Pratham 2018 report: How much children are actually learning in schools

By Rukmini S

The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) for 2018 was released by NGO Pratham this month. The study has become the standard for understanding how much children are actually learning in school.

The state with best age-appropriate reading skills (children in Class 3 who can read a Class 2 text) is Kerala. But the “worst state” is likely to cause some row. For years now, Tamil Nadu has rejected ASER, saying its findings that learning levels in the state are worse than in Bihar & UP are beyond belief. 2018 isn’t about to change that — Tamil Nadu ranks the worst in the country.

(The author is Chennai-based journalist)