning, current barriers to access along with effectiveness of solutions, and successful innovations across states and various other actors. This study attempts to take a holistic lens by including the voices of the marginalized populations, such as migrants and students with disabilities, while highlighting best practices for states to leverage both during the lockdown, and over the long term.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The evaluation, conducted between August and September 2020, is timely given the rapid deployment of remote learning solutions, and the surge of diverse innovations from which state governments can derive lessons or best practices&nbsp;to deepen their efforts.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Tto draw a holistic picture, providing both data-driven evidence for policymakers, and bringing out the nuanced experiences of individuals. The study leverages five sources of data: telephonic surveys of parents, adolescents and teachers; in-depth telephone interviews with parents, adolescents and teachers; expert interviews; secondary research; and an online youth survey. The study was conducted in six states: Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The states were chosen to capture voices from areas that are geographically diverse,&nbsp;experience different levels of COVID burden, and have varying educational capacity.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The key findings of the report titled [inside]Rapid assessment of learning during school closures in the context of COVID-19 (released in May, 2021)[/inside] by UNICEF India Country Office, are as follows (please <a href="https://im4change.org/upload/files/Report%20on%20rapid%20assessment%20of%20learning%20during%20school%20closures%20in%20context%20of%20COVID-19.pdf">click here</a> to access): &nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Despite government, private and civil society actors coming together to roll out a wide range of remote learning resources, students are falling behind during the physical closure of schools since March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the lockdown, students have been studying on average three to four hours a day. However, parents, students and teachers believe that learning and overall progress (including social and cultural skills, fitness, etc.) slowed down considerably. Only 60 percent of students&nbsp;have used any remote learning resources; and even among those, nearly 80 percent report that they are learning less or significantly less than in school. The study suggests that there are various reasons behind this.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Digital channels are not as accessible as often perceived. Ten (10) percent of students overall do not have access to any of the following devices &ndash; smartphone, feature phone, television (TV), radio, or laptop/computer with significant variation between states. More than 10 percent of students do not have access to mobile phones within or outside of their households.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Even when students have access to devices, awareness around using them for remote learning maybe low. Of the respondents who did not use any remote learning opportunities, 45 percent of them report not being aware of any resources from which to learn. Television (TV) and feature phones are particularly underutilised for learning.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Fewer girls, younger students, rural students and government school students use high-tech tools. Use of WhatsApp and YouTube when compared for different categories; girl&#39;s usage was 8 percent lower than that of boys; usage by younger students (5-13-year-old) was 16 percent lower than that of older students (13-18-year-old); rural students&#39; usage was 15 percent lower compared to urban students and for students of class 1 to 5, government school students&#39; usage was 10 percent lower compared to students from private schools.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Availability of key offline resources, textbooks and teachers remain far from universal. Despite many states distributing textbooks for the new academic year, nearly one in three parents still ask for support with textbooks and other learning materials. Nearly 30-40 percent of students are not in touch with their teachers, though this varies significantly by state. A smaller proportion of younger students and rural students are in touch with their teachers.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Remote learning resources are generally perceived to be less effective than in-school teaching. Other than home visits, more than half of teachers surveyed perceive remote learning materials and methods to be less effective than classroom teaching.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Poor mental health holds students back. About a third of elementary students (as perceived by their parents) and nearly half of secondary students feel that their mental and socio-emotional health has been poor or very poor since May 2020.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Students from migrant and scheduled tribes (ST) families face more challenges. While students from migrant and ST families use remote learning resources at similar levels to their peers, when parents were asked if their children were learning as much as before the pandemic, 15 percent more migrant parents and 9 percent more ST parents reported that their children were learning less now. Parents of children from migrant families (60 percent) and from ST families (53 percent) rated their children&#39;s mental and socio-emotional well-being as poor or very poor compared to the status reported for the overall sample.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">There are some bright spots. Certain states and schools have mitigated some of the impacts of school closures.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; While students in private schools mostly used WhatsApp, private tuition and live video classes, their government school peers mostly used textbooks, teacher home visits and YouTube for learning, so that there were no major differences in overall usage levels.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Over half of the students who used remote learning did so across multiple resources. WhatsApp is the most used tool by students and teachers alike (over half of students and 89 percent of surveyed teachers). Many parents, adolescents and teachers see value in technology tools, some even believe they are more effective than in-person learning. Of the teachers who found WhatsApp, YouTube and live video classes effective, approximately 40 percent thought they were more effective than inperson learning.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Moreover, students who are perceived to be learning more are also more likely to have used high-tech&nbsp;tools.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Parents and teachers have also identified important support needs to improve the remote learning experience and deal with safe school returns. Parents said they need help with data, devices and school textbooks. Similarly, teachers requested help with devices and better network access during closures, as well as with having guidelines in place for safety and smaller class sizes once schools re-open, along with the provision of sanitation kits. These needs will extend beyond the pandemic period as they are important&nbsp;for improving the quality and equity of learning.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">More than 90 percent of students expect to return if schools re-open in the next three months, mainly to learn more and to better prepare for exams. But it was also observed that there is a serious risk of many students never returning to school due to pressures beyond just the immediate health risks - even after schools re-open. While health concerns are by far the largest deterrent to returning to school, a sizeable number of respondents cited financial constraints as well &ndash; 10 percent of families could not afford to send children back to school and 6 percent needed children to help earn an income.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">These findings provide knowledge and inspire opportunities for further exploration of how we might enhance remote learning during the current school closures, better prepare for re-opening, and strengthen the education system over the long term.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>The study has suggested that in the immediate term, as schools remain closed:</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Reach the last mile students and augment digital learning through textbooks/print materials.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Create greater awareness of tech tools for remote learning through awareness drives as well as communications efforts, especially for TV and feature phones which are most underutilised. These must be gender-responsive to ensure that households invest in/ allow girls to use and own smartphones and computers equally as boys.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Encourage greater teacher engagement to augment self-directed learning. Better monitor for teachers to stay in touch and provide proper protective equipment for those conducting home visits, and other enablers such as coverage of additional expenses like data charges. Encourage female teachers to follow up with those girls who are most at risk of being married, in coordination with child protection&nbsp;committees.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Improve the most marginalized students&#39; learning experiences through targeted efforts such as more&nbsp;local language content and immersive platforms with multiple access options for students with disabilities.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Mitigate technology challenges by subsidizing or eliminating device and data costs for teachers, and deploying devices at community level for students.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>In the short term, as schools are about to re-open:</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Conduct gender-responsive re-enrolment campaigns to prevent students from dropping out and support to relieve financial challenges (e.g., targeted scholarships and cash transfers through social protection schemes).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Count the number of students coming back to school, keeping a special track of girls and boys who do not come back and who are no longer living with their families. Work with school management committees, child protection committees and panchayats to ensure that these children have access to education wherever they are and adequate resources and services if they have been married or trafficked.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Support students by assessing their learning levels and catching them up through remedial education and teaching at the right level.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Provide non-academic support such as mental wellness and career guidance counselling.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>In the long term, to further strengthen the system:&nbsp;</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Improve learning outcomes for the longer term through blended learning approaches, leveraging some of tech tools&#39; advantages compared to in-person learning.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Explore ways to increase effectiveness of commonly used tools like WhatsApp and deliver content in more personalised ways to deepen the quality of remote learning going forward.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Continue to develop lighter applications that can be downloaded on low-cost smartphones and operate with 2G internet or work offline with only periodic connectivity.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Improve basic digital infrastructure in schools and continue to invest in connecting remote areas to the&nbsp;digital ecosystem, such as setting up community hotspot facilities.<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The key findings of the report titled [inside]Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2019-20 for States and Union Territories (released in June, 2021)[/inside], published by the Ministry of Education, are as follows (please click <a href="/upload/files/pgi_2019_20_en.pdf">here</a> and <a href="/upload/files/Press%20Information%20Bureau%206%20June%202021.pdf">here</a> to access):</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The Performance Grading Index (PGI) for the States and Union Territories (UTs) was first published in 2019 for the reference year 2017-18. The PGI for reference year 2018-19 was published in the year 2020. The present publication, PGI 2019-20 at State/ UT level, has been prepared with the same set of 70 parameters used for the two previous PGIs. In the present PGI, data for 54 of the 70 parameters are for the year 2019-20. The updating of these data and vetting of the same have been carried out by concerned States/ UTs at different levels, namely, school, district and State/ UT level using the online portals of Shagun, Unified District Information System for Education plus (UDISE+) and Mid-Day Meal (MDM), created and maintained by the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL),&nbsp;Ministry of Education (MoE). For the remaining 16 parameters, scores from National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2017 conducted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) have been used in all the three PGIs, namely, PGI 2017-18, PGI 2018-19 and PGI 2019-20.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The PGI exercise envisages that the index would propel States and UTs towards undertaking multi-pronged interventions that will that will bring about the much-desired optimal education outcomes. The PGI helps the States/UTs to pinpoint the gaps and accordingly prioritise areas for intervention to ensure that the school education system is robust at every level.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The Government introduced the Performance Grading Index with a set of 70 parameters to catalyse transformational change in the field of school education. The PGI is structured in two categories, namely, Outcomes and Governance &amp; Management and comprises 70 indicators in aggregate with a total weightage of 1000.&nbsp; The detailed list of indicators under each Domain, the respective weights, the data source and the benchmark levels are detailed in the Annexure of the <a href="https://www.im4change.org/upload/files/pgi_2019_20_en.pdf">report</a>.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The total weightage under the PGI is 1000 points with each of the 70 indicators having an assigned weightage of either 10 or 20 points. For some of the indicators, there are sub-indicators. In these sub-indicators, the total points of the indicator have been distributed among these sub-indicators. If all sub-indicators are also counted, the total number of parameters considered in the PGI becomes 96. &nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The weightage against each indicator has been divided into 10 groups: 0, 1-10, 11-20 and so on up to 91-100. Thus, a State which has achieved 91 percent of the benchmark of an indicator will get maximum points (10 or 20, whichever is applicable for the particular indicator). However, in case of a few indicators, a lower value would score a higher weightage, e.g. equity indicators, time taken for release of funds and single teacher schools. For Equity Indicators, a difference of &lsquo;O&rsquo; (zero) between different categories has been considered as the best performance and the absolute value of the difference has been considered for grading.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The highest achievable stage in PGI is Level-I, which is for scores 951-1000. In the PGI, Level-II means PGI score 901-950, Level-III: 851-900, Level-IV: 801-850, and so on up to Level-IX: 551-600. The last one, namely Level-X is for scores 0-550. In PGI 2019-20, the highest score has reached level II, i.e. score range 901-950. This score range has now been named as Grade I++ (also termed as Grade A++), which is higher than Grade I+.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The PGI scores and grades achieved by the States and UTs in 2019-20 bear a testimony to the efficacy of the PGI system. Many States and UTs have made substantial improvements in many of the outcome parameters, along with measurable improvements in their governance-and-management-related parameters.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Punjab, Chandigarh, Tamil Nadu, Andaman &amp; Nicobar Islands and Kerala occupy the highest grade (Grade A++) for 2019-20.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; One UT, namely Ladakh is in Grade-VII with score range 0-550. No State/ UT is in Grade-VI and one State, namely Meghalaya is in Grade-V i.e. score range 601-650.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Most of the States/ UTs have improved their grade in PGI 2019-20 compared to the earlier years. A total of 33 States and UTs have improved their total PGI score in 2019-20 as compared to 2018-19.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Three States/ UTs, namely Andaman &amp; Nicobar Islands (Grade I++), Punjab (Grade I++) and Arunachal Pradesh (Grade-IV) have improved their score by more than 20 percent.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Andaman &amp; Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and Punjab have shown improvement by 10 percent (8 points) or more in the PGI domain: Access.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; As many as thirteen States and UTs have shown improvement by 10 percent (15 points) or more in the PGI domain: Infrastructure and Facilities. Andaman &amp; Nicobar Islands and Odisha have shown improvement by 20 percent or more.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Odisha have shown more than 10 percent improvement in the PGI domain: Equity.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Nineteen States and UTs have shown improvement by 10 percent (36 points) or more in the PGI domain: Governance Process. Andaman &amp; Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal have shown improvement by at least 20 percent (72 points or more).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
The key findings of the UNCEF report (please <a href="/upload/files/COVID19-and-school-closures.pdf">click here</a> to access) entitled [inside]COVID-19 and School Closures: One Year of Education Disruption (released in March, 2021)[/inside]:</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In the period between March 11, 2020 and February 2, 2021, schools have been fully closed for an average of 95 instruction days globally, which represents approximately half the time intended for classroom instruction.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Countries in the Latin America and the Caribbean region were the most affected with 158 days of full school closures on average, followed by countries in South Asia with 146 days. Countries in the Eastern and Southern Africa region were the third most affected with an average of 101 days.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Among the top 20 countries with the longest full school closures during this period, more than half are situated in the Latin America and the Caribbean region.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Globally, 214 million students from pre-primary to upper secondary education in 23 countries have missed at least three-quarters of classroom instruction time at the pre-primary to upper secondary level since March 2020.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Of these 214 million students, 168 million in 14 countries missed almost all classroom instruction time due to school closures.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Countries with the longest durations of school closures tend to have a low prevalence of school-age children with a fixed internet connection at home.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; While the majority of countries have fully opened schools (53 percent) and almost a quarter of the world&rsquo;s countries have partially opened schools, 196 million students in 27 countries (13 percent globally) have schools that were fully closed as of February 2, 2021, the most recent date for which data is available.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; On average, in countries where schools were still closed as of February 2, 2021, nearly 80 per cent of classroom instruction has been missed in the eleven-month period since March 2020.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
The fifteenth Annual Status of Education Report (ASER 2020 Wave 1) was released online on 28 October 2020</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">ASER 2020-Wave 1 was released at an online event attended by over 11,000 people from around the world.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Every year from 2005 to 2014, ASER has reported on the schooling status and the ability to do basic reading and arithmetic tasks for children in the 5-16 age group in rural India. After ten years of producing an annual report, in 2016, ASER switched to an alternate-year cycle where this &ldquo;basic&rdquo; ASER is conducted every other year (2016, 2018); and in alternate years ASER focuses on a different aspect of children&rsquo;s schooling and learning. In 2017, ASER &#39;Beyond Basics&#39; focused on the abilities, experiences, and aspirations of youth in the 14-18 age group. In 2019, ASER &lsquo;Early Years&rsquo; examined key early language, early numeracy, cognitive, and socioemotional indicators for children age 4-8 years.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">In 2020, the COVID-19 crisis interrupted this 15-year trajectory. But the urgent need to systematically examine the effects of the pandemic on schooling and learning opportunities of children across the country was apparent. Although a lot of digital content has been generated and transmitted to help children continue to learn, there is limited evidence on the extent to which this content is reaching children; whether they are engaging with it; and the impact it is having on their participation and learning.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">ASER 2020 is the first ever phone-based ASER survey. Conducted in September 2020, the sixth month of national school closures, the survey explores provision of and access to distance education mechanisms, materials and activities for children in rural India, and the ways in which children and families are engaging with these remote learning alternatives from their homes.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">ASER 2020 was conducted in 26 states and 4 Union Territories. It reached a total of 52,227 households and 59,251 children in the age group of 5-16 years, as well as teachers or head teachers from 8,963 government schools offering primary grades.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The key findings of the [inside]ASER 2020 Wave-1 for rural areas (released in October, 2020)[/inside] are as follows (please click <a href="/upload/files/aser2020nationalpressrelease_english.pdf">here</a>, <a href="/upload/files/nationalfindings%281%29.pdf">here</a>, <a href="/upload/files/aser2020nationalppt.pdf">here</a> and <a href="/upload/files/aser2020fullreport.pdf">here</a> to access):</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>SCHOOL ENROLLMENT PATTERNS</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Changes in school enrollment can only be accurately measured once schools reopen and children are able to return to their classrooms. As compared to 2018, this interim measurement in ASER 2020 shows that:</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; At the all India level, there is a small shift towards government schools. As compared to data from ASER 2018, data from ASER 2020 (September 2020) show a small shift in enrollment from private to government schools, across all grades and among both girls and boys. The proportion of boys enrolled in government schools rose from 62.8% in 2018 to 66.4% in 2020. Similarly, the proportion of girls enrolled in government schools rose from 70% to 73% during the same period.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Many young children yet to get admission in school. ASER 2020 shows that while the proportion of children not currently enrolled for the 2020-21 school year is higher than the equivalent figures for 2018, for most age groups these differences are small. Higher proportions of children not enrolled are visible mostly among the youngest children (age 6 and 7), possibly because they have not yet secured admission to school. This proportion is particularly large in Karnataka (11.3% 6- and 7-year-olds not enrolled in 2020), Telangana (14%), and Rajasthan (14.9%).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>HOUSEHOLD RESOURCES</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">While schools are closed, children rely mainly on the resources available at home to help them learn. These resources can consist of people who can help them to study (for example, educated parents); technology (TV, radio or smartphone); or materials (such as textbooks for the current grade).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; A relatively small proportion of students in school today are first generation school-goers. More than three out of four children have at least one parent who has completed primary school (Std V). More than a quarter have both parents who have studied beyond Std IX.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Among enrolled children, more than 60% live in families with at least one smartphone. This proportion has increased enormously in the last two years, from 36.5% to 61.8% among enrolled children. The percentage point increase is similar in households of children enrolled in government and private schools. States that show an increase of more than 30 percentage points in the proportion of children whose families own a smartphone include Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Tripura.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Whether acquired before or after school closures in March 2020, more than 80% children have textbooks for their current grade. This proportion is higher among students enrolled in government schools (84.1%) than in private schools (72.2%). Across states, the proportion of children with textbooks at home falls below 70% in only three states: Rajasthan (60.4%), Telangana (68.1%), and Andhra Pradesh (34.6%).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>HOME SUPPORT FOR LEARNING</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">ASER 2020 data shows that regardless of parents&rsquo; education level, families invest significant effort in supporting children&rsquo;s learning.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; While schools are closed, almost three quarters of all children receive some form of learning support from family members. Notably, even among children whose neither parent has studied beyond primary school, family members do provide support. Older siblings play an important role in providing learning support to children in these households.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Children in lower grades get more family support than in higher ones. Similarly, children with more educated parents receive more family support than those with less educated parents. For example, 54.8% of children whose parents had completed Std V or less received some form of family support, as compared to 89.4% of children whose parents had studied beyond Std IX.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; As children progress to higher grades, parents are able to provide less help. For example, 33% of mothers of young children in Std I-II were able to help their children, as opposed to 15% of mothers of children in Std IX and above. But for children in higher grades, support from elder siblings becomes steadily more important.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>ACCESS TO LEARNING MATERIALS AND ACTIVITIES</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Governments and others have used a variety of mechanisms to share diverse learning materials with students during school closures. These include activities using traditional materials like textbooks or worksheets; online or recorded classes; and videos or other materials shared via phone or in person, among others. ASER 2020 asked whether households had accessed or received any such materials from children&rsquo;s schools in the week prior to the survey in September 2020.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Overall, about one third of enrolled children had received some form of learning materials or activities from their teachers during the week preceding the survey. This proportion was higher in higher grades than in lower ones; and higher among students in private schools than in government schools.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; However, there are significant variations by state in children&rsquo;s receipt of learning materials or activities during the reference week. States where less than a quarter of all children had received any materials include Rajasthan (21.5%), Uttar Pradesh (21%), and Bihar (7.7%).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Regardless of school type, WhatsApp was the most common medium through which activities and materials were received. However, this proportion was much higher among children in private schools (87.2%) than those in government schools (67.3%).