NAS: Learning levels of school students decline

IN ALL, 340,000 STUDENTS OF 118,000 SCHOOLS IN 720 DISTRICTS WERE ASSESSED IN THE NATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT SURVEY 2021

NEW DELHI: The learning levels of school students in almost all subjects, including mathematics and language, dropped as they progressed to higher classes, according to the National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 report, released by the ministry of education on Wednesday.

The triennial survey, which was conducted in November last year, focused on competencybased assessment in language, mathematics, environmental science, social science, and English at classes third, fourth, fifth, eighth and tenth. It reflects the overall assessment of the school education system. In all, 340,000 students of 118,000 schools in 720 districts were assessed.

According to the report, the national average percentage of students for class third was 59%, which declined by 10 percentage points to 49% in class fifth. It further declined to 41.9% in class eight and to 37.8% in class 10. The performance recorded a decline in almost all subjects, said the report. For instance, the maths score nationally was 57% in class third, dropping by almost 10 percentage points to 44% in fifth, and to 36% in class eighth, and 32% in class 10th.

Similarly, the language score nationally was 62% in class third, and dropped to 52% in class fifth, and to 53% in class eighth. For science, the national score declined from 39% in class eighth to 35% in class 10.

“The objective of NAS 2021 is to evaluate children’s progress and learning competencies as an indicator of the efficiency of the education system... It will help to unravel the gaps in learning and support state/uts in developing long term, mid-term and shortterm interventions to improve learning levels and orient on differential planning...,” the ministry said in a statement.