Why in News?
- Recently, the 17th Annual Status of Education Report 2022 was published by NGO Pratham, which shows the impact of the pandemic on education.
- The report uncovers high enrolment of children in schools which is a good performance indicator for government programmes such as Nipun Bharat Mission.
About Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)-
- The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) is an annual, nationwide survey to assess children’s ability about reading simple text and do basic arithmetic.
- The survey is facilitated by Pratham education foundation in every rural district of India to provide authentic evaluation of children’s enrolment and basic learning levels in the 5-16 year age group, the first ASER survey was conducted in 2005. And has been conducted every year since 2005.
- ASER is the largest citizen-led survey across the country through the participation of local organizations and institutions in every rural district. It is a household survey. This includes all children– those who have never been to school or have dropped out, those who are in government schools, private schools, religious schools or anywhere else.
Key Findings of the Report-
- Enrollment in Government Schools- As per the ASER, 2022 the country has witnessed an increase in the enrollment of children in government schools.
- Basic Reading and Arithmetic Skills- There has been a decline in the basic reading and arithmetic skills of young children in Class 03 and Class 05 in India.
- Proportion of Girls not Enrolled- The decline in the proportion of girls not enrolled in schools for the age group 11-14 from 4.1% in 2018 to 2% in 2022 is a remarkable improvement and a positive development.
- This indicates that efforts to encourage gender equality in education have been effective and have helped to raise the enrollment of girls in schools.
- Teacher and student attendance- At the national level, no major change is seen in students’ and teachers’ attendance. Average teacher attendance increased a bit, from 85.4% in 2018 to 87.1% in 2022. Average student attendance continues to hover at around 72% for the past many years.
- School facilities- In 2022, the fraction of schools with useable girls’ toilets increased from 66.4% in 2018 to 68.4%.
- The proportion of schools with drinking water available increased from 74.8% to 76%, and the proportion of schools with books other than textbooks being used by students rose from 36.9% to 44% over the same period.
- In 2022, around 68.9% of schools have a playground, up slightly from 66.5% in 2018.
Challenges of school education-
- Family Factors- Family factors like Divorce, single parents, poverty, violence and many other issues play a vital role in a teacher’s ability to teach students and It impacts both teacher and student life.
- Lack of infrastructure- The major challenges faced by Government schools is the lack of drinking water facilities, electricity, toilets, power and poor hygiene, study material, lack of innovative teaching-learning material etc.
- Unhealthy competition culture– Mostly students tend to focus more on grades rather than learning. It causes a lot of stress and pressure, impacting mental health of students.
- Quality of teachers- Lack of trained and skilled teachers is also a major problem faced by our education system.
- Non-teaching tasks- Teachers are also burdened with a non-academic workload. A study by the National Institute of Education Planning and Administration (NIEPA) shows that the teachers spend nearly 19% time in teaching and rest of the time spent on activities like election duties etc.
Some committees related to education system-
- Radhakrishnan committee (1948-49).
- Kothari Commission: Standardisation of the education system on a 10+2+3 pattern.
- National Education Policy, 1968.
- National Educational Policy, 1985: Launched “Operation Blackboard” to improve primary schools across the nation. IGNOU was set up.
- T.S.R.Subramanian Committee report (2016): The committee recommended that the “no-detention policy” should be upheld only till class 5 and not till class 8.
- National Education Policy 2020: The education system replaced by 5+3+3+4 pattern.