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; On the other hand, of children who had received some materials, those in government schools were much more likely to have received materials via personal contact with a teacher (31.8%) than those in private schools (11.5%), either when the teacher visited the household or else when a household member visited the school.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Among the roughly two-thirds of all households that reported not having received learning materials during the reference week, the majority said that the school had not sent any materials.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>CHILDREN&rsquo;S ENGAGEMENT WITH LEARNING MATERIALS AND ACTIVITIES</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Regular engagement with learning materials and activities is key to avoiding &lsquo;learning loss&rsquo; due to prolonged absences from school. ASER 2020 asked whether children had done any type of learning activity during the previous week, regardless of whether or not the school had shared learning materials during that week.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Although only a third of children had received materials from their teachers during the week preceding the survey, most children (70.2%) did do some sort of learning activity during that week. These activities were shared by diverse sources such as private tutors and family members themselves, in addition to or instead of what was received from schools.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The major types of activities done involved textbooks (59.7%) and worksheets (35.3%). The proportion of children in government schools and private schools doing these activities was similar.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; However, one major difference visible by school type is that children in private schools were much more likely to have accessed online resources than those in government schools. For example, 28.7% of children enrolled in private schools had watched videos or other prerecorded content online, as compared to 18.3% of government school students.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; For about a third of all students, teachers had some form of personal contact with households during the reference week.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>POLICY IMPLICATIONS</strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">While some information is available about the measures that governments and others have put in place to ensure minimum disruptions to children&rsquo;s education, no systematic, large scale information has been available about whether children are able to access and use these mechanisms. ASER 2020 provides data on these issues at both state and national levels. A set of learnings from these findings suggest the following overarching policy implications for the country:</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>Fluid situation: </strong>When schools re-open, it will be important to continue to monitor who goes back to school; as well as to understand whether there is learning loss as compared to previous years.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>Building on and strengthening family support: </strong>Parents&rsquo; increasing levels of education can be integrated into planning for learning improvement, as advocated by NEP. &ldquo;Reaching parents at the right level&rdquo; is essential to understand how they can help their children. Older siblings also play an important role.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>&ldquo;Hybrid&rdquo; learning: </strong>Children are doing a variety of different activities at home. Effective ways of &ldquo;hybrid&rdquo; learning need to be developed, that combine traditional teaching-learning with newer ways of &ldquo;reaching-learning&rdquo;.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>Impact of digital modes and content: </strong>Many modes of providing digital content have been tried. In order to improve digital content and delivery for the future, an in-depth assessment of what works, how well it works, who it reaches, and who it excludes is needed.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>Mediating the &ldquo;digital divide&rdquo;: </strong>Expectedly, children from families who had low education and also did not have resources like smartphones had less access to learning opportunities. But even among such households, there is evidence of effort: family members who try to help and schools who try to reach them. These children will need even more help than others when schools reopen.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
The country-wide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and attendant issues have led to major violations of civil liberties and human rights in India. While some restrictions on rights may have been necessitated by the nature of the pandemic, we believe that a large number of violations were entirely excessive, arbitrary and totally avoidable. The impact of this curtailment of rights and of civil liberties has been felt across all sectors, including the economy, education, health, media, prisons, employment, migrant workers, women, domestic workers, sex workers, prisoners and their access to justice, etc.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Five months after, it has become palpably clear that the lockdown has also been used by the Government to push through undemocratic means laws and policies which are against the people. In this context, PUCL Maharashtra has put together &lsquo;Lockdown on Civil Liberties&rsquo;, a series of reports of the impact on these restrictions on various segments. While some of the reports focus on the situation in Maharashtra, others deal with a pan-India situation.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&ldquo;<a href="https://www.im4change.org/upload/files/pucl%20lockdown%20series%20-%20education.pdf">Broken Slates and Blank Screens:</a> <a href="https://www.im4change.org/upload/files/pucl%20lockdown%20series%20-%20education.pdf">Education Under Lockdown</a>&rdquo; is the third in the series. This report brings out the state of education in Maharashtra in context of the lockdown &ndash; its implications for the rights of children and youth. The analysis while focusing on immediate impact of the pandemic sets this in context of the systemic issues plaguing education. So while it highlights the main issues due to the lockdown, it raises questions about framing policies that violate the fundamental principles of federalism and constitutional rights and promise of &ldquo;Education for all&rdquo;. Among other things, the report finds that digital classrooms and compulsory examinations for final year college students, is doing more harm than good for the young student community.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">The 48-page report entitled [inside]Broken Slates and Blank Screens: Education Under Lockdown (released in September 2020)[/inside], has been authored by Simantini Dhuru with the help of others from PUCL (Maharashtra), including Meena Gopal, Lara Jesani, Chayanika Shah, Sandhya Gokhale, John D&rsquo;Souza, Mihir Desai, and others.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">---</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
The key findings of the [inside]Parliamentary Standing Committee report on Demands for Grants 2020-21 (Demand No. 58) of the Department of School Education &amp; Literacy (presented to the Rajya Sabha on 5th March, 2020)[/inside], Report no. 312, are as follows (please <a href="https://www.im4change.org/upload/files/Parliamentary%20Standing%20Committee%205%20March%202020%281%29.pdf">click here</a> to access):</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The budgetary allocation for Department of School Education &amp; Literacy were Rs. 46,356.25 crore in 2017-18, Rs. 50,000.00 crore in 2018-19, Rs. 56,536.63 crore in 2019-20 and Rs. 59,845.00 crore in 2020-21.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; As compared to the proposed B.E. 2020-21 of Rs. 82,570.04 crores, only Rs. 59,845.00 crore has been allocated to the Department of School Education &amp; Literacy. A substantial reduction of Rs. 22,725.04 crore i.e. a reduction of 27.52 percent has been made in the proposals made by the Department of School Education &amp; Literacy.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; A substantial reduction has been made in the proposed B.E. 2020-21 of Centrally Sponsored Schemes (27.36 percent reduction) and in the Central Sector Schemes a reduction of 27.22 percent has been made. The Centrally Sponsored Schemes are Samagra Shiksha, Padhna Likhna Abhiyan, Appointment of Language Teachers, Umbrella Programme for Development of Minorities-Education Scheme for Madrasas and Minorities, and National Programme of Mid Day Meals in Schools (MDM). The Central Sector Schemes are National Means-Cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme, National Scheme for Incentive to Girl Child for Secondary Education, National Award to Teachers, Operation Digital Board and Pradhan Mantri Innovative Learning Programme (DHRUV).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The Department of School Education &amp; Literacy launched the Samagra Shiksha &ndash; an Integrated Scheme for School Education by subsuming the erstwhile Centrally Sponsored Schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE) from 2018-19 for universalization of quality education throughout the country in coordination and consultation with the states and UTs. Samagra Shiksha is an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class XII and aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of school education.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; At the national level, the proportion of vacant posts for teachers in elementary and secondary levels under Samagra Shiksha was 23.26 percent in 2017-18. The total number of vacancies in elementary (4,17,057) and secondary (61,108) levels under Samagra Shiksha was 4.78 lakhs during 2017-18. The state with the highest number of teacher vacancies in elementary and secondary levels under Samagra Shiksha in 2017-18 was Bihar (1,26,446), followed by Uttar Pradesh (1,01,159) and Jharkhand (61,737).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Under Samagra Shiksha (elementary level), the proportion of work completed for additional classrooms was 95.48 percent, drinking water 95.37 percent, boys&#39; toilet 92.12 percent, separate girls&#39; toilet 96.04 percent, toilets for Children with Special Needs (CWSN) 81.27 percent, ramps with hand rail 86.8 percent and electrification was 82.91 percent as on 31st December, 2019. &nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Under Samagra Shiksha (secondary level), the proportion of work completed for additional classrooms was 73.51 percent, integrated science lab 70.34 percent, computer rooms 76.09 percent, library 75.17 percent, art/ craft/ culture room 72.81 percent, drinking water facilities 83.31 percent, boys&#39; toilets 71.74 percent, girls&#39; toilets 67.73 percent, CWSN toilets 4.55 percent and ramps 2.83 percent as on 31st December, 2019. &nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Under Samagra Shiksha (higher secondary), the proportion of work completed for additional classrooms was zero percent, science lab zero percent, physics lab 0.22 percent, chemistry lab 0.23 percent, biology lab 0.22 percent, computer room zero percent, library zero percent and art/ craft/ culture room was zero percent as on 31st December, 2019.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; At the national level, the proportion of government schools having facilities like drinking water was 96.39 percent, boys&#39; toilet was 94.64 percent, girls&#39; toilet was 97.03 percent, boundary wall was 60.12 percent, playground was 56.98 percent, ramp was 71.50 percent, CWSN toilet was 19.59 percent, electricity was 56.45 percent and library was 79.36 percent, according to the Unified District Information System For Education (UDISE) 2017-18 (Provisional).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; States where most government schools don&#39;t have electricity are Assam (24.78 percent), Bihar (42.43 percent), Chhattisgarh (65.87 percent), Jammu and Kashmir (28.29 percent), Jharkhand (42.64 percent), Madhya Pradesh (19.61 percent), Odisha (30.13 percent), Rajasthan (51.59 percent), Uttar Pradesh (31.05 percent) and Uttarakhand (71.22 percent). Figures in bracket indicate percentage of government schools having electricity facility. &nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The Parliamentary Standing Committee has recommended the use of MGNREGS manpower for construction of boundary wall for school premises.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The Parliamentary Standing Committee has recommended that a study be made about the food items that can be procured locally in different parts of the country and included in the mid-day meal scheme (MDMS). This is expected to help make the food served to students more nutritious and also give a boost to local farmers growing these products. &nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The key hurdles in the implementation of the MDMS are: (i) Delay in the release of funds to the implementing agencies by the states; (ii) Lack of dedicated management structure at state, district &amp; block levels; (iii) Delay in construction of kitchen-cum-stores; (iv) Lack of convergence with other schemes; and (v) Constraints in availability and supply of LPG cylinders.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
Every year since 2005, Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) has reported on the schooling status and the ability to do basic reading and arithmetic tasks for children in the 5-16 age group in rural India. After ten years of producing an annual report, in 2016, ASER switched to an alternate-year cycle where this &lsquo;basic&rsquo; ASER is conducted every other year (2016, 2018, and next in 2020); and in alternate years ASER focuses on a different aspect of children&rsquo;s schooling and learning. In 2017, ASER &#39;Beyond Basics&#39; focused on the abilities, experiences, and aspirations of youth in the 14-18 age group.<br />
<br />
In 2019, ASER has attempted to shine the spotlight on the early years, reporting on the schooling status as well as on a range of important developmental indicators for young children in the age group 4-8.<br />
<br />
The early years, defined globally as age 0-8, is known to be the most important stage of cognitive, motor, social and emotional development in the human life cycle. A large body of worldwide research demonstrates that exposure to enabling environments and access to appropriate inputs during these years is fundamental to ensuring that children have a firm foundation on which to build, both in school and in life. However, in India, as in many low- and middle-income countries, there is little evidence on scale with respect to whether young children have access to pre-primary facilities and whether they are acquiring the foundational skills and abilities that are key to subsequent success in school and beyond.<br />
<br />
ASER 2019 &lsquo;Early Years&rsquo; was designed to begin to fill these gaps. Conducted in 26 districts across 24 states in India, the survey covered a total of 1,514 villages, 30,425 households, and 36,930 children in the age group of 4-8 years. Sampled children&rsquo;s enrollment status in pre-school or school was collected. Children did a variety of cognitive, early language, and early numeracy tasks; and activities to assess children&rsquo;s social and emotional development were also undertaken. All tasks were done one-on-one with children in their homes.<br />
<br />
The key findings of <span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">[inside]</span>ASER 2019 &#39;Early Years&#39; (released in January 2020)[/inside] are as follows, please click <a href="tinymce/uploaded/aser2019nationalpressrelease_final.pdf" title="ASER 2019 National Press Release_final">here</a>, <a href="tinymce/uploaded/alldistricts_mainfindings_aser2019final.pdf" title="All Districts_Main Findings_ASER 2019 Final">here</a> and <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%202019%20nationalfindings.pdf" title="ASER 2019 nationalfindings">here</a>:<br />
<br />
<strong>Pre-school and School Enrolment Patterns</strong><br />
<br />
&bull; ASER 2019 &lsquo;Early Years&rsquo; finds that more than 90% of children in the 4-8 age group are enrolled in some type of educational institution. This proportion increases with age, from 91.3% of all 4-year-olds to 99.5% of all 8-year-olds in sampled districts.<br />
<br />
&bull; However, young children of the same age vary enormously in terms of where they are enrolled. For example, at age 5, 70% children are in anganwadis or pre-primary classes, but 21.6% are already enrolled in Std I. At age 6, 32.8% children are in anganwadis or pre-primary classes, while 46.4% are in Std I, and 18.7% are in Std II or higher.<br />
<br />
&bull; Boys and girls have different enrollment patterns even among these young children, with a higher proportion of girls enrolled in government institutions and a higher proportion of boys in private institutions. These differences grow larger as children get older. For example, among 4- and 5-year-old children, 56.8% girls and 50.4% boys are enrolled in government pre-schools or schools, while 43.2% girls and 49.6% boys are enrolled in private pre-schools or schools. For 6- to 8-year-olds, 61.1% of all girls versus 52.1% of all boys in this age group are going to a government institution.<br />
<br />
<strong>Children in the Pre-school age group (age 4-5 years)</strong><br />
<br />
National policy recommends that children age 4 and 5 should be in pre-primary classes. At this stage, children should be encouraged to develop a range of abilities and skills, including cognitive, social and emotional skills as well as the conceptual foundations needed for formal schooling.<br />
<br />
&bull; At age 5, what we offer to and expect from children varies enormously across the country depending on state norms for entry to school. As a result, what a 5-year-old is doing depends largely on where she lives. For example, in Thrissur, Kerala, 89.9% of 5-year-olds are in a pre-primary grade and almost all the rest are in Std I. But in East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, just 65.8% are in pre-school, 9.8% are in Std I, and 16% are in Std II. On the other hand, in Satna, Madhya Pradesh, 47.7% are in pre-school, 40.5% are in Std I, and 4.1% are in Std II.<br />
<br />
&bull; From age 4 to age 5, children&rsquo;s ability to do all tasks improves substantially, in line with what child development experts expect and other studies have found. Regardless of whether or where they are enrolled, young children&rsquo;s ability to do cognitive, early language, early numeracy, and social and emotional learning tasks is higher among 5-year-olds than among 4-year-olds. For example, while 31% of 4-year-olds enrolled in anganwadis or government pre-primary classes were able to do a 4-piece puzzle, 45% of 5-year-olds attending these institutions could do so.<br />
<br />
&bull; However, although at age 5, children should be able to do most of these tasks with ease, a large proportion is unable to do so. Children from less advantaged homes are disproportionately affected. Although almost half of all 4-year-olds and more than a quarter of all 5-year-olds are enrolled in anganwadis, these children have far lower levels of cognitive skill and foundational ability than their counterparts in private LKG/UKG classes.<br />
<br />
&bull; Because these are young children who spend much of their time at home, these differences in outcomes may be driven mainly by children&rsquo;s home characteristics. For example, among the pre-primary age group, children with mothers who had completed eight or fewer years of schooling are more likely to be attending anganwadis or government pre-primary classes; whereas their peers whose mothers studied beyond the elementary stage are more likely to be enrolled in private LKG/UKG classes.<br />
<br />
&bull; ASER &#39;Early Years&#39; data shows that children&#39;s performance on tasks requiring cognitive skills is strongly related to their ability to do early language tasks and early numeracy tasks. This suggests that focusing on play-based activities that build memory, reasoning, and problem-solving abilities is more productive than an early focus on content knowledge.<br />
<br />
<strong>Children in Standard I</strong><br />
<br />
Std I is a critical year &ndash; the period when children transition into formal schooling, with the associated curriculum expectations for formal subject-specific learning.<br />
<br />
&bull; The Right to Education Act, 2009 (RTE) mandates that children should enter Std I at age 6. Many states allow entry to Std I at age 5+. However, 4 out of every 10 children in Std I are younger than 5 or older than 6. Overall, 41.7% of children in Std I are of the RTE-mandated age of 6 years, 36.4% are 7 or 8 years old, and 21.9% are 4 or 5 years old.<br />
<br />
&bull; Even within Std I, children&#39;s performance on cognitive, early language, early numeracy, and social and emotional learning tasks is strongly related to their age. Older children do better on all tasks. For example, within the Std I cohort, almost no children age 4 and 5 can read a Std I level text. This proportion increases steadily with age.<br />
<br />
&bull; Children in Std I in government schools are younger than those in the same grade in private schools. More than a quarter of Std I students in government schools are either 4 or 5 years old at 26.1%, while the corresponding proportion for private schools is ten percentage points lower at 15.7%. On the other hand, 30.4% students in Std I in government schools are 7-8 years old, while this proportion in private schools is far higher at 45.4%.<br />
<br />
&bull; As was seen among the 4- and 5-year olds, a clear relationship is visible between children&#39;s cognitive skills and their ability to do early language and early numeracy tasks in Std I. For example, children in Std I who could do 3 cognitive tasks correctly had higher reading ability and were also more likely to solve oral word problems than their peers who could not.<br />
<br />
<strong>Children in Early Primary Grades (Standard I, II, III)</strong><br />
<br />
In the first few years of primary school, children&#39;s progress towards developing foundational reading and arithmetic abilities should be consolidated, giving them a solid base on which to build. It is important that curriculum expectations and classroom activities are developed with this progression in mind.<br />
<br />
&bull; Findings from ASER &lsquo;Early Years&rsquo; show that the variation in age distribution within each grade is widest in Std I and decreases in each subsequent grade. But older children continue to do better than younger ones on every ASER task. For example, while most children in Std III in both government and private schools are either 7 or 8 years old, 53.4% of 8-year-olds in Std III could read a Std I level text, while only 46.1% of 7-year-olds could do so.<br />
<br />
&bull; Children&#39;s skills and abilities improve in each subsequent grade. But the huge jump between curriculum expectations at each grade means that by Std III, their early language and early numeracy outcomes are already well behind curriculum expectations. For example, children&#39;s ability to read Std I level text improves from 16.2% of children in Std I to 50.8% children in Std III. This means that half of all children in Std III are already at least two years behind where the curriculum expects them to be.<br />
<br />
&bull; Similarly, 41.1% of students in Std I can recognize 2-digit numbers, while 72.2% of students in Std III can do so. But according to NCERT&#39;s specification of learning outcomes, children are expected to be able to recognize numbers up to 99 in Std I itself.<br />
<br />
&bull; As before, there is a strong relationship between children&#39;s cognitive skills and their performance on early language and early numeracy tasks. For example, in Std III, 63.2% of children who did all 3 cognitive tasks correctly were able to read at Std I level, as compared to 19.9% of children who were able to do one or none of the cognitive tasks correctly.<br />
<br />
<strong>Policy Implications</strong><br />
<br />
Three key implications emerge from ASER 2019 &#39;Early Years&#39; findings.<br />
<br />
&bull; Anganwadis cater to large proportions of children well before they can enter pre-primary grades. The already significant scale of this network can be leveraged to reach those children who remain unreached. At the same time, the ability of these centres to implement appropriate school readiness activities for 3- and 4-year-olds needs to be strengthened.<br />
<br />
&bull; Data from ASER 2019 &#39;Early Years&#39; clearly shows that performance on cognitive, early language, early numeracy, and social and emotional development tasks is closely related to children&#39;s age, with older children doing better than younger ones. Permitting underage children into primary grades puts them at a learning disadvantage which is difficult to overcome.<br />
<br />
&bull; ASER 2019 &lsquo;Early Years&rsquo; data shows a clear relationship between children&rsquo;s performance on cognitive tasks and measures of early language and early numeracy, suggesting that a focus on activities that strengthen cognitive skills rather than subject learning in the early years may generate substantial benefits in terms of children&rsquo;s future learning. The entire age band from 4 to 8 needs to be seen as a continuum, and curriculum progression across grades and schooling stages designed accordingly. For an effective and implementable curriculum, the process of designing, planning, piloting, and finalizing needs to keep ground realities in mind.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
Please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Draft_NEP_2019_EN_Revised.pdf" title="Draft_NEP_2019_EN_Revised">click here</a> to access the [inside]Draft National Education Policy 2019[/inside], which has been prepared under the chairpersonship of Dr. K Kasturirangan. &nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">-----</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Press%20Note%20NSS%2075th%20Round%20Report%20Key%20Indicators%20of%20Social%20Consumption%20on%20Education%20in%20India%20July%202017%20to%20June%202018%20released%20on%2023rd%20November%202019.pdf" title="Press Note NSS 75th Round Report Key Indicators of Social Consumption on Education in India July 2017 to June 2018 released on 23rd November 2019">click here</a> to access the major findings of [inside]NSS 75th Round Report: Key Indicators of Household Social Consumption on Education in India, July 2017 to June 2018 (released on 23rd November 2019)[/inside].<br />
<br />
Kindly <a href="https://im4change.org/docs/772NSS_75th_Round_Report_Key_Indicators_of_Household_Social_Consumption_on_Education_in_India_July_2017_to_June_2018_released_on_23rd_November_2019.pdf">click here</a> to access the NSS 75th Round Report: Key Indicators of <span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Household </span> Social Consumption on Education in India, July 2017 to June 2018 (released on 23rd November 2019).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">-----</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">After conducting a &lsquo;Beyond Basics&rsquo; survey in ASER 2017, which looked at the preparedness of 14-18 year olds to lead useful and productive lives as adults, in 2018 ASER focused once again on schooling status of children age 3 to 16 and basic reading and arithmetic of children in the 5 to 16 age group across rural India.<br />
<br />
ASER 2018 reached 596 districts in rural India. A total of 354,944 households and 546,527 children in the age group 3 to 16 were surveyed.<br />
<br />
The key findings of the [inside]Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2018[/inside] are as follows (please click <a href="tinymce/uploaded/aser2018pressreleaseenglish.pdf" title="ASER 2018 Press Release English">here</a>, <a href="tinymce/uploaded/aser2018nationalfindingsppt.pdf" title="ASER 2018 National Findings PPT">here</a> and <a href="http://img.asercentre.org/docs/ASER%202018/Release%20Material/aserreport2018.pdf">here</a> to access):<br />
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&bull; Overall enrollment (age 6-14): For more than ten years, since 2007, the enrollment of children for the age group 6 to 14 has been above 95%. The proportion of children (age 6-14) who are not enrolled in school has fallen below 3% for the first time and stands at 2.8% in 2018.<br />
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&bull; Girls out of school: In 2006, the all India proportion of girls in the age group 11 to 14 who were out of school stood at 10.3%. In that year, 9 major states had out of school figures for girls (age 11-14) above 10%. In 2018, the overall proportion of girls in the 11 to 14 age group out of school has fallen to 4.1%. This figure is more than 5% in only 4 states.<br />
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Further, ten years ago in 2008, nationally, more than 20% of girls in the 15 to 16 age group were not enrolled in school. In 2018, this figure has decreased to 13.5%.<br />
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&bull; Private school enrollment: The period 2006 to 2014 saw a year-on-year increase in the proportion of children (age 6-14) enrolled in private school. In 2014, this figure stood at 30.8%. Since then private school enrollment appears to have plateaued for this age group. The percentage of children (age 6-14) enrolled in private school was 30.6% in 2016 and is almost unchanged at 30.9% in 2018.<br />
