Ministry of Education releases National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 report

What is the News?

The Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education released the National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 report.

What is the National Achievement Survey?

What are the findings of NAS?

Higher the classes lower their achievements: The survey found that the learning levels (achievements) of students drop as they progress to a higher class. The survey also highlighted that in India 48 per cent of the students commute to school on foot.

For example, the average performance of students at the national level with a scaled score of 500 starts decreasing in higher classes. For example, the national average performance of a class 3 student in the language is 323 out of 500, but the same dips to 260 in Class 10.

Fall in student performance: There is a fall of up to nine percentage points between 2017 and 2021 in the performance of students in subjects ranging from maths to social sciences.

Performance of States: The majority of states/union territories were significantly below the overall national score. Punjab was the best performer across all grades and subjects. Apart from that, states such as Kerala, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and union territories such as Chandigarh showed better results than the national average.

Burden during the pandemic: Nearly 80% students found learning at home during the pandemic “burdensome” and felt that they learnt better in school

The survey found that as many as 24% of the students surveyed did not have access to digital devices at home, 38% said they faced difficulty carrying out learning activities at home during the pandemic.

Challenges in learning science: The survey found that out of a score of 500, students across various classes performed better at languages but lagged behind in subjects like mathematics and science.

For example, in Class 3, students scored the highest in languages (323), followed by EVS (307), and mathematics (306).

Backward classes faced struggle: Across various subjects and classes, SC, ST and OBC students performed worse than general category students. For instance, while general category students in Class 8 scored an average of 260 marks in mathematics, SC students scored 249 marks, ST scored 244 marks and OBCs scored 253 marks.

Source: The post is based on the following articles

“Ministry of Education releases National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 report” published in PIB on 24th May 2022.

“78% of school students found learning at home during pandemic ‘burdensome’: Govt survey” published in Economic Times on 25th May 2022.