Learning levels of Class 3-8 students in govt schools up
Punjab is among six states that have shown an improvement of more than 5 percentage points when compared with 2016 levels
CHANDIGARH: It may not be a cause for celebration, yet given the overall poor education standards, here is some good news for Punjab.
The learning levels of students of standard 3 to 8 of have shown an all-round improvement, said the annual status of education report (ASER), 2018, for rural areas released in Delhi on Tuesday. The nationwide survey conducted by Pratham, a non-governmental organisation, said that about 59% children of standard 6 to 8 could do division and 82 read standard 2 level text. The survey is conducted to test children’s ability to read simple text and do basic arithmetic.
There is a jump of 7 percentage points in arithmetic over the 2016 levels, whereas the increase is two percentage points in reading skills. ASER has reported similar improvement in other classes. Among children enrolled in standard 3 in government schools who could read at standard 2 level, Punjab is among six states that have shown an improvement of more than five percentage point over 2016 levels, said the report. Uttar Pradesh, Mizoram, Haryana, Gujarat and Kerala are the other states.
In standard 5 also, the percentage of students who were able to read at least a standard 2 level text is up.
Besides reading skills, kids of government schools have done
THERE IS A JUMP OF 7 PERCENTAGE POINTS IN ARITHMETIC OVER THE 2016 LEVELS, WHEREAS THE INCREASE IS TWO PERCENTAGE POINTS IN READING SKILLS
well in functional skills in arithmetic also. There is a three percentage point increase in the number of standard three children who could do subtraction. Punjab is among the few states where the proportion of children in standard 5 of government schools who could do division has improved by 5 percentage points over 2016 levels, said the report.
About 44% of all children in standard 8 could solve a threedigit by one-digit numerical division problem correctly. “While this figure has gone down from 2016 to 2018 in many states, government school children in some states, including Punjab (48% to 58.4%), have shown substantial improvements in the last two years,” according to ASER report.
In many of these classes and these age groups, girls are doing better than boys in both arithmetic and reading skills.
52% RURAL KIDS ATTEND PRIVATE SCHOOLS
About 52% of the rural children in the 6-14 years age group are enrolled in private schools in the state, showing a margin of 0.5% over 2016.
The percentage of such children going to government schools is 46.7 with about 1% children not going to schools at all, said the report.
There is a reversal of trend in the 15-16 years age group as 53% prefer government schools with about 41% enrolled in private schools. More than 6% rural children aged between 15 and 16 years are out of school.