56% teens have problem with maths, 25% uneasy with standard-II text

Aksheev Thakur

New Delhi January 17

One in four students aged between 14 and 18 years cannot read standard-II text fluently in their regional language, while more than half struggle with division problems. Only 57.3 per cent can read sentences in English, while 42.7 per cent are unable to read basic English sentences.

These are the key findings of the Annual Status of Education Report, 2023, released here on Wednesday. The report, which has for over two decades consistently reported that elementary school children need urgent support to improve basic reading and maths, for the first time surveyed older children.

The ASER survey assessed 34,745 youth (14 to 18-year-olds) in 28 districts across 26 states on their foundational skills. One rural district was chosen in each state, barring UP and Madhya Pradesh, where two rural districts were chosen for the survey.

The survey reported that though 86.8% of the 14 to 18-year-olds are enrolled in schools, most of them exhibit poor foundational skills — basic reading, maths and English abilities. Digital literacy stands out as an exception with 90% of the surveyed children reporting the possession of a smartphone and knowledge of its operation.

Overall, 25% could not read standard-II text fluently in their regional language.

The northern states, barring Rajasthan (29%), reported lesser proportion of children than the national average who couldn’t read a grade II text — Punjab (12.8%), Haryana (13.4 %), J-K (23.5 %), Himachal Pradesh (11.4 %), Uttarakhand (17.4 %).

In basic maths, JK (60.7%), Uttarakhand (63.1 %) and Rajasthan (65.7 %) reported a greater proportion of students who are struggling with division problems (3 digits by one digit) as compared to the national average (56.7%). Other northern states — though better than the national average — still post a high percentage of students with low foundational mathematical skills — Punjab (43.1%), Haryana (38.2%) and Himachal (39.5), indicating room for improvement.

The report says females (76%) do better than males (70.9 %) in reading standard-II text in their regional language. In contrast, males do better than females in English reading and arithmetic.

Researchers reported a sorry state of affairs in vocational education with just 5.6% having taken up a vocational course at school.

The report covered SAS Nagar (Punjab), Sirsa (Haryana), Anantnag (J-K), Kangra (HP), Bhilwara (Rajasthan) and Tehri Garhwal (Uttarakhand) from the region.