ASER-2024 highlights poor learning outcomes, arithmetic levels among school children

Posted by admin_kas on 2025-01-29 08:49:50 |

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Srinagar, Jan 29: The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)-2024, released on January 28 in New Delhi has exposed gaps in the learning outcomes among the school children of Jammu Kashmir while pointing out improvement in the school infrastructure.  

The report also paints a bleak picture of learning abilities among students. According to ASER-2024, 3.8% of Class 3 students cannot read letters, 21.7% can read letters but not words, and 31.5% can read words but not Class 1-level text. Only 16.6% of Class 3 students can read Class 2-level text.  

For Class 5, 2.2% cannot read letters, 9.3% can read letters but not words, and 25% can read words but not texts of lower classes. Only 37.7% can read texts from their previous class.  

In Class 8, 0.9% cannot read letters, 3.5% can read letters but not words, and 12.1% can read words but not lower-class texts. Just 58.5% can read texts from their previous class.  

Arithmetic skills are similarly concerning. In Class 3, 2.9% cannot recognize numbers from 1 to 9, 12.2% recognize numbers up to 9 but not 99, and 48.5% recognize numbers up to 99 but cannot perform subtraction. Only 9% can perform division.  

In Class 5, 1.8% cannot recognize numbers from 1 to 9, 5.6% recognize numbers up to 9 but not 99, and 37.2% can recognize numbers up to 99 but cannot subtract. Only 25.1% can perform division.  

In Class 8, 0.6% cannot recognize numbers from 1 to 9, 1.7% recognize numbers up to 9 but not 99, and 29.3% can recognize numbers up to 99 but cannot subtract. Only 35.8% can perform division.  

The survey also reveals that Jammu and Kashmir is lagging behind national trends in learning recovery.

While learning levels across India have improved, J&K has seen a 2.3 percentage-point decline in reading and a 2.1 percentage-point drop in arithmetic.

However, the report highlights some progress. Between 2022 and 2024, Class 5 reading levels improved by 3.7 percentage points among government school students in J&K. Arithmetic skills for Class 5 students also showed improvement, with boys proficient in division rising from 22.8% in 2022 to 24.3% in 2024, and girls improving from 21.9% to 26.1%.  

Nationally, 67% of three-year-olds and 58% of four-year-olds were enrolled in Anganwadis in 2024.

In J&K, 64.9% of three-year-olds and 37.7% of four-year-olds were enrolled.

The survey also noted a decline in "underage" enrollment in government schools in the region.  

Government school enrollment in J&K increased from 55.5% in 2022 to 57.2% in 2024, bucking the national trend of declining government school enrollment.