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The national average hides changes in private school figures across states. There has been a decline in private school enrollment of more than 2 percentage points over 2016 levels in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Kerala. An increase of more than 2 percentage points over 2016 is visible in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, and Gujarat. Most states in the north-east, other than Mizoram, see an increase in private school enrollment between 2016 and 2018.<br />
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<em>Learning levels: foundational skills in reading and arithmetic</em><br />
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Reading: The ASER reading test assesses whether a child can read letters, words, a simple paragraph at Std I level of difficulty, or a &lsquo;story&rsquo; at Std II level of difficulty. The test is administered one on one to all children in the age group 5 to 16 and the child is marked at the highest level that she or he can reach.<br />
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&bull; Std III: The percentage of all children in Std III who can read at Std II level has been climbing slowly over the past few years. This figure has increased from 21.6% in 2013 to 23.6% in 2014 to 25.1% in 2016, and finally to 27.2% in 2018. Among children enrolled in Std III in government schools, six states (Punjab, Haryana, Mizoram, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Kerala) show an improvement of more than 5 percentage points over 2016 levels.<br />
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&bull; Std V: Slightly more than half of all children enrolled in Std V can read at least a Std II level text. This figure has inched up from 47.9% in 2016 to 50.3% in 2018. For government school children enrolled in Std V, states showing an increase of 5 percentage points or more from 2016 to 2018 are Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, and Mizoram; with Punjab and Andhra Pradesh close behind.<br />
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&bull; Std VIII: By Std VIII, the last year of compulsory schooling in India, children are expected not only to have mastered foundational skills but to have proceeded well beyond the basic stage. ASER 2018 data indicates that of all children enrolled in Std VIII in India, about 73% can read at least a Std II level text. This number is unchanged from 2016.<br />
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Arithmetic: The ASER arithmetic test assesses whether a child can recognize numbers from 1 to 9, recognize numbers from 10 to 99, do a 2-digit numerical subtraction problem with borrowing, or correctly solve a numerical division problem (3digit by 1-digit). The tasks are administered one on one to all children in the age group 5 to 16 and the child is marked at the highest level that she or he can reach.<br />
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&bull; Std III: The all India figure for children in Std III who are able to do at least subtraction has not changed much, from 27.6% in 2016 to 28.1% in 2018. For government school children, this figure was 20.3% in 2016 and 20.9% in 2018. However, government school children in some states are doing significantly better, with an increase of 3 percentage points or more over 2016. These include Punjab, Haryana, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Kerala.<br />
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&bull; Std V: The proportion of children in Std V across India who are able to do division has inched up slightly, from 26% in 2016 to 27.8% in 2018. But among government school children, some states have shown significant improvements of 5 percentage points or more over 2016 levels. These include Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.<br />
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&bull; Std VIII: The overall performance of Std VIII in basic arithmetic has not changed much over time. Currently about 44% of all children in Std VIII can solve a 3-digit by 1-digit numerical division problem correctly. While this figure has gone down from 2016 to 2018 in many states, government school children in some states show substantial improvements in the last two years: for example, Punjab (from 48% to 58.4%), Uttar Pradesh (from 25.5% to 32%), Maharashtra (from 32.4% to 41.4%), and Tamil Nadu (from 42.6% to 49.6%).<br />
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<em>Learning levels: &lsquo;beyond basics&rsquo;</em><br />
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In ASER 2018, children in the age group 14 to 16 were given a few tasks which required calculations to be done in everyday contexts. Children were asked to calculate time, compute how many tablets would be required to purify water (application of unitary method), figure out where to buy books given two different price lists (financial decision making), and compute a discount. Each of these tasks was done one on one. Results are reported for those children in this age group who could do at least subtraction correctly.<br />
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&bull; Gender differences in reading and arithmetic the 14-16 age group: For the age group 14 to 16, the all India figure for the proportion of girls who can read at least a Std II level text is very similar to that of boys. Both are around 77%. However, girls outperform boys in many states like Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.<br />
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In basic arithmetic, boys seem to hold a substantial advantage. Nationally, 50% of all boys in the age group 14 to 16 can correctly solve a division problem as compared to 44% of all girls. But in states like Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, girls in this age group are doing better than boys in arithmetic.<br />
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&bull; &lsquo;Beyond Basics&rsquo;-bonus tools: Of the 14-16 year olds who could solve a numerical division problem, a little under half could compute the time question correctly, 52% could apply the unitary method to calculate how many tablets were needed to purify a given volume of water, about 37% were able to take the correct decision regarding the purchase of books, and less than 30% could compute the discount correctly. In all cases, fewer girls could solve questions correctly as compared to boys.<br />
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Further, performance on these everyday tasks was uniformly lower among those in this age group who could do subtraction but not division, as compared to those who could do division.<br />
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<em>School observations</em><br />
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As part of the ASER survey, one government school with primary sections is visited in each sampled village. Preference is given to a government upper primary school (Std I-VII/VIII) if one exists in the village.<br />
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In 2018, ASER surveyors visited 15,998 government schools with primary sections. 9,177 were primary schools and 6,821 were upper primary schools. This represented an increase of almost 13.6% over the number of upper primary schools visited in 2016. Large increases in the number of sampled villages with upper primary schools were visible in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, and Madhya Pradesh.<br />
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<em>Small schools</em><br />
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&bull; Nationally, in 2018, 4 out of 10 government primary schools visited had less than 60 students enrolled. This number has increased every year over the last decade. It was 26.1% in 2009, 30% in 2011, 33.1% in 2013, 39.8% in 2016, and stands at 43.3% in 2018.<br />
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&bull; This decade-long pattern of year-on-year increase in the proportion of small schools is seen in Himachal Pradesh (from 58.1% in 2009 to 84% in 2018), Chhattisgarh (from 19.3% in 2009 to 40.7% in 2018), and Madhya Pradesh (from 18.1% in 2009 to 49.6% in 2018).<br />
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<em>Teacher and student attendance</em><br />
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&bull; At the all India level, no major change is seen in students&#39; and teachers&#39; attendance. Average teacher attendance has hovered at around 85% and average student attendance at around 72% for the past several years in both primary and upper primary schools.<br />
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&bull; However, states exhibit very different patterns of attendance. States with student attendance of 90% or more in primary schools in 2018 were Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Those with teacher attendance of 90% or more in 2018 were Jharkhand, Odisha, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.<br />
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&bull; In primary schools, student attendance improved by 3 percentage points or more over 2016 levels in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh.<br />
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<em>School facilities</em><br />
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&bull; The Right to Education Act was implemented in 2010 and the first cohort of students to benefit from its provisions completed 8 years of compulsory schooling in 2018. Nationally, substantial improvements are visible over this 8-year period in the availability of many school facilities mandated by RTE. The fraction of schools with usable girls&#39; toilets doubled, reaching 66.4% in 2018. The proportion of schools with boundary walls increased by 13.4 percentage points, standing at 64.4% in 2018. The percentage of schools with a kitchen shed increased from 82.1% to 91%, and the proportion of schools with books other than textbooks available increased from 62.6% to 74.2% over the same period.<br />
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&bull; However, the national averages hide major variations across states. Deficiencies are particularly marked in Jammu and Kashmir and most of the north-eastern states. In these states, less than 50% of schools had provision for drinking water or girls&#39; toilets available in 2018. With the exception of Assam, majority of schools in states in the north-east did not have library books available for students in 2018. While elsewhere in the country the mid-day meal was served on the day of the visit in well over 80% of schools, this proportion was less than 50% in many states in this region.<br />
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<em>Physical education and sports facilities</em><br />
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This year, ASER introduced a series of questions on the availability of sports infrastructure in schools.<br />
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&bull; In 2018, about 8 out of 10 schools had a playground available for students, either within the school premises or close by. A playground was accessible in more than 90% of schools in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and Maharashtra. But more than a quarter of all schools in Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Odisha, and Jharkhand did not have access to a playground.<br />
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&bull; Physical education teachers are scarce in schools across rural India. Only 5.8% of all primary schools and 30.8% of upper primary schools had a physical education teacher available. In majority of schools, another teacher was tasked with supervising physical education activities as well. But in Haryana, Rajasthan and Kerala, the proportion of schools with a physical education teacher is significantly higher than the national average.<br />
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&bull; Sports equipment of some kind was observed in 55.8% of primary schools and 71.5% of upper primary schools. States where significantly higher proportions of schools had sports equipment available included Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
The Annual Status of Education Report, [inside]ASER 2017: Beyond Basics (released in January, 2018)[/inside], covers 28,323 youth aged 14-18 years from 23,868 households belonging to&nbsp; 26 rural districts across 24 states. The ASER 2017 collected information for four domains - activity, ability, awareness and aspirations.<br />
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The key findings of the 12th ASER (i.e. 2017 ASER) are as follows (please click <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%202017%20National%20findings.pdf" title="ASER 2017 National findings">here</a> and <a href="http://img.asercentre.org/docs/Publications/ASER%20Reports/ASER%202017/aser2017fullreportfinal.pdf">here</a> to access):<br />
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<strong>ACTIVITY</strong><br />
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&bull; Overall, 86% of youth in the 14-18 age group are still within the formal education system, either in school or in college.<br />
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&bull; More than half of all youth in this age group are enrolled in Std X or below (54%). Another 25% are either in Std XI or XII, and 6% are enrolled in undergraduate or other degree courses. Only 14% are not currently enrolled in any form of formal education.<br />
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&bull; The enrollment gap between males and females in the formal education system increases with age. There is hardly any difference between boys&#39; and girls&#39; enrollment at age 14; but at age 18, 32% females are not enrolled as compared to 28% males.<br />
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&bull; The proportion of youth not enrolled in school or college increases with age. At age 14, the percentage of youth not enrolled is 5%. By age 18, this figure increases to 30%.<br />
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&bull; Overall, about 5% of youth are taking some type of vocational training or other courses. This includes those who are enrolled in school or college as well as those who are not currently enrolled.<br />
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&bull; Youth who take vocational courses tend to take short duration courses of 6 months or less. Of those who are doing vocational courses, the highest percentage of youth (34%) are enrolled in courses which are 3 months or shorter, and another 25% are enrolled in courses between 4 and 6 months in duration.<br />
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&bull; A substantial proportion of youth in the 14-18 age group are working (42%), regardless of whether they are enrolled in formal education or not. Of those who work, 79% work in agriculture - almost all on their own family&#39;s farm. Also, more than three quarters of all youth do household chores daily - 77 % of males and 89% of females.<br />
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<strong>ABILITY</strong><br />
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<em>Foundational skills</em><br />
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&bull; About 25% of this age group still cannot read basic text fluently in their own language.<br />
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&bull; More than half struggle with division (3 digit by 1 digit) problems. Only 43% are able to do such problems correctly. The ability to do division - a task that is usually done in ASER, can be thought of as a proxy for the ability to do basic arithmetic operations.<br />
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&bull; 53% of all 14 year-olds in the sample can read English sentences. For 18 year-old youth, this figure is closer to 60%. Of those who can read English sentences, 79% can say the meaning of the sentence.<br />
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&bull; Even among youth in this age group who have completed eight years of schooling, a significant proportion still lack foundational skills like reading and arithmetic.<br />
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&bull; Although reading ability in regional languages and in English seems to improve slightly with age (more 18 year-olds can read than 14 year-olds), the same does not seem to apply to arithmetic. The proportion of youth who have not acquired basic arithmetic skills by age 14 is the same as that of 18 year olds. Learning deficits seen in elementary school in previous years seem to carry forward as young people go from being adolescents to young adults.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>Applying basic literacy and numeracy skills to everyday tasks</em><br />
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&bull; ASER 2017 explored a variety of such tasks with young people in the age group 14 to 18. In terms of daily tasks, we picked some simple activities like counting money, knowing weights and telling time:<br />
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&bull; How much money is this? 76% of surveyed youth could count money correctly. For those who have basic arithmetic skills, the figure was close to 90%. (This task involves simple addition.)<br />
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&bull; 56% could add weights correctly in kilograms. For those who have basic arithmetic skills, the figure is 76%. (This task involves addition and conversion from grams to kilograms.)<br />
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&bull; Telling time is a common daily activity. For the easy task (hour), 83% got it correct. But for the slightly harder task (hour and minutes) a little less than 60% got it right.<br />
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&bull; For ASER 2017, a few such activities were picked like measuring length with a ruler, calculating time, and applying the unitary method (e.g. deciding how many chlorine tablets to use for purifying water).<br />
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&bull; 86% of youth could calculate the length of an object (measuring length with a ruler) if it was placed at the &#39;0&#39; mark on the ruler. But when the object was placed elsewhere on the ruler, only 40% could give the right answer.<br />
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&bull; How many hours has a girl slept (calculating time)? Less than 40% of all sampled youth could calculate the right answer. Of those who could at least do division, about 55% could answer correctly.<br />
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&bull; A map of India was shown to each young person who was surveyed. They were asked a series of questions: a) &ldquo;This is a map of which country?&rdquo; 86% answered India; b) &ldquo;What is the name of the capital of the country?&rdquo; 64% answered correctly; c) &ldquo;Which state do you live in?&rdquo; 79% answered correctly; d) &ldquo;Can you point to your state on the map?&rdquo; 42% could do so.&nbsp;<br />
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&bull; The overall patterns indicate that having basic foundational skills like reading and arithmetic are very helpful even for daily tasks and common calculations. However, not everyone who has these foundational skills can correctly complete these everyday tasks.<br />
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&bull; Although having completed at least 8 years of schooling is an advantage, not all youth who have done so can do these tasks. Females perform worse than males on almost all tasks. These data show that substantial numbers of young people who have completed 8 years of schooling have difficulty applying their literacy and numeracy skills to real world situations.<br />
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<strong>AWARENESS AND ASPIRATIONS</strong><br />
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&bull; Mobile phone usage is widespread in the 14-18 age group. 73% of the young people had used a mobile phone within the last week.<br />
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&bull; Significant gender differences are visible. While only 12% of males had never used a mobile phone, this number for females is much higher at 22%.<br />
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&bull; Mobile usage rises significantly with age. Among 14 year-olds, 64% had used a mobile phone in the last week. That figure for 18 year-olds is 82%.<br />
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&bull; For the young people, the use of internet and computers was much lower. 28% had used the internet and 26% had used computers in the last week, while 59% had never used a computer and 64% had never used internet.<br />
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&bull; For those who are currently enrolled in the education system, access to internet and computers is higher than those who are not currently enrolled. However mobile usage is high regardless of whether they are enrolled or not.<br />
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&bull; Girls and young women have far lower access to computer and internet as compared to boys. While 49% of males have never used the internet, close to 76% of females have never done so.<br />
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&bull; Almost every young person (85%) had watched television in the last week. 58% had read a newspaper and a little under half (46%) had listened to the radio in the previous seven days. Gender differences in access to traditional media is seen to be far lower than the differences in access to the digital world.<br />
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&bull; With respect to participation in financial processes and institutions, close to 75% youth have their own bank account. Interestingly, a slightly higher percentage of females have bank accounts than males in this age group. 51% have deposited or withdrawn money from the bank. 16% have used an ATM or debit card, but only 5% have ever done any transaction using a payment app or mobile banking.<br />
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&bull; ASER 2017 asked youth about their study and professional aspirations. About 60% youth in the age group 14 to 18 years wanted to study beyond Std XII. This percentage is almost half (35%) among youth who could not read a Std II level text fluently.<br />
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&bull; Professional aspirations are clearly gendered, with males aiming to join the army or police or becoming engineers and females showing preference for teaching or nursing careers. Almost a third of the youth who were currently not enrolled in an educational institution did not have a specific occupation that they aspired to. Finally, 40% youth did not have any role models for the profession they aspired to.<br />
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&bull; Unless it is ensured that young people reach adulthood with the knowledge, skills, and opportunities they need to help themselves, their families, and their communities move forward, India&#39;s much awaited &#39;demographic dividend&#39; will not materialize.<br />
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**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
The Annual Status of Education Report, [inside]ASER 2016 (released in January, 2017)[/inside], covers 589 rural districts. The survey was carried out in 17,473 villages, covering 350,232 households and 562,305 children in the age group 3-16 years.&nbsp;<br />
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The key findings of the 11th ASER (i.e. 2016 ASER) are as follows (please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/aser%202016.pdf" title="ASER 2016">click here</a> to access):<br />
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<strong><em>At the national level, enrollment increased for all age groups between 2014 and 2016. </em></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span></span></span>Enrollment for the age group 6-14 has been 96 percent or above since 2009. This proportion increased from 96.7 percent in 2014 to 96.9 percent in 2016.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span></span></span>Enrollment for the age group 15-16 has also improved for both boys and girls, rising from 83.4 percent in 2014 to 84.7 percent in 2016.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span></span></span>However, in some states, the fraction of out of school children (age 6-14) has increased between 2014 and 2016. These include Madhya Pradesh (from 3.4 percent to 4.4 percent), Chhattisgarh (from 2 percent to 2.8 percent), and Uttar Pradesh (from 4.9 percent to 5.3 percent).<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span></span></span>In some states the proportion of girls (age group 11-14 years) out of school remains greater than 8 percent. These states are Rajasthan (9.7 percent) and Uttar Pradesh (9.9 percent). Joining them in 2016 is Madhya Pradesh (8.5 percent).<br />
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<strong><em>No increase in private school enrollment between 2014 and 2016. </em></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span></span></span>At the all India level, the proportion of children (age 6-14 years) enrolled in private schools is almost unchanged at 30.5 percent in 2016, as compared to 30.8 percent in 2014.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span></span></span>The gender gap in private school enrollment has decreased slightly in both the 7-10 and the 11-14 age group. In 2014, among children age 11-14, the gap between boys&#39; and girls&#39; enrollment in private school was 7.6 percentage points. In 2016, this gap had decreased to 6.9 percentage points.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span></span></span>Two states show significant increases in government school enrollment relative to 2014 levels. In Kerala, the proportion of children (age 11-14) enrolled in government school increased from 40.6 percent in 2014 to 49.9 percent in 2016. In Gujarat, this proportion increased from 79.2 percent in 2014 to 86 percent in 2016.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span></span>Three states show substantial increases since 2014 in private school enrollment among children in the elementary school age group (age 6-14): Uttarakhand (from 37.5 percent to 41.6 percent), Arunachal Pradesh (from 24.4 percent to 29.5 percent), and Assam (from 17.3 percent to 22 percent).<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Nationally, reading ability has improved especially in early grades in government schools. </em></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span>Nationally, the proportion of children in Std III who are able to read at least Std I level text has gone up slightly, from 40.2 percent in 2014 to 42.5 percent in 2016. This proportion shows substantial increases among children in government schools in many states: Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Telangana. All these states show an improvement of more than 7 percentage points since 2014.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span>Overall reading levels in Std V are almost the same year on year from 2011 to 2016. However, the proportion of children in Std V who could read a Std II level text improved by more than 5 percentage points from 2014 to 2016 in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tripura, Nagaland and Rajasthan. This improvement is driven by gains in learning levels in government schools in these states.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span>Nationally, reading levels in Std VIII show a slight decline since 2014 (from 74.7 percent to 73.1 percent). Then and now, three out of every four children enrolled in Std VIII can read at least Std II level (the highest level assessed in the ASER survey). The state-wise picture for Std VIII reading levels does not show much improvement except for government schools in Manipur, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Arithmetic shows improvement in government schools in primary grades. </em></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span>Although low, the all India (rural) figures for basic arithmetic have improved slightly for Std III in 2016 as compared to 2014. This is the first year since 2010, that there is an upward trend in arithmetic figures.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span>In 2014, for the country 25.4 percent of Std III children could do a 2-digit subtraction. This number has risen slightly to 27.7 percent in 2016.&nbsp; This improvement has come primarily from government schools where the percentage of Std III children who could do a 2-digit subtraction increased from 17.2 percent in 2014 to 20.2 percent in 2016.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span></span>In almost all states there is some improvement in the arithmetic levels of children enrolled in government schools in Std III. States with an increase of 5 percentage points or more since 2014 include Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>From 2014 to 2016, for Std V children, the level of arithmetic as measured by children&#39;s ability to do simple division problems has remained almost the same at 26 percent. Only five major states show an improvement of more than 5 percentage points. These are Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>However, the ability to do division among Std VIII students has continued to drop.&nbsp; This declining trend has been observed since 2010. The proportion of Std VIII students who could correctly do a 3-digit by 1-digit division problem was 68.4 percent in 2010. This number dropped to 44.2 percent in 2014, and has further declined to 43.3 percent in 2016. Only children in Manipur, Karnataka and Telangana show an increase of 5 percentage points or more.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Ability to read English is unchanged for lower primary grades.</em></strong><br />
