Chandigarh, January 22
Language and mathematics seem Greek to Haryana students. Almost 40 per cent of Class II students cannot read everyday Hindi words or recognise numbers from 11-99.

Around 40 per cent Class V students have difficulty in reading even Class II textbooks. About 50 per cent Class V students cannot divide a three-digit number by a single-digit number. These revelations have been made in the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), 2013, facilitated by NGO Pratham.

The survey, which covered 20 districts, 582 villages, 11,835 households and over 15,000 children in the 3-16 age group, painted a sorry state of affairs in the education sector, contrary to the Hooda government’s claim of turning the state into an education hub.

“Learning deficit in the early grades continues in subsequent years, thus playing havoc with children’s learning abilities,” said Neeraj Verma, ASER’s State Associate for Haryana.

For the first time, the students in private schools (51.4 per cent) outnumbered those in the government schools (49.2 per cent). As per ASER figures, the standard of basic learning and arithmetic skills of government school students was much below than those studying in private schools.

For instance, the percentage of Class V students who could read Class II-level text is 48.1 per cent for government schools as compared to 81 per cent for private schools. The current learning gap between government and private schools is 32.9 percentage points.

In arithmetic, too, students of government schools faired badly than those enrolled with private schools. Only 31.7 per cent government school students of Class V could do three-digit by one-digit division as compared to 69.5 per cent for private school students.

According to Verma, faulty government policies, community role and inadequate infrastructure were the primary reasons behind poor performance of schoolchildren in Haryana.

State Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal refused to comment on the report saying she had not seen it yet.