Annual Status of Education Report 2022
Source – ASER 2022
Pratham and ASER Centre released the Annual Status of Education Report 2022 which is a nationwide survey that provides a snapshot of children’s schooling and learning in rural India. This report arrived at a gap of 4 years when children are back in school after an extended period of school closure. The data was collected in this report when the school reopened for about 6-8 months. Children in rural areas were not able to access education due to a lack of mobile devices. This led to the loss of foundational learning due to remote learning mode during the pandemic.
To understand the status of educational outcomes in the wake of the pandemic, we will analyze the key finding of the Annual Status of Education Report 2022.
Enrollment Status
The report finds out that the enrollment rate was up to the mark where most students from the age group of 6-14 enrolled in schools in 2022. The enrollment went from 97.2% in 2018 to 98.4% in 2022. The enrollment reached above 95% in 2008.
The period from 2010 to 2014 saw a decline in government school enrollment. The enrollment of children in government schools has increased from 2018 (65.6%) to 2022 (72.9%). This trend is seen across all the states in the country with West Bengal seeing the highest rise (92.2%).
Fortunately, the fear that the pandemic will lead to dropout in children from schools has not been a reality. On the contrary, the dropout rate declined by 2% between 2018 and 2022. This factor is also seen in the dropout of girls which has seen a decline since 2018. For boys in the age group of 15-16, the dropout rate went from 12.6% (2018) to 7% (2022). A similar trend has been seen for girls in the same age group where the dropout rate declined to 7.9% (2022) from 13.5% (2018).
The attendance of the students and teachers has not been hampered and increased in 2022. Reliability on tuition too increased since 2018.
Learning Outcomes
The government has initiated a mission called NIPUN Bharat to improve the foundational literacy and numeracy of children. There was a steady improvement in outcomes from 2014 to 2018. The pandemic has erased the improvement outcomes on this front. There is a decline in the ability to read and the ability to subtract in 2022.
The report suggests that there is an urgent need to bridge the gap that occurred in foundational literacy and numeracy due to the pandemic. A big push through the NIPUN Bharat mission is needed to accelerate the improvement outcomes.
School Facilities
The right to Education Act requires school facilities to adhere to the school standards like playgrounds, toilets, and accessible infrastructure around it. Schools have shown a steady improvement in facilities such as drinking water, useable toilets, and midday meals. There still needs a rapid improvement in the library and the availability of computers.
You can read the full report here!