&nbsp;<br />
Assessments of basic English have been carried out in 2007, 2009, 2012, 2014 and 2016.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>Children&#39;s ability to read English is slightly improved in Std III but relatively unchanged in Std V. In 2016, 32 percent children in Std III could read simple words in English as compared to 28.5 percent in 2009.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>In comparison, in 2016, 24.5 percent of children enrolled in Std V could read simple English sentences. This number is virtually unchanged since 2009. However, a few states show improvements since 2014 for government school children enrolled in Std V. These states are Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Maharashtra and Kerala (all with improvements of 5 percentage points or more). In nine states, the levels of English reading of private schools has also improved. These are Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Assam, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>However, the decline in upper primary grades continues. For example, in 2009, 60.2 percent of children in Std VIII could read simple sentences in English; in 2014, this figure was 46.7 percent and in 2016 this ability has further declined to 45.2 percent.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>In 2016, of those who can read words (regardless of grade), roughly 60 percent could explain the meanings of the words read. Of those who can read sentences, 62.4 percent in Std V could explain the meaning of the sentences. Both these levels are virtually unchanged since 2014.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>School observations </em></strong><br />
<br />
As part of the ASER survey, one government school with primary sections is visited in each sampled village.<br />
<br />
ASER 2016 visited 15,630 government schools with primary sections. Of these 9,644 were primary schools and 5,986 were upper primary schools which also had primary sections.<br />
<br />
<em><strong>Children&#39;s attendance shows no major change from 2014. </strong></em><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>In 2016, ASER data indicates that 71.4 percent of enrolled children in primary schools and 73.2 percent of enrolled children in upper primary schools were present on the day of the visit. In 2014, these figures were 71.3 percent in primary schools and 71.1 percent in upper primary schools.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>As in previous years, children&#39;s attendance varies considerably across the country. States like Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Nagaland, Mizoram, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have attendance levels that are above 80 percent. But in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Manipur, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh, attendance rates range from 50 to 60 percent.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>Trends over time show that children&#39;s attendance in both primary and upper primary schools was higher in 2009 as compared to 2016. In 2009, attendance was at 74.3 percent in primary schools. The figure for 2016 is 71.4 percent. Similar data for upper primary schools shows a decline from 77 percent in 2009 to 73.2 percent in 2016.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>The proportion of &quot;small schools&quot; in the government primary school sector continues to grow. The percentage of multigrade classrooms has also increased. </em></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>Of the government primary schools visited in 2016, close to 40 percent are &quot;small schools&quot; with a total enrollment of 60 children or less. 8.9 percent of the upper primary schools visited had a total enrollment of 60 children or less.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>In 2009, the percentage of government primary schools visited that were &quot;small&quot; was 26.1 percent. The corresponding number for upper primary schools was 4.5 percent.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>ASER also notes the proportion of children enrolled in Std II and Std IV who are sitting with other grades. This proportion has been going up over time. In primary schools, in 2010, 55.2 percent of Std II classes sat with other grades. This figure has gone up to 63.7 percent in 2016. Similar trends are also visible for Std IV. The proportion of classes in which Std IV children are sitting with other grades increased from 49 percent in 2010 to 58 percent in 2016.<br />
<br />
<em><strong>For the most part, improvement in school facilities continues. </strong></em><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>ASER records whether toilets are available and useable on the day of the visit. Since 2010, there has been significant progress in the availability of useable toilets. Nationally in 2016, 68.7 percent of schools visited had toilet facilities that were useable as compared 47.2 percent in 2010. In 2016, only 3.5 percent of the schools visited had no toilet facility.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>The proportion of schools visited where girls&#39; toilets were available and useable has gone up from 32.9 percent in 2010 to 55.7 percent in 2014 to 61.9 percent in 2016. In four states, 80 percent or more schools visited had useable girls&#39;toilets. These states are Gujarat, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>Drinking water was available in 74.1 percent of the schools that were visited in 2016, down from 75.6 percent in 2014. In 2010, this figure was 72.7 percent. In four states (Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh), drinking water was available in 85 percent or more of schools.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>There has been no change in the availability of computers in schools since 2014.&nbsp; The 2016 figure is 20 percent as compared to 19.6 percent in 2014. However, some states stand out in terms of high provision of computers. In Kerala, 89 percent of schools visited had computers; this number was 75.2 percent in Gujarat, 55.1 percent in Maharashtra and 57.3 percent in Tamil Nadu.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull; </span>The proportion of schools with libraries has fallen from 78.1 percent in 2014 to 75.5 percent in 2016. However, children were seen using library books in more schools in 2016. In 42.6 percent of schools that were visited, children were seen using library books as compared to 40.7 percent in 2014.<br />
<br />
**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
The 71st round National Sample Survey on &ldquo;Social Consumption: Education&rdquo; was conducted during January to June 2014. The information in the survey was collected from 36,479 households in rural areas and 29,447 households in urban areas during the 71st round.<br />
<br />
The key findings of the [inside]71st round NSS report: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India Education (published in June 2015)[/inside] are as follows (please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/nss_71st_ki_education_30june15.pdf" title="NSS 71st round Education">click here</a> to access the full report; please <a href="tinymce/uploaded/Press%20Note%20Education.pdf" title="Press Note NSS 71st Education">click here</a> to read the summary of findings):<br />
<br />
<em>I. Literacy rates</em><br />
<br />
&bull; Literacy rate among persons of age 7 years and above in India was 75%. In rural areas, literacy rate was 71% compared to 86% in urban areas.<br />
<br />
&bull; Differences in literacy rate among persons of age 7 years and above was observed with male literacy rate being substantially higher (83%) than female literacy rate (67%).<br />
<br />
&bull; Adult literacy (age 15 years and above) rate in India was around 71%. For adults also, literacy rate in rural areas was lower than that in urban areas. In rural areas, adult literacy rate was 64% as compared to 84% in urban areas.<br />
<br />
<em>II. Accessibility of nearest primary, upper primary and secondary school</em><br />
<br />
&bull; No significant difference between rural and urban India existed in terms of distance for physical access to primary schooling. In both rural and urban areas, nearly 99% households reported availability of primary school within 2 kms from the house.<br />
<br />
&bull; For accessing educational institutions providing higher level of learning, say upper primary or secondary, a lower proportion of households in rural areas compared to the households in urban areas reported existence of such facilities within 2 kms.<br />
<br />
&bull; Nearly 86% of rural households and 96% of urban households reported upper primary schools within a distance of 2 kms from the house while nearly 60% of rural households and 91% of urban households reported secondary schools at such a distance.<br />
<br />
<em>III. Completed level of education among persons of age 5 years and above</em><br />
<br />
&bull; The proportion of persons having completed higher level of education, say, graduation and above, was more in the urban areas than in the rural areas.<br />
<br />
&bull; In the rural areas, nearly 4.5% of males and 2.2% of females completed education level of &lsquo;graduation and above&rsquo; while in the urban areas 17% of males and 13% of females completed this level of education<br />
<br />
<em>IV. Attendance and enrolment</em><br />
<br />
&bull; In both rural and urban areas, a very small proportion of persons (nearly 1 per cent) in the age group 5-29 years, were currently enrolled but not attending educational institutions.<br />
<br />
&bull; In rural areas 58.7% of males and 53% of females in the 5-29 age-group were currently attending educational institution. In urban areas, the percentages being 57% for males and 54.6% for females.<br />
<br />
<em>V. Attendance ratios</em><br />
<br />
&bull; Gross Attendance Ratio of or level &lsquo;primary&rsquo; was nearly 100% for both males and females in rural and urban areas.<br />
<br />
&bull; Gross Attendance Ratio at level &lsquo;primary to higher secondary&rsquo; was 91% and 88% for rural males and females respectively, marginally lower as compared to 93% for both males and females in urban sector.<br />
<br />
&bull; Net Attendance Ratio in India at primary level was 84% for male and 83 % for female children in the age-group 6-10 years, the official age-group for Classes I-V.<br />
<br />
&bull; There was no major rural-urban or male-female disparity at all-India level till elementary level (primary and upper primary) in the Net Attendance Ratio.<br />
<br />
<em>VI. Current attendance by type of education</em><br />
<br />
&bull; In India nearly 85% of the students in age-group 15-29 years were pursuing general education.<br />
<br />
&bull; Nearly 12.6% and 2.4% students in age-group 15-29 years were attending technical/ professional and vocational courses respectively.<br />
<br />
<em>VII. Attendance by type of courses</em><br />
<br />
&bull; Among the male students pursuing general education, 46% were pursuing humanities as compared to 54% of the female students, 35% of the male students were pursuing science compared to 28% female students and 20% of the male students were pursuing commerce compared to 18% of the female students.<br />
<br />
&bull; Among the male students pursing technical/ professional education, 46% were pursuing engineering compared to 29% of the female students and 4% of the male students were pursuing medicine (including nursing) compared to 14% of the female students.<br />
<br />
<em>VIII. Type of institution attended</em><br />
<br />
&bull; In rural areas, majority of the students were attending government institutions predominantly up to higher secondary levels, whereas a completely different picture was observed in urban areas.<br />
<br />
&bull; In rural areas, 72% of the students at primary level, 76% at upper primary level and 64% at secondary &amp; higher secondary level attended Government institutions, while in urban areas, 31% at primary level, 38% at upper primary level as well as secondary &amp; higher secondary level, attended Government institutions.<br />
<br />
<em>IX. Incentives received</em><br />
<br />
&bull; Almost 94% students from rural areas and 87% students from urban areas at primary level studying in government institutions were receiving free education.<br />
<br />
&bull; At upper primary level, 89% students in rural areas and 80% students in urban areas, studying in government institutions were receiving free education.<br />
<br />
&bull; At secondary and higher secondary level, 58% students in rural areas and 52% students in urban areas, studying in government institutions, received free education.<br />
<br />
&bull; 63% of students at primary level and 62% of students at upper primary level received mid-day meal.<br />
<br />
<em>X. Private coaching</em><br />
<br />
&bull; At the all-India level, nearly 26% of the students were taking private coaching.<br />
<br />
<em>XI. Students staying in hostel</em><br />
<br />
&bull; Nearly 5% of the students in India were staying in hostel for study.<br />
<br />
<em>XII. Private expenditure on education </em><br />
<br />
&bull; Average expenditure (Rs.) per student incurred and/or to be incurred during the current academic session was nearly Rs. 6788 for general education, <span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Rs.</span> 62841 for technical/ professional (except vocational) and <span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Rs.</span> 27676 for vocational course.<br />
<br />
&bull; At primary level, expenditure per student in urban areas was <span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Rs.</span> 10083, more than four times than that in rural areas (<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Rs.</span> 2811).<br />
<br />
&bull; Average expenditure on technical education in private aided &amp; unaided institutions varied between nearly 1.5-2.5 times of that in government institutions.<br />
<br />
&bull; Nearly 46% of the expenditure for general education and 73% of the expenditure for technical education was on course fee.<br />
<br />
&bull; For students pursuing general courses, 15% was spent on private coaching as against 3% for students pursuing technical/ professional education (including vocational).<br />
<br />
<em>XIII. Never-enrolment and discontinuance of education</em><br />
<br />
&bull; In India, nearly 11% of the persons of age 5-29 years in rural areas and 6% in urban areas never enrolled in any educational institution.<br />
<br />
&bull; In India, proportion of persons in the age group 5-29 years dropping out/ discontinued studies were nearly 33% in rural areas and 38% in urban areas.<br />
<br />
&bull; For the males of age 5-29 years, engagement in economic activities was the most common reason for dropping out (30% in rural areas and 34% in urban areas), whereas for the females, the dominant reason was engagement in domestic activities (33% in rural areas and 23% in urban areas).<br />
<br />
&bull; In rural areas, the major reason for&nbsp; never enrolment for persons of age 5-29 years was &lsquo;not interested in education&rsquo; (33% male and 27% female) while in urban areas, nearly 33% males and 30% females in the age group 5-29 years never&nbsp; enrolled&nbsp; because of &lsquo;financial constraints&rsquo;.<br />
<br />
<em>XIV. Access to computer and internet</em><br />
<br />
&bull; Nearly 6% of rural households and 29% of urban household possessed computer.<br />
<br />
&bull; In India, among households with at least one member of age 14 years and above, nearly 27% had internet access in the survey year, 2014. The proportions were 16% among rural households and 49% of urban households.<br />
<br />
&bull; Among persons of age 14-29 years, nearly 18% in rural areas and 49% in urban areas were able to operate a computer.<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
The [inside]Annual Status of Education Report 2014 (released in January 2015)[/inside] is based on a survey carried out in 16,497 villages, covering 341,070 households and 569,229 children in 577 rural districts of India.<br />
<br />
The key findings of the ASER 2014 report are as follows (Please click <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%20National%20Findings.pdf" title="ASER National findings">link1</a>, <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%202014%20Press%20Release.pdf" title="ASER 2014 press release">link2</a> &amp; <a href="http://img.asercentre.org/docs/Publications/ASER%20Reports/ASER%202014/fullaser2014mainreport.pdf">link3</a> to access):<br />
<br />
<em>Enrollment levels and Out-of-school proportions </em><br />
<br />
&bull; 2014 is the sixth year in a row that enrollment levels are 96% or higher for the 6-14 age group. The proportion of children currently not in school remains at 3.3%.<br />
<br />
&bull; In some states the proportion of girls (age group 11-14) out of school remains greater than 8%. These states are Rajasthan (12.1%) and Uttar Pradesh (9.2%).<br />
<br />
&bull; Although enrollment levels are very high for the age group covered by the Right to Education Act (i.e. 6 to 14 years), the proportion of 15 to 16 year olds not enrolled in school is substantial. Nationally, for rural areas, 15.9% of boys and 17.3% of girls in this age group are currently out of school.<br />
<br />
<em>Enrollment in private schools</em><br />
<br />
&bull; In 2014, 30.8% of all 6-14 year old children in rural India are enrolled in private schools. This number is up slightly from 29% in 2013.<br />
<br />
&bull; As in previous years, in each age group, a higher proportion of boys go to private schools as compared to girls. In 2014, in the age group 7-10 years, 35.6% of boys are enrolled in private schools as compared to 27.7% of girls. For the age group of 11-14 years, 33.5% of boys are in private schools as compared to 25.9% of girls.<br />
<br />
&bull; Five states in India now have private school enrollment rates in the elementary stage that are greater than 50%. These are Manipur (73.3%), Kerala (62.2%), Haryana (54.2%), Uttar Pradesh (51.7%), and Meghalaya (51.7%).<br />
<br />
<em>Reading levels</em><br />
<br />
&bull; Overall, the situation with basic reading continues to be extremely disheartening in India. In 2014, in Std III, only a fourth of all children can read a Std II text fluently. This number rises to just under half in Std V. Even in Std VIII, close to 75% children can read Std II level text (which implies that 25% still cannot).<br />
<br />
&bull; Some very small improvements in reading are visible in the last few years. For example, the proportion of Std V children who can read at least a Std II level text has inched upwards from 46.8% in 2012 to 47% in 2013 and to 48.1% in 2014. 38.7% of Std III children could read at least a Std I level text in 2012. This number is slightly higher at 40.2% in 2014.<br />
<br />
&bull; In some states, reading levels have improved since last year. For example, in 2014 a higher proportion of children in Std V in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar, Odisha and Karnataka can read at least a Std II level text than was the case last year. Tamil Nadu shows major gains in reading over last year for Std V.<br />
<br />
&bull; In some states, like Bihar, Assam, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra there are visible declines in reading levels over the last 5-6 years.<br />
<br />
<em>Poor outcome in Mathematics</em><br />
<br />
&bull; The All India (rural) figures for basic arithmetic have remained virtually unchanged over the last few years. In 2012, 26.3% of Std III children could do a two digit subtraction. This number is at 25.3% in 2014. For Std V children, the ability to do division has increased slightly from 24.8% in 2012 to 26.1% in 2014.<br />
<br />
&bull; The percentage of children in Std II who still cannot recognize numbers up to 9 has increased over time, from 11.3% in 2009 to 19.5% in 2014.<br />
<br />
&bull; The ability to do division among Std VIII students has been dropping since 2010. The proportion of Std VIII students who could correctly do a three digit by one digit division problem was 68.3% in 2010. This number has dropped to 44.1% in 2014.<br />
<br />
&bull; Looking over a five to eight year period, it is clear that math levels have declined in almost every state. Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are the exceptions where the situation has been more or less the same for the past several years.<br />
<br />
<em>English reading ability</em><br />
<br />
&bull; Children&rsquo;s ability to read English is relatively unchanged in lower primary grades. In 2014, about 25% of children enrolled in Std V could read simple English sentences. This number is virtually unchanged since 2009.<br />
<br />
&bull; A decline is visible in upper primary grades. For example, in 2009, 60.2% of children in Std VIII could read simple sentences in English but in 2014, this figure is 46.8%.<br />
<br />
&bull; In 2014, of those who can read words (regardless of grade), roughly 60% could explain the meanings of the words read. Of those who can read sentences, 62.2% in Std V could explain the meaning of the sentences.<br />
<br />
<em>School observations</em><br />
<br />
ASER 2014 visited 15,206 government schools with primary sections. Of these 8,844 were primary schools and 6,362 were upper primary schools which also had primary sections.<br />
<br />
<em>Teacher and child attendance</em><br />
<br />
&bull; In 2014, ASER data indicates that 71.4% of enrolled children in primary schools and 71.1% of enrolled children in upper primary schools were present on the day of the visit. In 2013, these figures were 70.7% in primary schools and 71.8% in upper primary schools.<br />
<br />
&bull; States like Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have children&#39;s attendance levels that range from 80 to 90%. But in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh, attendance rates are much lower and range from 50 to 60%.<br />
<br />
&bull; Children&rsquo;s attendance both in primary and upper primary schools was higher in 2009 as compared to 2014. In 2009, attendance was at 74.3% in primary schools and 77% in upper primary schools.<br />
<br />
&bull; Since 2009, there has been a small decrease in the attendance rates of teachers. For primary schools, in 2014, 85% of appointed teachers were present in school on the day of the visit as compared to 89.1% in 2009. The 2014 figure for teacher attendance in upper primary schools is 85.8% as against 88.6% in 2009.<br />
<br />
<em>&ldquo;Small schools&rdquo; in the government primary school sector</em><br />
<br />
&bull; Of the government primary schools visited in 2014, over one third are &ldquo;small schools&rdquo; with a total enrollment of 60 children or less. In 2009, the percentage of government primary schools visited that were &ldquo;small&rdquo; was 26.1%.<br />
<br />
<em>Improvement in school facilities</em><br />
<br />
&bull; The percentage of schools complying with RTE mandated pupil-teacher ratios has increased from 45.3% last year to 49.3% in 2014. In 2010, this figure was 38.9%.<br />
<br />
&bull; With respect to drinking water provision and availability, drinking water was available in 75.6% of the schools that were visited. In 2010, this figure was 72.7%. In four states (Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh), drinking water was available in more than 85% of schools.<br />
<br />
&bull; ASER records whether toilets are available and useable on the day of the visit. Since 2010, there has been significant progress in the availability of useable toilets. Nationally in 2014, 65.2% of schools visited had toilet facilities that were useable. In 2013, this figure was 62.6% and in 2010, it was 47.2%). The proportion of schools visited where girls&rsquo; toilets were available and useable has gone up from 32.9% in 2010 to 53.3% in 2013 to 55.7% in 2014. In four states, more than 75% of schools visited had useable girls&rsquo; toilets. These states are Gujarat, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.<br />
<br />
&bull; There is a small increase in the availability of computers in the schools visited. The 2014 figure stands at 19.6%, as compared to 15.8% in 2010. Several states stand out in this regard. In Gujarat, 81.3% of schools visited had computers; this number was 89.8% in Kerala, 46.3% in Maharashtra and 62.4% in Tamil Nadu.<br />
<br />
&bull; The proportion of schools with library books has increased substantially, from 62.6% in 2010 to 78.1% in 2014. In about 40.7% of schools that were visited, children were seen using library books as compared to 37.9% in 2010.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
According to the [inside]11th UNESCO Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2013-14[/inside] entitled Teaching and learning: Achieving quality for all (please click <a href="http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002256/225660e.pdf">link 1</a>, <a href="tinymce/uploaded/SouthWestAsia_Factsheet_v2.pdf" title="EFA Factsheet">link 2</a> and <a href="tinymce/uploaded/PressRelease_SWA_non_embargoed.pdf" title="EFA Press Release">link 3</a> to download):<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Ethiopia and India have contributed significantly to the overall reduction in out-of-school numbers since 2006. In 2011, India had out-of-school population of 16.74 lakhs whereas in 2006 its out-of-school population was 61.84 lakhs. India is among the top 10 countries with the highest out-of-school populations.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In India, despite increased resources for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, allocations are still not sufficiently reaching the states that are in need. In 2012/13, total expenditure per elementary pupil from both central and state funds was still much lower in states where education indicators were worse than in the states with some of the best education indicators. In one of India&rsquo;s wealthier states, Kerala, education spending per pupil was about US$685. Similarly, in Himachal Pradesh it was US$542. By contrast, in West Bengal it was US$127 and in Bihar US$100.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Increased financial allocations are still insufficient to translate into improved learning outcomes, suggesting that far more needs to be done. In Bihar, for example, where spending rose by 61% between 2010/11 and 2012/13 but remained low, only 48% of Standard 3 to 5 students could read a Standard 1 text in 2012 (Accountability Initiative, 2013).<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;India has by far the largest population of illiterate adults, 287 million, amounting to 37% of the global total. Its literacy rate rose from 48% in 1991 to 63% in 2006, the latest year it has available data, but population growth cancelled the gains so there was no change in the number of illiterate adults.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In India, the majority of tax revenue forgone is due to exemptions from custom and excise duties. The revenue lost to exemptions came to the equivalent of 5.7% of GDP in 2012/13. If 20% of this had been earmarked for education, the sector would have received an additional US$22.5 billion in 2013, increasing funding by almost 40% compared with the current education budget.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;India decreased its spending on education from 4.4% of GNP in 1999 to 3.3% in 2010, jeopardizing the huge progress it has made in getting more children into school, and its prospects for improving its poor quality of education. India, which faces huge challenges in improving the quality of its education, spent 10% of its government budget on education in 2011, a reduction from 13% in 1999.<br />
<br />
<strong>Education and its advantages</strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Women in India with at least secondary education were 30 percentage points more likely to have a say over their choice of spouse than their less educated peers. In India, reducing the gender literacy gap by 40% increased the probability of women standing for state assembly election by 16% and the share of votes that they received by 13%. Education helps overcome gender biases in political behaviour to deepen democracy.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In 2012, 1.41 million children under 5 died in India. If all women had completed primary education, the under-5 mortality rate would have been 13% lower in India. If all women had completed secondary education, it would have been 61% lower in India.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In northern India, analysis based on the Annual Health Survey and the census in 2011 showed that female literacy was strongly linked to child mortality, even after taking into account access to reproductive and child health services. An increase in the female literacy rate from 58%, the current average in the districts surveyed, to 100% would lead to a reduction in the under-5 mortality rate from 81 to 55 deaths per 1,000 live births (Kumar et al., 2012).<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In India, literate people with schooling up to lower secondary level were more than twice as likely as illiterate people to know that mosquitoes are the transmitters of malaria. They were also about 45% more likely to know that malaria can be prevented by draining stagnant water (Sharma et al., 2007).<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In rural India, mothers&rsquo; education has been shown to improve their mobility and their ability to make decisions on seeking care when a child is sick &ndash; and infant children of women with such increased autonomy are taller for their age (Shroff et al., 2011).<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Education contributes to other forms of political participation. In rural areas of the states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in India, education was positively associated with campaigning, discussing electoral issues, attending rallies and establishing contacts with local government officials (Krishna, 2006). In the state of West Bengal in India, a survey of 85 villages showed that the higher the level of household education, the more likely people were to attend the biannual gram sabha, or village forum, and, especially, to ask questions at the meetings (Bardhan et al., 2009).<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In parts of India, animosity among ethnic and linguistic groups can spark violence, so there is an urgent need to increase tolerance through education. Those with secondary education were 19% less likely to express intolerance towards people speaking a different language than those with less than primary education.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;The education level of a woman&rsquo;s spouse can have a key role in her fertility choices. In India, the likelihood that the fertility preferences of a woman with primary education were taken into account rose from 65% for those whose husbands had no education to at least 85% for those whose husbands had at least secondary education. Education helps prevent the abhorrent practice of infanticide in India, where strong preferences over the sex of the child have been linked to millions of killings of children. While 84% of women with no education would prefer to have a boy if they could only have one child, only 50% of women with at least secondary education would have such a preference.<br />
