ASER 2023 report

Source: The post ASER 2023 report has been created, based on the article “Over half of youth struggling with basic maths: ASER study” published in “The Hindu” and “CUES FOR REFORM” published in “Indian express” on 18th January 2024.

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS paper2-governance-Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Education.

News: The article discusses the ‘Beyond Basics’ Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) released by Pratham. It focuses on a survey of rural students aged 14 to 18 years, addressing their educational progress and challenges in India.

What were the major findings in the ASER 2023 report?

Enrolment Rates: Overall, 86.8% of 14-18-year-olds are enrolled in an educational institution. The percentage of youth not enrolled is 3.9% for 14-year-old youth and 32.6% for 18-year-olds. Most of the people in this age group were enrolled in the Arts/Humanities streams.

Foundational skill gaps: About 25% cannot read Grade 2 text, and over 50% face difficulties with arithmetic skills expected by Grade 5, highlighting a deficit in foundational learning.

Digital technology underutilized: Despite the high availability of smartphones in rural households (95%), their use for educational purposes is limited.

Gender disparities:

Fewer females (28.1%) are in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics stream (STEM) stream compared to males (36.3%).

Females are better at reading in their regional language, while males excel in arithmetic and English.

Males are more likely to own and use smartphones.

vocational training: The survey shows a low enrollment in vocational training, with only 5.6% of young people participating. Among these, college students are more engaged, with 16.2% enrolled in courses, usually lasting no more than six months.

What were the suggestions provided in the ASER 2023 report?

Pedagogic Reforms for Rural Students: The report suggests reforming teaching methods to help students who balance academic and farm work, addressing the educational challenges faced in rural areas.

Leverage Smartphones for Education and Address Digital Gender Gaps: ASER advocates using the widespread access to smartphones (95% of households) for educational purposes and emphasizes closing the gender gap in digital skills, as females lag behind males in smartphone proficiency.

Rethink vocational education: To increase the 6% enrollment in vocational courses, ASER suggests reimagining vocational training to make it more aspirational and aligned with students’ interests.

Question for practice:

Discuss the major findings and suggestions provided in the ASER 2023 report regarding the educational progress and challenges of rural students aged 14 to 18 years in India.