<br />
<strong>Learning crisis </strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In India, the richest young women have already achieved universal literacy but based on current trends, the poorest are projected to only do so around 2080. In rural India, there are wide disparities between richer and poorer states, but even within richer states, the poorest girls perform at much lower levels.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In the wealthier states of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, most rural children reached grade 5 in 2012. However, only 44% of these children in the grade 5 age group in Maharashtra and 53% in Tamil Nadu could perform a two-digit subtraction. Among rich, rural children in these states, girls performed better than boys, with around two out of three girls able to do the calculations. Yet despite Maharashtra&rsquo;s relative wealth, poor, rural girls there performed only slightly better than their counterparts in the poorer state of Madhya Pradesh.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Widespread poverty in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh affects the chance of staying in school until grade 5. In Uttar Pradesh, 70% of poor children make it to grade 5 while almost all children from rich households are able to do so. Similarly, in Madhya Pradesh, 85% of poor children reach grade 5, compared with 96% of rich children.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Once in school, poor girls have a lower chance of learning the basics. No more than one in five poor girls in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are able to do basic mathematics. The huge disparities within India point to a failure to target support adequately towards those who need it most.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Children who learn less are more likely to leave school early. In India, children who achieved lower scores in mathematics at age 12 were more than twice as likely to drop out by age 15 than those who performed better.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Where gender-responsive curricula have been developed, as in projects in Mumbai, test scores measuring attitudes on several gender-related issues improved.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Digital Study Hall is a small, innovative project that uses ICT to improve the accessibility and quality of education for disadvantaged children in India. An evaluation of four schools in Uttar Pradesh state in India found that, after eight months, 72% of pupils had improved test scores; of these, 44% had an increase greater than 150% and almost a third improved by more than 200%.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;A study in India evaluated computer-assisted mathematics programmes, implemented both as a stand-alone substitute for regular teaching in an in-school programme and as an after-school programme to reinforce teachers&rsquo; curriculum delivery. The results showed that the in-school programme, far from leading to improved scores, actually caused pupils to learn significantly less than they otherwise would have done. By contrast, using the after-school programme to supplement regular teaching brought increased learning gains, particularly for low achievers.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In rural India, an after-school programme for children from low income families used mobile phone games to help them learn English. This resulted in significant learning gains in tests of the spelling of common English nouns, particularly for children in higher grades who had stronger foundation skills.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, primary students learn at their own pace, using self-evaluation cards that can be administered alone or with the help of another child; teachers strategically pair more advanced learners with less advanced ones for certain exercises. Overall, children&rsquo;s self-confidence has grown as a result of the approach, and learning achievement in the state is high.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Small class sizes also enable teachers at private schools to interact more with their students. In Andhra Pradesh, India, 82% of teachers regularly corrected exercises given to children, compared with only 40% in government schools.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In India, schools with trained female community volunteers helped increase the proportion of children able to do two-digit addition. While only 5% of pupils were able to carry out simple subtraction at the start of the study, 52% could by the end of the year, compared with 39% in other classes.<br />
<br />
<strong>Teaching crisis</strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In India, teacher unions have a major influence on state legislatures and governments. In Uttar Pradesh, this led to higher pay and security of tenure for civil service teachers, but also to neglect of teacher absenteeism and to low quality of teaching.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In the Indian state of Bihar, government school teachers received training to use new learning materials adapted to the local context. Combine with other initiatives, including using village volunteers to provide children with support outside school hours, the programme increased achievement.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In Rajasthan state, India, the School and Teacher Education Reform Programme, established in 2010, aims to move schooling away from rote learning and towards teaching based on understanding and grounded in the local context of the child. In an innovative move to build legitimacy and ownership among teacher educators, a group made up of faculty from state, private and NGO teacher training colleges and universities was established to help develop teacher education and school curricula and materials.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In India, several states no longer recruit civil service teachers, and contract teachers now account for 16% of government primary school teachers. In 2007, contract teachers received 14% of the salary paid to regular teachers in West Bengal, 23% in Andhra Pradesh and 25% in Rajasthan.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In India, most studies find that employing contract teachers does not lead to learning outcomes that are lower than those achieved by civil service teachers, showing that contract teachers can be at least as effective as civil service teachers. However, achievement remains undesirably low in India regardless of the type of teacher a student is taught by.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Across India, absenteeism varied from 15% in Maharashtra and 17% in Gujarat &ndash; two richer states &ndash; to 38% in Bihar and 42% in Jharkhand, two of the poorest states. There is much evidence of the harm done to students&rsquo; learning because of teacher absenteeism. In India, for example, a 10% increase in teacher absence was associated with 1.8% lower student attendance.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In India, only one head teacher in 3,000 government schools reported dismissing a teacher for repeated absence. By contrast, 35 private school head teachers, out of 600 surveyed, reported having dismissed teachers for this reason.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In India, illness accounted for just 10% of absences. In India, official non-teaching duties accounted for only 4%. In India, teacher absenteeism was lower when teachers were born in the district where they worked, where the school had better infrastructure and where students&rsquo; parents were literate.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Combining monitoring with incentives could be more beneficial than penalties for tackling absenteeism. In 2003&ndash;2006, in 120 NGO non-formal education centres in rural Rajasthan, photographs were taken of teachers and students every day at the beginning and end of class to monitor attendance and the length of the school day. Teachers&rsquo; pay depended on the number of days they taught at least eight students for at least six hours. Over the period of the programme, teacher absenteeism fell from 44% to 21%, showing that linking pay with attendance can be effective. However, it is less clear whether camera-based monitoring of attendance could be scaled up and extended beyond NGO education programmes.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Greater involvement of parents and the community in school management had limited impact on teacher attendance in India and no impact on student achievement.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In rural India, government school teachers have been found to spend 75% of their time at school teaching, compared with 90% for private school teachers (Kingdon and Banerji, 2009).<br />
<br />
<strong>Global scenario</strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Based on current trends, the Report projects that it will take until 2072 for all the poorest young women in developing countries to be literate.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;The Report calculates that the cost of 250 million children around the world not learning the basics translates into a loss of an estimated $129 billion. In total, 37 countries are losing at least half the amount they spend on primary education because children are not learning. By contrast, the Report shows that ensuring an equal, quality education for all can generate huge economic rewards, increasing a country&rsquo;s gross domestic product per capita by 23 per cent over 40 years.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Ten per cent of global spending on primary education is being lost on poor quality education that is failing to ensure that children learn.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;The report warns that without attracting and adequately training enough teachers the learning crisis will last for several generations and hit the disadvantaged hardest.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In order to improve the quality of education, between 2011 and 2015, South and West Asia needs to recruit an additional 1 million additional teachers per year to reach a ratio of 32 pupils per teacher in lower secondary education. However, teachers also need training. In a third of countries analysed by the Report, less than three-quarters of existing primary school teachers are trained to national standards.<br />
<br />
<strong>Recommendations</strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;The Report makes the following recommendations: 1. New education goals after 2015 must include an explicit commitment to equity so that every child has an equal chance of an education; 2. New goals after 2015 must ensure that every child is in school and learning the basics; 3. Ensure the best teachers reach the learners who need them most.<br />
<br />
&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**</p>
</div>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER-rural) is an annual household survey to assess children&rsquo;s schooling status and basic learning levels in reading and arithmetic. The 9th ASER 2013 report, facilitated by PRATHAM, covers 550 districts, 15941 villages, 14724 schools, 3.27 lakh households and 5.7 lakh children in the age group 3-16 years.<br />
<br />
According to the [inside]ASER 2013 report[/inside] (click <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%202013%20Findings.pdf" title="ASER 2013 Findings">link 1</a>, <a href="tinymce/uploaded/ASER%20Press%20Release.pdf" title="ASER Press Release">link 2</a> to download):<br />
<br />
<strong>Schooling: Enrollment Attendance &amp; School Facilities</strong><br />
<br />
<em>Overall Enrollment</em><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The percentage of children (age group 6-14) enrolled in school is very high at 96.7% in 2013. The enrollment figures have been 96% or more since 2009. There is hardly any gender difference between the proportions of children who are still out of school.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; At the all India level, the proportion of girls in the age group 11 to 14 who are not enrolled in school dropped from 6% in 2012 to 5.5% in 2013. The greatest progress is visible in Uttar Pradesh, where this percentage dropped from 11.5% in 2012 to 9.4% in 2013. However, in Rajasthan the proportion of out of school girls age 11 to 14 rose for the second year in a row, from 8.9% in 2011 to 11.2% in 2012 to 12.1% in 2013.<br />
<br />
<em>Private School Enrollment</em><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The percentage of children (age group 6-14) enrolled in private schools is 29% in 2013. Private school enrolment figures were 28.3% in 2012. This number has risen from 18.7% in 2006. Boys are more likely to attend private school than girls.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There are wide variations in private school enrollment across rural India. In Manipur and Kerala more than two thirds of all children in the 6 to 14 age group are enrolled in private schools. Less than 10% are in private school in Tripura (6.7%), West Bengal (7%), and Bihar (8.4%), although these numbers have grown substantially since 2006.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; As with private schooling, the incidence of private tuition varies across states. In Tripura and West Bengal, more than 60% of children in Std. I-V take paid private tuition. This proportion is high in Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand also. But in Chhattisgarh and Mizoram, less than 5% of children in Std. I-V take paid private tuition.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The proportion of children in Std. I-V who receive some form of private input into their schooling (private school, private tuition or both) has increased from 38.5% in 2010 to 42% in 2011, 44.2% in 2012 and to 45.1% in 2013.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; For the first time, ASER 2013 measured the amount families pay for a child&rsquo;s private tutoring. Nationally, 68.4% of Std. I-V government school students who go to private tutors pay Rs. 100 or less per month. Among private school students of Std. I-V, 36.7% pay Rs. 100 or less per month and the same proportion pay between Rs. 101 and Rs. 200 per month for private tuition.<br />
<br />
<em>Out of School Girls </em><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; States like Rajasthan (12.1%) and Uttar Pradesh (9.4%), apart from Bihar (4.6%), West Bengal (4.0%), Jharkhand (5.2%), Odisha (5.3%), Chhattisgarh (3.8%) and Gujarat (6.6%), have a high proportion of girls out of school during 2013.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
<em>School Attendance</em><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Overall, children&rsquo;s attendance in school on the day of the visit has gone up from 74.3% in 2009 to 70.7% in 2013 in primary schools but declined from 77% in 2009 to 71.8% in 2013 in upper primary schools. Children&rsquo;s attendance in school varies across the states with Tamil Nadu as the best performer.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Teacher attendance in both primary and upper primary schools shows no change over the 2012 level of 85%. But student attendance shows a slight decline, especially in upper primary schools from 73.1% in 2012 to 71.8% in 2013.<br />
<br />
<em>School Facilities (Compliance with RTE)</em><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Of all schools visited in 2013, percentage of schools which have drinking water available and useable is 73.8%, toilets available and useable is 62.6%, girls&#39; toilet available and useable is 53.3%, library available and books being used is 40.7%, kitchen shed in school available is 87.0%, and mid day meal served on day of visit is 87.2%.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The proportion of schools that comply with RTE pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) norms has increased every year, from 38.9% in 2010 to 45.3% in 2013.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The proportions of schools with an office/store, a playground, and a boundary wall have increased slightly over 2012 levels.<br />
<br />
<strong>Learning Outcomes-Policies, plans and practice-Evidence to action</strong><br />
<br />
<em>Reading Ability</em><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; At the All India level, for Std. III, the proportion of children able to read at least a Std. I level paragraph has risen slightly from 38.8% in 2012 to 40.2% in 2013. This increase is mainly coming from improvements among private school children. Among Std. III students in government schools the proportion of children able to read Std. I level text remains unchanged from 2012 at around 32%.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; States which show steady improvement in reading ability among Std. III students since 2009 are Jammu &amp; Kashmir and Punjab.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Nationally, the proportion of all children in Std. V who can read a Std. II level text remains virtually the same since 2012, at 47%. This proportion decreased each year from 2009 to 2012, dropping from 52.8% in 2009 to 46.9% in 2012. Among Std. V children enrolled in government schools, the percentage of children able to read Std. II level text decreased from 50.3% (2009) to 43.8% (2011) to 41.1% (2013).<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In 2013, states in which more than 60% children in Std. V in government schools could read a Std. II level text were Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Mizoram and Kerala. Over time, reading levels among government school students in Std. V students have shown improvement in Jammu &amp; Kashmir and Gujarat.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The reading levels of government school children had declined especially in the period 2010 to 2012. Private school children&rsquo;s reading levels increased since last year.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ASER estimates that the number of children not able to read fluently is substantial in Std. III to V. Indications are that there may be a significant proportion of such children in Std. VI to VIII as well.<br />
<br />
<em>Arithmetic Ability</em><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The percentage of Std. III students who can at least do subtraction problems has declined from 36.3% in 2010 to 26.1% in 2013.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The percentage of Std. V students who can at least do subtraction problems has declined from 70.8% in 2010 to 52.3% in 2013.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Nationally, the proportion of all children in Std. V who could solve a three-digit by one-digit division problem increased slightly, from 24.9% in 2012 to 25.6% in 2013. Typically, this kind of division problem is part of the Std. III or Std. IV curriculum in most states.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Among Std. V children in government schools, 20.8% children could do this level of division in 2013. The figure for private schools is 38.9%. In arithmetic, a large fraction of children are lagging several years behind where they are expected to be.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In 2013, over 40% of government school children in Std. V in three states, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Mizoram could do three-digit by one-digit division problems.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In 2010, 33.2% children of Std. III in government schools could at least do subtraction, as compared to 47.8% in private schools. The gap between children in government and private schools has widened over time. In 2013, 18.9% of Std. III students in government schools were able to do basic subtraction or more, as compared to 44.6% of Std. III children in private schools.<br />
<br />
**page** </span></p>

<div>
<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">According to the [inside]NSS report no. 551 (66/10/6) titled Status of Education and Vocational Training in India (66th Round)[/inside], July 2009-June 2010, published in March 2013, MoSPI, <a href="http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/nss_report_551.pdf">http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/nss_report_551.pdf</a>: </span></p>
</div>

<p style="text-align:justify">In the present survey, NSSO collected data on educational particulars like educational level attained - both general and technical, current attendance in educational institution, type of institution, vocational training received/ being received, etc. from the household members.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong><em>Literacy Rate in the Population</em></strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In India, the overall literacy rate was 67 percent during 2009-10, and it was 62 percent in the rural areas and 79 percent in the urban areas.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; During 2009-10, in India, in as many as 20 percent of households in the rural areas and 6 percent in the urban areas, there was not a single member in the age-group 15 years and above who could read and write a simple message with understanding. This means that all the adult members in those households were illiterate. Further, as high as 40 per cent of the rural households and 15 per cent of the urban households had no literate female member.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In the rural areas, 63 per cent of the households had at least one literate member of age 15 years and above in 1993-94; the proportion increased to 68 percent in 1999-2000, to 74 per cent in 2004-05 and 80 per cent in 2009-10. The corresponding proportions were about 86 percent, 88 percent, 92 percent and 94 percent, respectively, in the urban areas.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; About 71 percent of rural males and 53 percent of rural females were literate. The literacy rates among their urban counterparts were much higher at 84 percent and 74 percent, respectively.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The literacy rate increased steadily over the years for all the categories of persons. Over a period of around 27 years since 1983, the literacy rate increased by 26 percentage points from 45 per cent for rural males, 31 percentage points from 22 per cent for rural females, 15 percentage points from 69 per cent for urban males, and by 22 percentage points from 52 per cent for urban females.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong><em>Literacy rate for persons of age 7 years and above</em></strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; About 73 per cent among persons of age 7 years above were literate in India during 2009-10.The proportion was 69 percent in the rural areas and 85 percent in the urban areas. As usual, the rate is found to be higher among the males (82 percent) than that among the females (64 percent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong><em>Educational Level of the literates</em></strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; About 44 per cent of the literates of age 15 years and above were educated, i.e., with level of education secondary and above (including diploma/ certificate course), and about 11 per cent of the persons of age 15 years and above were graduates and above.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Among all the categories of persons, that is, rural male, rural female, urban male and urban female, the proportion of the educated was the highest among urban males (63 per cent), followed by the urban females (58 per cent) and rural males (38 percent), and it was the lowest among rural females (30 percent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The proportion of persons with level of education graduate and above was also the highest among urban male (22 percent) and the lowest among rural female (only 4 percent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong><em>Educational level and household type</em></strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In the rural areas, the proportion of not-literates was the highest among persons belonging to the household type rural labour (46 per cent) and was the lowest among the household type others (26 percent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In the urban areas, the proportion of not-literates was the highest among the persons belonging to the household type casual labour (35 percent) and the lowest among the household type regular wage/salaried employees (11 percent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The proportion of the educated persons was found to be the highest for the household type others in both rural (42 percent) and urban (65 percent) areas.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong><em>Technical Education</em></strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In India, among the persons of age 15 years and above, only 2 per cent had technical degrees or diplomas or certificates. The proportion was only 1 per cent in the rural areas and 5 per cent in the urban areas. Moreover, the rate among females was lower than that among males-the rates being nearly 1 per cent in the rural and about 3 percent in the urban areas for females, and nearly 1 per cent in the rural and about 7 percent in the urban areas for males.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The distribution of persons by level of attainment of technical education also reveals that among those who had technical education, about 17 percent had degree in technical education of graduate level or above and the remaining had some certificate or diploma in technical education - about 55 per cent below graduate level and 28 percent at graduate and above level.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The proportion of persons with technical degrees of graduate level or above was much higher in the urban areas (21 per cent) than in the rural areas (8 per cent). The proportion is also much higher among males than among females. Among females, this proportion was 4 per cent (as against 9 percent for males) in the rural areas and was 16 per cent (as against 23 per cent for males) in the urban areas.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong><em>Current Attendance in educational institution</em></strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; It is found that about 54 percent of the people in the age-group 5-29 years were currently attending educational institution. The said proportion was higher for males at 58 percent than for females (50 percent). The current attendance rate is found to be the highest among urban males (59 percent) and the lowest among the rural females (49 percent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Among persons who were currently not attending, about 25 per cent never attended any educational institution. It may be noted that this proportion is found to be the lowest among the urban males (13 per cent) and the highest among rural females (34 per cent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong><em>Age-Specific Current Attendance Rate</em></strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Current attendance rate is much higher for the age-group 5-14 years compared to the age-groups 15-19, 20-24 and 25-29 years. This is due to reason that discontinued or drop-out cases increase as the age of person increases. While the overall current attendance rate was 54 percent for the age-group 5-29 years, it was 87 per cent for the age-group 5-14 years, 58 percent for the age-group 15-19 years, 18 per cent for the age-group 20-24 years and 3 percent for the age- group 25-29 years.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong><em>Current Attendance by Type of Institution</em></strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Government institutions accounted for 62 per cent of the students (i.e., those who were attending), followed by private unaided institutions (20 per cent), private aided institutions (13 per cent) and local body institutions (only 5 per cent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In rural areas, 70 per cent of the students were attending some Government institutions compared to 40 per cent in the urban areas.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In the rural areas it is observed that, while among the male students, 73 per cent attended government or local body institutions, among the female students about 77 per cent attended government or local body institutions. The corresponding proportions in the urban areas were 43 per cent and 46 percent, respectively.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In the rural areas, among the major states, the proportion of students attending government institutions was the highest in Chhattisgarh (97 percent) and lowest in Maharashtra (32 percent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The share of Government institutions in the total number of students, in the urban areas, is found to be the highest in Assam (76 per cent) and lowest in Maharashtra (23 per cent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong><em>Type of institution and level of education</em></strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In rural areas, among males, 72 per cent were attending primary level of education in government institutions followed by 16 per cent of males who were attending primary level of education in private unaided institutions and 67 per cent of males were attending secondary level of education in government institutions followed by 15 per cent of males who were attending secondary level of education in private aided institutions.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In case of rural females, we see that 76 percent of the students were attending primary level of education in government institutions followed by 14 percent of the students who were attending primary level of education in private unaided institutions while for secondary level of education, 71 per cent of students were attending government institutions followed by 13 per cent of students who were attending private aided institutions.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In urban areas, 37 per cent of males were attending primary level of education in government institutions against 38 per cent attending private unaided institutions and 41 per cent of males were attending secondary level of education in government institutions against 27 per cent of student attending secondary level of education in private unaided institutions.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; For urban females the picture is almost the same. 39 per cent of females were attending primary level of education in government institutions against 36 per cent attending private unaided institutions and 46 per cent of females were attending secondary level of education in government institutions and 26 percent of students were attending secondary level of education in private unaided institutions.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong><em>Gross and Net attendance ratio*</em></strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In primary, middle, secondary and higher secondary level the Gross attendance ratios were 99 percent, 89 percent, 91 percent and 61 percent respectively. The picture is almost the same in rural and urban areas.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In India the Net attendance ratio was 78 percent, 56 percent, 47 percent and 33 percent for primary, middle, secondary and higher secondary level of attendance, respectively.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Among the major states, in rural areas, for primary level of education, Uttarakhand showed the maximum Net attendance ratio (93 per cent) followed by Jammu &amp; Kashmir (90 per cent) while Bihar and Jharkhand showed the minimum Net attendance ratio (63 per cent each). For secondary level of education, in rural areas, Kerala showed the highest Net attendance ratio (77 per cent) followed by Karnataka (69 per cent) while Rajasthan showed the minimum Net attendance ratio (31 per cent) followed by Bihar and Madhya Pradesh (33 per cent each).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Among the major states, in urban areas, for primary level of education, Uttarakhand showed the maximum Net attendance ratio (87 per cent) followed by Haryana and Himachal Pradesh (86 per cent each) while Bihar showed the minimum Net attendance ratio (68 per cent). For secondary level of education, in urban areas, Kerala showed the highest Net attendance ratio (81 per cent) followed by Karnataka (78 per cent) and Rajasthan showed the minimum Net attendance ratio (32 per cent) followed by Uttarakhand (35 per cent).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>* The Gross attendance ratio for a particular level of education has been defined as the ratio of number of persons with current attendance in that particular level and estimated persons in a specified age-group.</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>* The Net attendance ratio for a particular level of education has been defined as the ratio of number of persons belonging to a particular age-group with current attendance in that particular level and estimated persons in that specified age-group.</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong><em>Reason for Not Currently Attending any educational institution</em></strong></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Ever attended persons: In the rural areas, about 62 per cent of males who were currently not attending any educational institution reported the reason &lsquo;to supplement household income&#39; and in the urban areas it was 66 percent of males. The reason &lsquo;to attend domestic chores&#39; was reported by 46 per cent of females in the rural areas and 47 per cent of females in the urban areas. About 13 per cent in the rural areas and 9 per cent in the urban areas considered &lsquo;education not necessary&#39; and therefore, they were not currently attending any educational institution. It may be noted that about 23 per cent of persons, in rural areas and 26 per cent of persons in urban areas, reported &lsquo;others&#39; as the cause for not attending any educational institution, that is for these persons, some reasons other than the specified ones in the survey, had been the cause for not attending.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Never attended persons: Among the specified reasons, the highest proportion of persons reported &lsquo;education not considered necessary&#39; as the reason for not attending an educational institution - the proportion being 23 percent in both rural and urban areas. Moreover, about 8 percent in the rural areas and 5 percent in the urban areas reported that they never attended any educational institution as the schools were too far. It has also been observed that about 38 to 40 per cent of persons reported &lsquo;others&#39; had been the cause for never attending any educational institution.</p>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em>**page**</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
Key findings of the [inside]Annual Status of Education Report 2012[/inside] prepared by PRATHAM, <a href="http://img.asercentre.org/docs/Publications/ASER%20Reports/ASER_2012/nationalfinding.pdf">http://img.asercentre.org/docs/Publications/ASER%20Reports/ASER_2012/nationalfinding.pdf </a>are as follows:<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Enrollment in the 6-14 age group continues to be very high. But the proportion of out of school children has increased, especially among girls in the age group of 11 to 14</em></strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Overall, enrollment numbers remain very high. Over 96% of all children in the age group 6 to 14 years are enrolled in school. This is the fourth consecutive year that enrollment levels have been 96% or more.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Nationally, the proportion of children (age 6 to 14) who are not enrolled in school has gone up slightly, from 3.3% in 2011 to 3.5% in 2012. A slight increase is seen for all age groups and for both boys and girls.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Girls in the age group of 11 to 14 years are often the hardest to bring to school and keep in school. In 2006, in eight major states, more than 11% girls in this age group were not enrolled in school. By 2011, this figure had dropped to less than 6.5% in 3 of these states (Jharkhand, Gujarat and Odisha) and less than 5% in 3 others (Bihar, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal). The situation in these states remained more or less unchanged in 2012. However in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, the proportion of out of school girls (age 11-14) has increased from 8.9% and 9.7% respectively in 2011 to more than 11% in 2012<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Private school enrollment continues to rise in almost all states</em></strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; At the All India level private school enrollment has been rising steadily since 2006. The percentage of 6 to 14 year olds enrolled in private schools rose from 18.7% in 2006 to 25.6% in 2011. This year this number has further increased to 28.3%. The increase is almost equal in primary (Std. I-V) and upper primary (Std. VI-VIII) classes. In 2012, among all private school children (age 6-14), 57.9% were boys.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In 2012, more than 40% of children (age 6-14 years) in Jammu &amp; Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Meghalaya are enrolled in private schools. This percentage is 60% or more in Kerala and Manipur.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Increase in private school enrollment is seen in almost all states, with the exception of Kerala, Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya (where private school enrollment was over 40% even last year) and Tripura.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Since 2009, private school enrollment in rural areas has been rising at an annual rate of about 10%. If this trend continues, by 2018 India will have 50% children in rural areas enrolled in private school<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Reading levels continue to be a cause for serious concern. More than half of all children in Std. V are at least three grade levels behind where they should be</em></strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In 2010 nationally, 46.3% of all children in Std. V could not read a Std. II level text. This proportion increased to 51.8% in 2011 and further to 53.2% in 2012. For Std. V children enrolled in government schools, the percentage of children unable to read Std. II level text has increased from 49.3% (2010) to 56.2% (2011) to 58.3% (2012).<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; For all children in Std. V, the major decline in reading levels (of 5 percentage points or more) between 2011 and 2012 is seen in Haryana, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Kerala. Even private schools in Maharashtra and Kerala, with a large proportion of aided schools, show a decline in reading ability for Std. V.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The percentage of all children enrolled in Std. III who cannot read a Std. I level text has increased steadily from 53.4% (2009) to 54.4% (2010) to 59.7% (2011) to 61.3% in 2012. For children enrolled in government schools, this figure has increased from 57.6% in 2010 to 64.8% in 2011 to 67.7% in 2012.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>2012 was the year of mathematics. But it has been a bad year for basic arithmetic for children in India</em></strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In 2010, of all children enrolled in Std. V, 29.1% could not solve simple two-digit subtraction problems with borrowing. This proportion increased to 39% in 2011 and further to 46.5% in 2012. Barring Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala, every major state shows signs of a substantial drop in arithmetic learning levels.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Comparing the cohort of children who were in government schools in Std. V in 2011 with the cohort in Std. V in 2012, there is evidence of a more than 10 percentage point drop in the ability to do basic subtraction in almost all states. Exceptions are Bihar, Assam and Tamil Nadu where the drop is less; and Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala where there has been either improvement or no change from 2011.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The proportion of all children enrolled in Std. V who could not do division problems has increased from 63.8% in 2010 to 72.4% in 2011 to 75.2% in 2012. In rural India as a whole, two years ago about two thirds of all children in Std. V could not do simple division. In 2012 this number is close to three fourths.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra are all states where the cohort in Std. V in 2012 seems to be substantially weaker than the cohort in Std. V in 2011. In the southern states, the situation is unchanged from 2011 except in Kerala where there is a significant improvement<br />
<br />
<strong><em>ASER 2012 assessed basic English</em></strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In ASER 2012, children were given a set of simple English reading and comprehension tasks. Across rural India, 48.9% children enrolled in Std. V could read English words or more, and 22.5% could read simple English sentences. Among all children enrolled in Std. VIII, 47% could read sentences. Of those who could read words or sentences, well above 60% could convey the meaning in their own language<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Private inputs into children&rsquo;s education, such as private schooling and private tutoring, are widespread</em></strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And their influence on children&rsquo;s learning outcomes is substantial.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Whether enrolled in government schools or private schools, across rural India in the elementary grades (Std. I-VIII) about a quarter of all children also go to paid private tutors.<br />
<br />
Another way to think about private inputs into education is to categorize children into four groups:<br />
<br />
1. Children in government schools who do not go to private tutors;<br />
<br />
2. Children in government schools who go to private tutors;<br />
<br />
3. Children in private schools who do not go to private tutors; and<br />
<br />
4. Children in private schools who go to private tutor<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In 2012, the above four groups comprised 54.5%, 18.8%, 20.7% and 6% of all students in Std. V. Children in categories 2, 3 and 4 &ndash; amounting to about 45% of all children in Std. V in rural India - receive some form of private input into their education, either in the form of schooling or tuition.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The influence of additional inputs in the form of tuition on children&rsquo;s ability to read or to do arithmetic is clear.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>The proportion of small schools is rising in India</em></strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A total of 14,591 schools were visited during ASER 2012. Of these about 60% were government primary schools with classes up to Std. IV or V and the rest were upper primary schools which had primary sections.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The proportion of government primary schools with enrollment of 60 or fewer students has increased over time. In the last 3 years, this figure has increased from 26.1% in 2009 to 32.1% in 2012.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The proportion of children in primary grades who sit in multigrade classrooms is also rising. For Std. II, this number has gone up from 55.8% in 2009 to 62.6% in 2012. For Std. IV, it has risen from 51% in 2010 to 56.6% in 2012<br />
<br />
<strong><em>School facilities show improvement over time</em></strong><br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Based on RTE norms, the pupil teacher ratio shows improvement. In 2010, the proportion of schools meeting these norms was 38.9%. This number has risen to 42.8% in 2012.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 73% of all schools visited had drinking water available. However, just under 17% did not have drinking water facility at all. A water facility was available, though not usable in the remaining schools.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The proportion of schools without toilets has reduced from 12.2% in 2011 to 8.4% in 2012 and the proportion of schools with useable toilets has increased from 47.2% in 2010 to 56.5% in 2012. Approximately 80% of schools visited had separate provision for girls&rsquo; toilets. Of schools which had this separate provision, close to half had useable girls&rsquo; toilets, as compared to a third in 2010.<br />
<br />
&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The mid-day meal was observed being served in 87.1% schools that were visited</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">**page** </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">According to [inside]Children in India 2012-A Statistical Appraisal[/inside], Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GoI,</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="https://im4change.org/docs/659Children_in_India_2012.pdf">http://www.im4change.org/docs/659Children_in_India_2012.pdf</a><em>: &nbsp;</em> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Statistics of School Education (2009-10) shows that there are 14,49,420 educational institutions in the country, of which there are 67,822 Pre-Primary/ Pre-basic schools, 8,23,162 Primary/ Junior basic schools, 3,67,745 Middle/ Sr. Basic schools, 1,23,726 High/ Post Basic schools, 66,917 Pre-degree/ junior colleges/ Higher secondary schools and 48 Boards of intermediate/ Secondary education.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; 89% teachers in the Higher Secondary Schools/ Junior Colleges were trained whereas the corresponding level in High /Post Basic Schools, Middle/ Sr.Basic School and Pre-Primary/ Primary/ Jr. Basic School are 90%, 88% and 86% respectively.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The Economic Survey 2011-12 points out that pupil-teacher ratio improved from 38.9% in 2010 to 40.7% in 2011.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; At all India level, there has been a marginal decline in the proportion of schools with at least one classroom per teacher, from 76.2% in 2010 to 74.3% in 2011.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Pupil-teacher ratio stood at 39 for Higher Secondary Schools/ Inter Colleges, 30 for High /Post Basic Schools, 34 for Middle/ Sr. Basic School and 42 for Pre-Primary/ Primary/ Jr. Basic School, as per Statistics of School Education 2009-10.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Percentage of trained teachers stood at 89 percent for Higher Secondary Schools/ Inter Colleges, 90 percent for High /Post Basic Schools, 88 percent for Middle/ Sr. Basic School and 86 percent for Pre-Primary/ Primary/ Jr. Basic School, as per Statistics of School Education 2009-10.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Number of female teachers per hundred male teachers stood at 65 for Higher Secondary Schools/ Inter Colleges, 61 for High /Post Basic Schools, 72 for Middle/ Sr. Basic School and 86 for Pre-Primary/ Primary/ Jr. Basic School, as per Statistics of School Education 2009-10.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The number of primary schools in India has increased from 7.38 lakh in 2005-06 to 8.23 lakh in 2009-10.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The number of Upper Primary schools in India has increased from 3.85 lakh in 2005-06 to 4.91 lakh in 2009-10.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Number of teachers in Government schools increased from 3.4 million in 2005-06 to 3.9 million in 2009-10.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Gross enrolment ratio (GER is the total enrolment in a specific level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the eligible official school-age population corresponding to the same level of education in a given school year) for primary schools has improved from 104 percent in 2005-06 to 115 percent in 2009-10.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Net enrolment ratio (NER is the ratio of children of official school age who are enrolled in school to the population of the corresponding official school age) has improved significantly from 84.5 percent in 2005-06 to 98 percent in 2009-10.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Gender parity index (GPI is the ratio of the number of female students enrolled at primary and secondary levels in public and private schools to the number of male students) in primary education has gone up from 0.76 in 1990-91 to 1.00 in 2009-10 showing 31.6% increase and in secondary education the increase is from 0.60 in 1990-91 to 0.88 in 2009-10 thereby showing 46.7% increase.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Key findings of the [inside]Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2011[/inside],&nbsp;<a href="http://pratham.org/images/PRESS-RELEASE%20Jan14_1.pdf">http://pratham.org/images/Aser-2011-report.pdf</a>, are as follows:&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em><strong>Very high enrollment figures for rural India</strong></em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; 96.7% of all 6-14 year olds in rural India are enrolled in school. This number has held steady since 2010.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; States that had a high proportion (over 10%) of 11-14 year old girls out of school in 2006 have made significant progress. For example Bihar out of school numbers have dropped from 17.6% in 2006 to 4.3% in 2011. Rajasthan shows a decline from 18.9% in 2006 to 8.9% in 2011. Uttar Pradesh has shown the least progress with 11.1% 2006 and 9.7% in 2011.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Substantial numbers of five year old children are enrolled in school. The All India figure stands at 57.8% for 2011. &nbsp;This proportion varies across states, ranging from 87.1% in Nagaland to 18.8% in Karnataka.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em><strong>Private school enrollment is rising in most states</strong></em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Nationally, private school enrollment has risen year after year for the 6-14 age group, increasing from 18.7% in 2006 to 25.6% in 2011. These increases are visible in all states except Bihar.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In states like Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur and Meghalaya there has been an increase of over 10 percentage points in private school enrollment in the last five years.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; According to ASER 2011 data, between 30 to 50% of children in rural areas of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Punjab, Jammu &amp; Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are enrolled in private schools.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em><strong>Basic reading levels showing decline in many states</strong></em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Nationally, reading levels are estimated to have declined in many states across North India. The All India figure for the proportion of children in Std V able to read a Std 2 level text has dropped from 53.7% in 2010 to 48.2% in 2011. Such declines are not visible in the southern states.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In a few states there is good news. In Gujarat, Punjab and Tamil Nadu the numbers for 2011 are better than for 2010. &nbsp;Several states in the north-eastern region of India also show positive change. Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh numbers remain unchanged from last year</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em><strong>Arithmetic levels also show a decline across most states</strong></em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Basic arithmetic levels estimated in ASER 2011 show a decline. For example, nationally, the proportion of Std III children able to solve a 2 digit subtraction problem with borrowing has dropped from 36.3% in 2010 to 29.9% in 2011. Among Std V children, the ability to do similar subtraction problems has dropped from 70.9% in 2010 to 61.0% in 2011.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; This decline is visible in almost every state; only Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu show improvements from 2010 to 2011. &nbsp;Several states in the north-eastern region of India also show positive change. There is no change in arithmetic levels in Gujarat.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Main findings from school visits:</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em><strong>Children&rsquo;s attendance has declined</strong></em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; At the All India level, children&#39;s attendance shows a decline from 73.4% in 2007 to 70.9% in 2011 in rural primary schools.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In some states, children&#39;s attendance shows a sharp decline over time: for example in primary schools of Bihar, average attendance of children was 59.0% in 2007 and 50.0% in 2011. &nbsp;In Madhya Pradesh this figure has fallen from 67.0% in 2007 to 54.5% in 2011 and in Uttar Pradesh from 64.4% (2007) to 57.3% (2011).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em><strong>More than half of all Std 2 and Std 4 classes are sit together with another class</strong></em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; During the school visit, ASER focuses on Std 2 and Std 4 and observes whether children in these classes are sitting together with children from other classes.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Nationally, for rural government primary schools, data suggests that over half of all classes visited are multigrade. For example, all India Std 2 was sitting with one or more other classes in 58.3% of Std 2 classes in primary schools were sitting with another class. This figure is 53% for Std 4.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Schools get their grants, but not on time</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Main findings: Tracking RTE Indicators</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em><strong>Not much change in compliance on Pupil-teacher ratio and Classroom-teacher ratio</strong></em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; At the All India level, there has been a marginal improvement in the proportion of schools complying with RTE norms on pupil-teacher ratio, from 38.9% in 2010 to 40.7% in 2011. In 2011, Kerala stands out with 94.1% of schools in compliance, and in Jammu &amp; Kashmir, Nagaland and Manipur, more than 80% schools are in compliance with these norms.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; At the All India level, there has been a marginal decline in the proportion of schools with at least one classroom per teacher, from 76.2% in 2010 to 74.3% in 2011. In Mizoram, 94.8% of schools comply with the teacher-classroom norms and in Punjab, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra more than 80% of schools are in compliance.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em><strong>No major changes in buildings, playgrounds, boundary walls or drinking water</strong></em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; All India figures for 2011 show no significant improvement in the proportion of schools with an office cum store. &nbsp;This figure remains at 74%. &nbsp;Similarly, for the country has a whole, about 62% of visited schools had a playground, both in 2010 and in 2011. &nbsp; However, there has been an increase in the proportion of all schools that have a boundary wall, from 50.9% in 2010 to 54.1% in 2011.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Nationally, the proportion of schools with no provision for drinking water remained almost the same &ndash; 17.0% in 2010 and 16.6% in 2011. The proportion of schools with a useable drinking water facility has remained steady at about 73%. &nbsp;Kerala has the best record with 93.8% schools that have a useable drinking water facility.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em><strong>Better provision of girls&rsquo; toilets</strong></em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The proportion of schools where there was no separate girls&#39; toilet has declined from 31.2% in 2010 to 22.6% in 2011. &nbsp;Also, there has been a substantial improvement in the proportion of schools that have separate girls&#39; toilets that are useable. &nbsp;This figure has risen nationally from 32.9% in 2010 to 43.8% in 2011</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><em><strong>More libraries in schools, and more children using them</strong></em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The proportion of schools without libraries has declined from 37.5% in 2010 to 28.6% in 2011. Children were seen using the library in more schools as well-up from 37.9% in 2010 to 42.3% in 2011.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">According to [inside]Global Education Digest 2011-Comparing Education Statistics Across the World[/inside], UNESCO,&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><a href="http://www.uis.unesco.org/Library/Documents/global_education_digest_2011_en.pdf">http://www.uis.unesco.org/Library/Documents/global_education_digest_2011_en.pdf</a><em>: &nbsp;&nbsp;</em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The most populated country in South Asia, India, accounts for three-quarters of the regional leap in enrolment. From 1970 to 2009, enrolment in secondary education increased from 21 million to 102 million in this country alone.&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In Afghanistan and India lower secondary enrolment ratios are below 80%.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The biggest increases in total numbers of primary and secondary school teachers from 1990 to 2009 were observed in sub-Saharan Africa (79% and 157%), the Arab States (71% and 112%) and South and West Asia (49% and 83%). In sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia (in particular in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan), growth has been especially rapid since 2000 with the passage of international agreements set out in the EFA Dakar Framework for Action. However, all three regions are still faced with acute teacher shortages in their bid to meet the EFA goals by 2015.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; In 2009, 702 million children were enrolled worldwide in primary education, compared to 646 million in 1999. This marked improvement in access to primary education represents an increase of 9% worldwide.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; The gross enrolment ratio (GER) in lower secondary education increased from 72% to 80% worldwide between 1999 and 2009, with notable increases in the Arab States and sub-Saharan Africa. Yet despite this progress, the participation rate for this level of education remains very low in sub-Saharan Africa at 43%. In addition, one-third of the world&rsquo;s children still live in countries where lower secondary education is formally considered compulsory but where the commitment is not met. This is especially the case in South and West Asia. &nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull; Between 1999 and 2009, the GER for girls increased from 69% to 79% in lower secondary and from 43% to 55% in upper secondary education worldwide. However, the Arab States and sub-Saharan Africa still faced serious gender disparities at the lower secondary level, while disparities at the upper secondary level intensified in South and West Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">Key findings of the [inside]Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2010[/inside], <a href="http://images2.asercentre.org/aserreports/ASER_2010_PRESS_RELEASE.pdf">http://images2.asercentre.org/aserreports/ASER_2010_PRESS_RELEASE.pdf</a>, are as follows:</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull;&nbsp;<em><strong>Enrollment: </strong></em>In 2010, ASER found that 96.5% of children in the 6 to 14 age group in rural India is enrolled in school. While 71.1% of these children are enrolled in government schools, 24.3 % are enrolled in private schools.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull;&nbsp;<em><strong>Out of school girls: </strong></em>5.9% of girls in the 11-14 age group are still out of school. However, this percentage has gone down as compared to 6.8% in 2009. In states like Rajasthan (12.1%) and Uttar Pradesh (9.7%), this percentage remains high and shows little change since 2009. Noteworthy in this regard is the performance of Bihar where the percentage of out of school girls and boys in all age groups has been declining steadily since 2005. In 2006, 12.3% of boys and 17.6% girls were out of school in the 11-14 age group. By 2010, these numbers had declined to 4.4% for boys and 4.6% for girls, showing very little difference by gender.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull;&nbsp;<em><strong>Rise in private school enrolment:</strong></em> Enrollment in private schools in rural India increased from 21.8% in 2009 to 24.3% in 2010. This number has risen steadily since 2005 when it was 16.3% nationally. Between 2009 and 2010, the southern states have shown a substantial increase in private school enrollments. The percentage of children in private school increased from 29.7% to 36.1% in Andhra Pradesh, from 19.7% to 25.1% in Tamil Nadu, from 16.8% to 20% in Karnataka and from 51.5% to 54.2% in Kerala. Among other states, Punjab showed an increase from 30.5% to 38%. However, this proportion remains low in Bihar (5.2%), West Bengal (5.9%), Jharkhand (8.8%), Orissa (5.4%) and Tripura (2.8%).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull;&nbsp;<em><strong>Increasing numbers of five year olds enrolled in school: </strong></em>Nationally, the percentage of five year olds enrolled in schools increased from 54.6% in 2009 to 62.8% in 2010. The biggest increase was visible in Karnataka where the proportion of five year olds enrolled in school increased from 17.1% in 2009 to 67.6 in 2010. Enrollment of five year olds increased substantially between 2009 and 2010 in several other states such as Punjab (68.3% to 79.6%), Haryana (62.8% to 76.8%), Rajasthan (69.9% to75.8%), Uttar Pradesh (55.7% to 73.1%) and Assam (49.1% to 59%).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull;&nbsp;<em><strong>Nationally, not much change in reading ability, except in some states:</strong></em> Even after five years in school, close to half of all children are not even at the level expected of them after two years in school. Only 53.4% children in Std V could read a Std II level text.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull;&nbsp;<em><strong>Math ability shows a declining trend: </strong></em>On average, there has been a decrease in children&rsquo;s ability to do simple mathematics. The proportion of Std I children who could recognize numbers from 1-9 declined from 69.3% in 2009 to 65.8% in 2010. Similarly, the proportion of children in Std III who could solve two digit subtraction problems decreased from 39% to 36.5% in the same period. Children in Std V who could do simple division problems also dropped from 38% in 2009 to 35.9% in 2010. Contrary to this trend, Punjab&#39;s performance in basic arithmetic has improved over the last few years. For example, the percentage of children in Std II who could recognize numbers up to 100 in 2008 was 56.3%. This number increased to 59.6% in 2009 and to 70.4% in 2010. Similarly, the proportion of Std IV children who could do subtraction increased from 66.9% in 2008 to 81.4% in 2010. The percentage of Std V children who could do division rose from 43.5% in 2008 to 69.8% in 2010.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull;&nbsp;<strong><em>Middle school children weak in everyday calculations:</em> </strong>In 2010, children in Std V and above were asked a set of questions based on everyday calculations. The tasks included calculations from a menu card, reading a calendar, estimating volume and calculating area. Overall, in Std VIII, three quarters of all children were able to do the calculations based on the menu. About two thirds of all children could answer questions based on a calendar and only half could do the calculations related to area. The questions related to area seemed to be the most difficult for children to solve, even though such problems are usually found in textbooks in Std IV or V. Children in Std VIII in Kerala and Bihar solved the area related questions the best, 79% and 69% respectively.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull;&nbsp;<em><strong>Tuition going down for private school children: </strong></em>A clear decrease is seen in the incidence of tuition among children enrolled in private schools across all classes up to Std VIII. This proportion has not changed much among children enrolled in government schools, although in states like Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha, where private school enrollment is low, the proportion of children in Std V enrolled in government schools who take tuition classes is high (West Bengal-75.6%, Bihar-55.5% and Odisha-49.9%).</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&bull;&nbsp;<em><strong>RTE compliance: </strong></em>ASER 2010 found that over 60% of the 13,000 schools visited satisfied the infrastructure norms specified by the RTE. However, more than half of these schools will need more teachers. A third will need more classrooms. 62% of the schools visited had playgrounds, 50% had a boundary wall or fence and 90% had toilets. However, toilets were useable in only half of these schools. 70% of schools visited had a separate girls&rsquo; toilet, but this facility was useable in only 37% of the schools. 81% schools had a kitchen shed and 72% had drinking water available. The all India percentage of primary schools (Std 1-4/5) with all teachers present on the day of the visit shows a consistent decrease over three years, falling from 73.7% in 2007 to 69.2% in 2009 and 63.4% in 2010. For rural India as a whole, children&rsquo;s attendance shows no change over the period 2007-2010. Attendance remained at around 73% during this period. But there is considerable variation across states.</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">**page**&nbsp;</p>

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<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&nbsp; </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium">The [inside]Annual Status of Education Report 2009[/inside],</span><br />
<a href="http://www.asercentre.org/asersurvey/aser09/pdfdata/national%20highlights.pdf"><span style="font-size:medium">http://www.asercentre.org/asersurvey/aser09/pdfdata/national%20highlights.pdf</span></a><span style="font-size:medium"> show: </span></span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u><strong>Fewer girls 11-14 out of school</strong></u></span> </span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;The overall percentage of children (6-14) who are out of school has dropped from 4.3% in 2008 to 4% in 2009.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;Out of school girls in the age group 11 to 14 has dropped from 7.2% in 2008 to 6.8% in 2009. In terms of a decline in percentage points, this decrease is clearly visible in Chhattisgarh (3.8), Bihar (2.8), Rajasthan (2.6), Orissa (2.1), Jammu and Kashmir (1.9). Other than Meghalaya all other states in the North East also show a drop.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;Andhra Pradesh records an increase in the percentage of 11-14 year old girls out of school from 6.6% in 2008 to 10.8% in 2009. So does Punjab from 4.9% in 2008 to 6.3% in 2009.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u><strong>Private school enrolment hasn&rsquo;t changed much</strong></u></span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;Overall, for 6-14 year olds, between 2008 and 2009 there has been a slight decline in the percentage of children enrolled in private school (0.8 percentage points). However, six states show a decline in private school enrolment of more than 5 percentage points. Of these, Punjab which has one of the highest private school enrollments in the country shows the greatest drop (11.3 percentage points).</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u><strong>Half of India&rsquo;s five year olds are enrolled in primary school</strong></u></span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;In 2009 as in 2008, well over 50% of 5 year olds are enrolled in school.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;Although for the country as a whole, the status of 3 and 4 year olds going to preschool (anganwadi or balwadi) has not changed much since 2008, among the major states Bihar, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat record a more than five percentage point increase in the proportion of children going to anganwadi.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u><strong>Learning levels improving in Std 1</strong></u></span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;The foundation of children&rsquo;s learning is built in early grades. Overall, the percentage of children in Std 1 who can recognize letters or more has increased from 65.1% in 2008 to 68.8% in 2009. Similarly there is an increase in number recognition, with percentage of children recognizing numbers or more increasing from 65.3% in 2008 to 69.3 in 2009.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;For Std 1 children in government schools in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Orissa there is an increase of 10 percentage points or more as compared to last year in their ability to at least recognize letter and numbers up to 9. In Tamil Nadu and Goa, there is an improvement in both reading and maths of more than 5 percentage points. Similar increases are visible in Uttarakhand and Maharashtra in maths and in Karnataka in letter recognition.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u><strong>No major improvements in learning levels for children in Std 5 except in Tamil Nadu for reading and in a few states in maths</strong></u></span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;The all India figure for percentage of all rural children in Std 5 reading text at Std 2 level shows a decline from 56.2% in 2008 to 52.8% in 2009. This means that well over 40% of all rural children in Std 5 in India are at least three grade levels behind.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;In reading, for government school children in Std 5 in Tamil Nadu there is an 8 percentage point increase over 2008 levels. Karnataka and Punjab also show improvements over last year. Hardly any change in other states in reading as compared to 2008.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;In maths, for children in Std 5, for the country as a whole, the ability to do division problems has hardly increased. However 7 states show increases of 5 to 8 percentage points. These states are Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Assam, West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u><strong>Wide variation in the ability to read and comprehend English across India</strong></u></span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;The all India numbers indicate that a quarter of all rural children in Std 5 children can read simple sentences. Of those who can read sentences, over 80% can understand the meaning of the sentence.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;By Std 8, 60.2% of all children can read simple sentences. In all the north-eastern states (except Tripura), Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala more than 80% of children in Std 8 can not only read simple sentences fluently but also understand the meaning.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u><strong>Increase in tuition classes for all children across all grades</strong></u></span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;Nationally, between 2007 and 2009, the percentage of children taking paid tuition increased for every class, in both government and private schools. Only Kerala and Karnataka show a small but consistent decline in the incidence of tuition across government school children in most classes.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;Among government school children, the percentage going to tuition class increases steadily as children move into higher classes: from 17.1% in Std 1 to 30.8% in Std 8.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;Among children attending private schools, almost a quarter (23.3%) take private tuition from Std 1 onwards. The percentage peaks at 29.8% in Std 4.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;Children in West Bengal are by far the most intensive users of paid private tuition in the country; more than half of all Std 1 and almost 90% of all Std 8 government school children take some kind of paid tuition. The incidence of tuition in Bihar and Orissa is also high, with very large numbers of government school children taking tuition, ranging from about a third in Std 1 to well over half in Std 8.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u><strong>Children&rsquo;s attendance needs improvement in some states</strong></u></span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;Comparisons across the three years (2005, 2007 and 2009) indicate that children&rsquo;s attendance in school, as observed on a random day in the school year, varies considerably across states. There are states like Bihar where less than 60% of enrolled children are attending on the day of the visit to southern states where average attendance is well above 90%. In addition, states like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh need to pay more attention to raising attendance in schools. In most states, on the day of the visit, close to 90% of appointed teachers were present in the school.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u><strong>Multigrade grouping is widespread</strong></u></span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;In 2007 and 2009, surveyors were asked to observe if Std 2 and Std 4 were grouped and sitting together with any other grade. In both years, the incidence of multi-grade groupings was high. At the all-India level close to 50% children in class 2 and 4 were sitting with other classes.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u><strong>Increase in useable toilets and improvements in availability of drinking water</strong></u></span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">&bull;&nbsp;All India figures indicate that overall, the percentage of schools with no water or toilet provision is declining over time. Water is available in 75% of government primary schools and 81% of upper primary schools. Useable toilets can be found in over 50% of government schools. Four out of ten government primary schools do not have separate toilets for girls. This number is lower for upper primary schools at 26%. About 12 -15% girls&rsquo; toilets are locked and only about 30 - 40% are useable.</span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u><strong>Not all schools received the annual school grants for the last school year</strong></u></span> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;There is considerable variation across states for grants received in the last school year. In Nagaland close to 90% of schools visited had received all their annual grants, where as the percentage of visited schools receiving their grants in the 2008-2009 school year was 60% or below in Jharkhand, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. </span></span></p>

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<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:medium"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">**page**&nbsp;</span></span>&nbsp; </span></p>

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<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">According to [inside]Education in India: 2007-08[/inside], Participation and Expenditure<br />
NSS 64th Round, (July 2007&ndash;June 2008), Report No. 532(64/25.2/1): </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;A survey on &lsquo;Participation and Expenditure in Education&rsquo; was conducted in NSS 64th round (July 2007 - June 2008). A sample of 445960 persons, from 63318 rural households and 37263 urban households spread over the country, was surveyed. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;The states with relatively high literacy are- Kerala (94%), Assam (84%), Maharashtra (81%) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;The states with relatively low literacy are- Bihar (58%), Rajasthan (62%), Andhra Pradesh (64%) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Other low-literacy states included Rajasthan (61.7%), Andhra Pradesh (63.5%), Jharkhand (64.6%), Uttar Pradesh (66.2%), J&amp;K (67.7%) and Orissa (68.3%) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;66% of the country&rsquo;s adult population (population of age 15 &amp; above) was found to be literate. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;In rural India, 51.2% of the population in the lowest decile class of monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) were not literate. Even in the highest decile class, 22.8% persons were not literate. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;The literacy rate (i.e. percentage of literates) for all ages among rural female (RF), rural male (RM), urban female (UF) and urban male (UM) populations was found to be 51.1%, 68.4%, 71.6% and 82.2% respectively. The corresponding rates two decades ago as estimated in NSS 42nd round (1986-87) were 24.8%, 47.6%, 59.1% and 74.0% respectively. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;98% of rural households &amp; 99% of urban households have school with primary classes within 2 km </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;79% of rural households &amp; 97% of urban households have school with middle classes within 2 km </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;47% of rural households &amp; 91% of urban households have school with secondary classes within 2 km </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Among persons in age-group 5-29: 46% were not currently enrolled in any educational institution; 2% were currently enrolled but not attending; 52% were currently attending educational institutions </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Among persons aged 5-29 attending education of level primary &amp; above - 49% were in Primary level; 24% were in Middle level; 20% in Secondary/HS level; 7% in above-HS level </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;For major course attended: type of education was General in 97.8%, Technical in 1.9%, Vocational in 0.3% cases. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Net Attendance Ratio (NAR) for Classes I-VIII (All-India): 86% </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Major states with relatively high NAR (I-VIII): Himachal Pr. (96%), Kerala (94%), Tamil Nadu (92%) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Major states with relatively low NAR (I-VIII): Bihar (74%), Jharkhand (81%), Uttar Pradesh (83%) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;At Primary level &ndash; 73% of students in private unaided institutions attended recognized institutions </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;At Middle level &ndash; 78% of students in private unaided institutions attended recognized institutions </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;At Primary level: 71% students got free education (Rural- 80%, Urban- 40%) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;At Middle level: 68% students got free education (Rural- 75%, Urban- 45%) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;At Secondary/ HS level: 48% students got free education (Rural- 54%, Urban- 35%) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Average annual private expenditure per student at Primary level - Rs. 1413 (Rural- Rs. 826, Urban- Rs.3626) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Average annual private expenditure per student at Middle level - Rs. 2088 (Rural- Rs.1370, Urban- Rs.4264) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Average annual private expenditure per student at Secondary/ HS level- Rs. 4351 (Rural- Rs.3019, Urban- Rs.7212) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Average annual private expenditure per student at Above HS level- Rs. 7360 (Rural- Rs.6327, Urban- Rs.8466) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Average annual private expenditure per student for Technical Education: Rs.32112 (Rural- Rs.27177, Urban- Rs.34822) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Average annual private expenditure per student for Vocational Education: Rs.14881 (Rural- Rs.13699, Urban- Rs.17016) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Average annual private expenditure on education at primary level varied from around Rs. 600-800 in states like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa to more than Rs. 3500 in states like Punjab and Haryana. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;For primary education, students in the poorest category in the rural sector incurred an average expenditure of Rs. 352, compared to Rs.3516 for the richest class. In the urban sector the disparity in average educational expenditure was greater still, from Rs. 1035 in the lowest decile class to Rs.13474 in the highest decile class of MPCE. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;For the country as a whole average expenditure on tuition fees (Rs. 1034), examination fee, other fees and payments (Rs. 459) together contributed about half of total expenditure (Rs. 3058) on education. Books and stationery (Rs. 586) was reported to be the next major component of expenditure followed by private coaching (Rs. 354). </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;In rural India, tuition fee, together with examination fee and other fees and payments, contributed 40% of total expenditure while another 25% was spent on books and stationery. In the urban sector tuition fee alone contributed 40% of total expenditure. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;In rural areas, the majority of students were attending government schools &ndash; 76% of primary level students, 73% of middle level students, and 62% of secondary and HS level students.&nbsp; </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;In urban areas, on the other hand, 59% of students at primary level were in private schools. At middle and secondary/ HS level, 54-55% was in private schools. Government schools accounted for only 35% of primary level students, 40% of middle level students, and 43% of secondary/ HS level students. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;While in states like Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Orissa, more than 90% of students at primary level attended schools run by government or local bodies, the corresponding proportion was only 35% in Kerala and 45% in Punjab. In these two states, the majority of students, even at primary level, were in private schools &ndash; aided or unaided. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;About 60% of students in government and local-body-run institutions got mid-day meals compared to 16% in aided private institutions and 2% in unaided private only. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Differentials across institution types were equally marked in case of free/ subsidised books, with 69% of students in government-run schools receiving such books compared to 22% in aided private and only 4% in unaided private institutions. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Major reasons for Discontinuance/ drop-out: Financial constraints (21%), Child not interested in studies (20%), Unable to cope up or failure in studies (10%), Completed desired level or class (10%), Parents not interested in studies (9%) </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;The three most frequently given reasons for non-enrolment were a) parents not interested in education of their children (33.2%), b) financial constraints (21%) and c) education not considered necessary (21.8%). </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
<em><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:small"><strong>Note: </strong>Net Attendance Ratio (I-VIII)=(Number of persons in age-group 6-13 currently attending Classes I-VIII divided by Estimated population in the age-group I-VIII years) multiplied by hundred&nbsp; </span></span></em></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">**page**</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">According to the [inside]Education for All Report 2010[/inside],</span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"> </span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"> </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><a href="http://www.unesco.org/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/ED/GMR/pdf/gmr2010/gmr2010-highlights.pdf">http://www.unesco.org/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/ED/GMR/pdf/gmr2010/gmr2010-highlights.pdf</a>:&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Human development indicators are deteriorating. An estimated 125 million additional people could be pushed into malnutrition in 2009 and 90 million into poverty in 2010.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;With poverty rising, unemployment growing and remittances diminishing, many poor and vulnerable households are having to cut back on education spending or withdraw their children from school.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;National budgets in poor countries are under pressure. Sub-Saharan Africa faces a potential loss of around US$4.6 billion annually in financing for education in 2009 and 2010, equivalent to a 10% reduction in spending per primary-school pupil.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;The number of children out of school has dropped by 33 million worldwide since 1999. South and West Asia more than halved the number of children out of school &ndash; a reduction of 21 million.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;The share of girls out of school has declined from 58% to 54%, and the gender gap in primary education is narrowing in many countries.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Between 1985&ndash;1994 and 2000&ndash;2007, the adult literacy rate increased by 10%, to its current level of 84%. The number of adult female literates has increased at a faster pace than that of males.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Malnutrition affects around 175 million young children each year and is a health and an education emergency.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;There were 72 million children out of school in 2007. Business as usual would leave 56 million children out of school in 2015. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Literacy remains among the most neglected of all education goals, with about 759 million adults lacking literacy skills today. Two-thirds are women.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Some 1.9 million new teacher posts will be required to meet universal primary education by 2015.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;In twenty-two countries, 30% or more of young adults have fewer than four years of education, and this rises to 50% or more in eleven sub-Saharan African countries. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp; </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">According to [inside]Secondary Education in India: Universalizing Opportunity (2009)[/inside], January, prepared by Human Development Unit, South Asia Region, The World Bank, </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><a href="http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2009/05/18/000333037_20090518003954/Rendered/PDF/485210v20SR0wh10Box338913B01PUBLIC1.pdf"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">http://www</span><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">-wd</span>.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2009/05</a><br />
<a href="http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2009/05/18/000333037_20090518003954/Rendered/PDF/485210v20SR0wh10Box338913B01PUBLIC1.pdf">/18/000333037_20090518003954/Rendered<br />
/PDF/485210v20SR0wh10Box338913B01PUBLIC1.pdf</a>:&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;On the supply side, four key constraints limit access to secondary education: (i) insufficient and uneven distribution of school infrastructure; (ii) lack of trained teachers and inefficient teacher deployment; (iii) suboptimal use of the private sector to expand enrollment capacity and to achieve social objectives; and (iv) insufficient open schooling opportunities for those who have left the formal system.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;There is a 40 percentage point gap in secondary enrollment rates between students from the highest and lowest expenditure quintile groups (70 percent versus 30 percent enrollment, respectively). In addition, there is a 20 percentage point gap between urban and rural secondary enrollment rates, and a persistent 10 percentage point gap between secondary enrollment rates of boys and girls. Enrollment of STs, SCs and Muslims is well below their share in the population at large.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;India&rsquo;s gross enrollment rate (GER) at the secondary level of 40 percent is far inferior to the GERs of its global competitors in East Asia (average 70 percent) and Latin America (average 82 percent). Even countries such as Vietnam and Bangladesh, which have lower per capita incomes than India, have higher gross enrollment rates.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;At the lower secondary level (grades 9 and 10), the gross enrollment rate (GER) is 52 percent, while at the senior secondary level (grades 11 and 12) it is just 28 percent, for a combined GER of 40 percent (2005). In absolute terms, total secondary enrollment (lower and senior secondary) in 2004/05 was 37.1 million students, with 65 percent (24.3 million) in lower secondary and 35 percent (12.7 million) in senior secondary. It is estimated at over 40 million in 2008.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Projections suggest an increase in absolute demand for secondary education between 2007/08 and 2017/18 of around 17 million students per year, with total enrollment growing from 40 to 57 million students.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Wealthier children are more than twice as likely to be enrolled in secondary education as poor children. In some states (e.g. Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh) there is more than a twenty-point percentage gap in enrollment between boys and girls. Secondary attendance of the general population is 80 percent higher than that for STs, SCs and Muslims. Finally, secondary enrollment by state varies greatly, from 22 percent in Bihar to 92 percent in Kerala; and from 4 percent in Jharkhand to 44 percent in Tamil Nadu at the senior secondary level. Such huge differences reflect, in part, a lack of central government involvement in secondary education to equalize opportunities, particularly in the poorer states.</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;Secondary education currently accounts for less than a third of India&rsquo;s total public spending on education, equivalent in absolute terms to about US$7.2 billion per year (less than 10 percent of this on investment). About 75 percent of the public spending on secondary education comes from the states, which spend less than 1 percent of their per capita incomes for this purpose. Compared with international benchmarks, India&rsquo;s per student public spending on secondary education as a percentage of GDP per capita is somewhat high (27 percent, compared to a benchmark for fast-growing economies of 18 percent). India&rsquo;s per-student public spending on secondary education is also high as a ratio of per student spending on primary education (2.9, compared to a benchmark for fast-growing economies of 1.4). On the other hand, by international standards, India&rsquo;s per student spending on secondary education appears quite reasonable in absolute terms (average US$173, compared to spending per student in secondary education of US$577 in Latin America and the Caribbean, US$257 in Sub-Saharan Africa, and US$ 117 in South Asia). Public teacher salaries as a ratio of GDP/capita are 4:1 (private teacher salaries as a ratio of GDP/capita are 2.3:1).</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&bull;&nbsp;With current low levels of efficiency in India&rsquo;s secondary schools, the estimated cost of producing a lower secondary graduate is high, at around Rs. 21,500 (about US$500 in 2005), or about Rs. 40,000 (US$911) for both levels of secondary education. Government schools spend less per student than private aided schools; approximately half of public funds in secondary education are spent through grants-in-aid to private schools, although these schools constitute just 30 percent of the total number. </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The [inside]Annual Status of Education Report 2008 (Rural)[/inside] </span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><a href="http://asercentre.org/asersurvey/aser08/pdfdata/aser08national.pdf">http://asercentre.org/asersurvey/aser08/pdfdata/aser08national.pdf</a> shows:&nbsp;</span><br />
&nbsp;</p>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><u><strong>Percentage of children not in school is dropping. Bihar has done well</strong></u></span><br />
&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Nationally, the proportion of 7-10 year-olds not-in school is at 2.7%, and proportion of 11-14 year olds not in school is at 6.3%</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">All India proportion of 11 &ndash; 14 year old out of school girls remains steady at 7.3% over 2007 and 2008.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The percentage of out of school children in most states has decreased since 2007. UP and Rajasthan are exceptions.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In Bihar, children (6 &ndash; 14 year old) not on school have dropped steadily over the last four years from 13.1% in 2005 to 5.7% in 2008. Over the same period, the proportion of girls 11-14 not in school has dropped from 20.1% to 8.8%.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><u><strong>Enrollment in private schools is increasing</strong></u></span></span><br />
&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Among all 6-14 year olds, the proportion of children attending private schools has increased from 16.4% in 2005 to 22.5% in 2008. This increase in private school enrollment represents a 37.2 percent increase over the baseline of 2005. This increase is particularly striking in Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In 2008, private schools have 20% more boys than girls in both age groups; 7-10 and 11-14.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Half of all school going children in Kerala and Goa go to private schools. (According to DISE, 95% of private schools in Kerala and 70% of private schools in Goa are government aided.)</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Between 32% to 42% of all school going children In Nagaland, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan go to private schools. (DISE data indicates that In these states private schools are mostly unaided).</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><strong><u>Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh show dramatic improvement in reading</u></strong> </span></span></p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Chhattisgarh has shown a dramatic improvement in children&rsquo;s reading ability. The proportion of children in Std III who could read a Std I level text has increased from 31% in 2007 to 70% in 2008. The proportion of Std V children who could read a Std II level text in 2007 was 58% . By 2008, this figure had gone up to 75% in 2008. Reading levels in Chhattisgarh have improved dramatically across the board.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In Madhya Pradesh too, reading levels in 2008 show a big jump at every level over 2006, and 2007. With 86.8% government school children in Std V being able to read Std. II level text, Madhya Pradesh tops the ASER scale of reading among all states including Kerala and Himachal where 73-74% children in Std V can read a Std II text in government schools.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, and Himachal Pradesh are states that lead the country in terms of children&rsquo;s basic reading fluency. In these states children who can read letters or more in Std I are over 85% and those who can read Std II text or more in Std V is over 75%.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Madhya Pradesh has achieved progress in two stages with the first jump coming in 2006 and the next in 2008.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Karnataka, and Orissa show a steady increase in proportion of children who can read from Std II to Std IV. Over 2006 to 2008, the reading levels recorded show about 5-6 percentage point improvement.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">ASER has used essentially the same tool and the same method for four years.1 Barring some states such as Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal, Andhra, and Chhattisgarh, no major change has been observed in basic reading in other states.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><u><strong>Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh show improvement in arithmetic also</strong></u></span></span><br />
&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">ASER tests indicate that Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have made remarkable strides in improving basic math skills over the last year. In both states more than 91% children in Std I can identify numbers 1-9 or more. Although in Kerala this proportion is 96% in Std I, the highest literacy state loses its lead by Std III.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In Std III, the proportion of children in Madhya Pradesh who can solve at least a subtraction problem has jumped from 61.3% in 2007 to 72.2% in 2008, while Kerala is at 61.4%.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In 2008, 78.2% of children in Std V in Madhya Pradesh, could correctly solve a division problem. This is the highest recorded in the country. In several other states, this figure is around 60%; for example in Himachal, Chattisgaroh, Manipur and Goa.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In Chhattisgarh, the improvement in arithmetic is dramatic, indicative of a focused intervention. In 2008, Std II children who could identify numbers up to 100 or do higher level operations was at 77.8. This figure for Std II in 2007 was 37.2%. Similarly, those who could at least solve subtraction in Std III jumped from 21.8% in 2007 to 63.5% in 2008.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><u><strong>Telling time</strong></u></span></span><br />
&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">61% of children in Std V in India can tell time on a clock correctly.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In states such as UP, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, about 50% children in Std V can tell time. Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Haryana, J&amp;K, Punjab, Uttarakhand are all above the national average.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, where math and reading ability is recorded to be much better than the national average, more than 75% children in Std V can tell time.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;<strong><u>Other interesting findings from the survey</u></strong></span><br />
&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">ASER (Rural) 2008 also explored village infrastructure and household characteristics to find links with education. The links will be explored later. However, here are some findings.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Primary schools are available within 1 km of 92.5% rural habitations and 67.1% villages have government middle school, and 33.8% have government secondary schools. Private schools are available in 45.6% Indian villages.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">STD booths are present in 58.5% villages while 48.3% village households have a cell phone or a land line connection.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Electrical connections were available in 65.9% households surveyed.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Pukka road connects 71.9% villages to the outside world. Lowest numbers are Assam (32.7%), West Bengal (44.2%), Bihar (53.2%) and Madhya Pradesh (58.9%%) are states among the poorest connected states.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify"><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium">According to the [inside]Literacy and Levels of Education in India 1999-2000 of the 55th Round NSS[/inside], July 1999- June 2000: </span></span><br />
&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In urban India, the proportion of literates was 798 out of 1000. Therefore, about one-fifth of the urban population was not literate. Among the literates, 325 persons (out of 798) attained education level secondary and above. This is much higher compared to rural India. Among the males, the literacy rate was as high as 865 out of 1000 while the same for females was about 72%. </span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In rural India, the literacy rate was the lowest for persons belonging to ST households (42%) followed by persons belonging to SC households (47%).&nbsp; But in urban India, the literacy rate was the lowest for SC households (66%) followed by ST households (70%).&nbsp; For both the sectors the literacy rate was the highest for persons belonging to social group &lsquo;others&#39;.&nbsp; &nbsp;</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The proportions of persons in each education level were lower for females than for males. The proportion of persons in any education level was an increasing function of monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) as in rural areas for each education level and also for both males and females. </span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In rural India, literacy rate per thousand was the highest (737) for household type &lsquo;others&#39; followed by self-employed in non-agriculture (630). The rate was the lowest (426) for agricultural labour households. &nbsp;</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Literacy rate in rural India is a very slowly increasing function of the area of land possessed for both males and females and so for all persons. For the lowest size class of land possessed the literacy rate of all persons was 52% while it was 64% for the highest size class of land possessed. </span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Literacy rate in rural India for males was much higher than that of females for any specified size class of land possessed, the differential being above 20 for different size classes.&nbsp; &nbsp;</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">It is seen that the literacy rate was rather low for both males and females in rural India for &lsquo;Islam&#39; compared to other religions. &lsquo;Hinduism&#39; and &lsquo;others&#39; are not much better, especially for females.&nbsp; In urban India, the literacy rate was 88-89% for males following three religions, namely, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism. Further, males who followed Christianity or Jainism had a still higher rate of literacy, 94% or more. Here also &lsquo;Islam&#39; shows a lower literacy rate. The picture is similar for females in urban areas.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In rural areas, gender disparity in literacy rate was very large for Hinduism and Islam, compared to other religions. The pattern was similar to some extent in urban areas, but here the gender disparities were generally smaller. </span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Among the rural areas of 15 major states, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh showed the highest increase in literacy rate for males and females over 1993-94 to 1999-2000.&nbsp; The increase was by 9% for males and by 10% for females.&nbsp; For females, there was one more major state, namely, Maharashtra, for which the increase in literacy rate was 10%. Among urban areas of the major states, the increase over 1993-94 to 1999-2000 was more than the national increase in urban areas of Karnataka, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Among the major States, the rural literacy rate for all persons was the highest in Kerala. It was around 90% in both the NSS rounds-50th and 55th. The second highest literacy rate among the rural areas of major States was found for Assam (69%). The rate was the lowest for Bihar (42%) followed by Andhra Pradseh (46%) and Rajasthan (47%). The literacy rate was also relatively low (between 50 and 60%) in the rural areas of the following States: Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In urban India, the literacy rate was distinctly low for casual labour households compared to other households. It was 59% (593 out of 1000) of persons belonging to casual labour households compared to the national average of 80%. For the remaining household types, the proportions of literates among males, females or persons were the highest for regular wage /salary earning households. &nbsp;</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In urban areas the variation of literacy rates across States/UT&#39;s was much smaller compared to the rural areas.&nbsp; It ranged from 70% to 99% over the urban areas of different States and UTs while it varied from 42-91% in rural areas.&nbsp; The urban literacy rate (%)was very high in Kerala (94), Meghalaya (92), Mizoram (99), Nagaland (94) and relatively low in Andhra Pradesh (75), Bihar (70), Orissa (76), Punjab (79) and Uttar Pradesh (70).&nbsp; &nbsp;</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Out of a total of 32 States and UTs, there were only 8 where the rural literacy rate was 80% and above.&nbsp; These States and UTs were Goa, Kerala, Mizoram, Nagaland, Andaman &amp; Nicobar Islands, Daman and Diu, Delhi and Lakshadweep. </span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">At the national level, literacy rate (%) increased during the period from 1993-94 to 1999-2000.&nbsp; For males, it increased from 63 to 68 in rural areas and from 85 to 87 in urban areas.&nbsp; For females, the corresponding figures were 36 and 43 in rural areas and 68 and 72 in urban areas.&nbsp; The figures for persons were 50 and 56 in rural areas and 77 and 80 in urban areas</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">At the national level, the difference in census and NSS estimates of literacy was 3% for both males and females.&nbsp; For rural males, NSS literacy rate was 73% while census literacy rate was 76%.&nbsp; Similarly, for females NSS estimate was 51% and the census estimate was 54%. </span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The difference in literacy rate between NSS 55th round and Census 2001 was roughly similar for males and females for any State/UT. For persons, the absolute difference in literacy rate was more than 5% in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa and Rajasthan and was less than 2% in Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Chandigarh, Lakshadweep and Pondicherry.&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:Arial; font-size:medium">**page**</span></p>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><strong>Progress in Elementary Education since 1999</strong> </span></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><img alt="Progress in Elementary Education since 1999" src="tinymce/uploaded/chart1.jpg" style="height:163px; width:500px" /></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><em><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><strong>Source:</strong> RGI; SES, MHRD </span></em></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><strong>Growth of Educational Institutions since 1999 </strong></span></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium">&nbsp;</span></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><img alt="Growth of Educational Institutions since 1999" src="tinymce/uploaded/chart2.jpg" style="height:162px; width:500px" /> </span></div>

<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><em><span style="font-size:small"><strong>Source: </strong>SES, MHRD</span></em><br />
<br />
From the table below, one can decipher that although enrolment of both boys and girls has increased in between 1999-2000 and 2004-2005, yet there exist gender disparities in enrolment. </span><br />
&nbsp;</p>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><strong>Sex-wise Enrolment by Stages, 1999-2000 to 2003-04</strong> </span></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp;<img alt="Sex-wise Enrolment by Stages, 1999-2000 to 2003-04" src="tinymce/uploaded/chart3.jpg" style="height:279px; width:510px" /></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><em><strong>Source: </strong>SES, MHRD *Provisional </em></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><em><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Seminar Report &quot;Right to Education - Actions Now&quot; 19 December 2007, New Delhi by Confederation of Indian Industry show: </span></em></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">According to the VII Educational Survey (2002), the number of habitations, which had a primary school within a distance of 1 km was 10.71 lakh (87%); the uncovered habitations numbered 1.6lakh.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Access facilities in the upper primary schooling is, however, still an issue as, only 78% of the habitations had such facilities within a radius of 3 Km. In 2002-03. This catered to the need of 86% of the rural population. Nearly, 88,930 new upper primary schools have been opened since 2002-03. However, a gap still remains.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In Madhya Pradesh, only one third of the teachers attend school, in UP, the figure is 20% and in Bihar 25%.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">There is a need of more upper primary schools. At the national level, there was one upper primary school for 2.8 primary schools in 2004-05. In 2005-06 this ratio of number of primary to upper primary schools was 2.5:1. To bring the ratio of primary: upper primary school to 2:1 (SSA norm), the additional need for upper primary schools works out to 1,40,000.&rdquo;</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) has recruited 7.95 lakh teachers to improve the pupil-teacher ratio from 44:1 to 40:1 at the primary level in addition to providing annual in-service training, free distribution of textbooks to the tune of Rs 6.9 crores. </span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The dropout rates were 15% in 2002-03, which reduced to 13% in 2003-04 and further reduced to 12% in 2004-2005. Although the trend is encouraging, concerted efforts would be needed to ensure further reduction.</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">In absolute terms, a substantial increase in the number of teachers has been registered since 1999-2000. At the primary stage, there were 19.2 lakh teachers in 1999-2000. This increased to 20.9 lakh in 2003-04. With respect to the upper primary stage, this increased from 12.98 lakh to 16.02 lakh</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>
	<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">The government has set up institutions like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA), District Primary Education programme (DPEP), National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE), the Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) and the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme (KGBVS).</span></div>
	</li>
</ul>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><em>According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics:</em> </span></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">40% of children are enrolled in pre-primary school </span></strong></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><img alt="40% of children are enrolled in pre-primary school" src="tinymce/uploaded/chart4.jpg" style="height:211px; width:500px" /> </span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium">&nbsp;<strong>87% of girls and 90% of boys are in primary school </strong></span></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><img alt="87% of girls and 90% of boys are in primary school" src="tinymce/uploaded/chart5.jpg" style="height:257px; width:500px" /> </span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">12% of the population of tertiary age are in tertiary education </span></strong></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><img alt="12% of the population of tertiary age are in tertiary education" src="tinymce/uploaded/chart6.jpg" style="height:203px; width:500px" /> </span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><strong>86% of children complete a full course of primary</strong> </span></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><img alt="86% of children complete a full course of primary" src="tinymce/uploaded/chart7.jpg" style="height:237px; width:570px" /> </span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><strong>10.7% of government spending goes to education</strong></span></span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><img alt="10.7% of government spending goes to education" src="tinymce/uploaded/chart8.jpg" style="height:337px; width:537px" /> </span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><strong><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">65.2% of adults and 81.3% of youth are literate</span></strong></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><img alt="65.2% of adults and 81.3% of youth are literate" src="tinymce/uploaded/chart9.jpg" style="height:239px; width:526px" /> </span></div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="height:268px; width:500px">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<div style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:medium"><strong>Education at a glance</strong> </span></span></div>

			<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

			<div style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</div>

			<p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">Youth (15&ndash;24 years) literacy rate, 2000&ndash;2007*, male 87<br />
			Youth (15&ndash;24 years) literacy rate, 2000&ndash;2007*, female 77<br />
			Number per 100 population, 2006, phones 15<br />
			Number per 100 population, 2006, Internet users 11<br />
			Primary school enrolment ratio 2000&ndash;2007*, gross, male 90<br />
			Primary school enrolment ratio 2000&ndash;2007*, gross, female 87<br />
			Primary school attendance ratio 2000&ndash;2007*, net, male 85<br />
			Primary school attendance ratio 2000&ndash;2007*, net, female 81<br />
			Secondary school enrolment ratio 2000&ndash;2007*, gross, male 59<br />
			Secondary school enrolment ratio 2000&ndash;2007*, gross, female 49<br />
			Secondary school attendance ratio 2000&ndash;2007*, net, male 59<br />
			Secondary school attendance ratio 2000&ndash;2007*, net, female 49<br />
			Note: Enrolment ratio means total enrolment in a specific level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the eligible official school-age population corresponding to the same level of education in a given school year. For the tertiary level, the population used is that of the five-year age group following on from the secondary school leaving<br />
			<br />
			<span style="font-size:small"><em><strong>Source:</strong> UNICEF, </em></span></span><a href="http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/india_statistics.html"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:small"><em>http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/india_statistics.html</em></span></a><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium"><span style="font-size:small"><em> </em></span></span></p>
			</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p style="text-align:justify">&nbsp;</p>

<div style="text-align:justify"><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:medium">&nbsp; </span></div>
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&nbsp;

&bull; At&nbsp;the&nbsp;national&nbsp;level,&nbsp;the&nbsp;proportion of&nbsp;government schools&nbsp;having facilities like drinking water was 96.39 percent, boys&#39; toilet was 94.64 percent, girls&#39; toilet was 97.03 percent, boundary wall was 60.12 percent, playground was 56.98 percent, ramp was 71.50 percent, CWSN toilet was 19.59 percent, electricity was 56.45 percent and library was 79.36 percent, according to the Unified District Information System For Education (UDISE) 2017-18 (Provisional) *12

&nbsp;

&bull; ASER 2019 &lsquo;Early Years&rsquo; data shows a clear...'
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