ASER 2024 report shows remarkable recovery in learning levels in govt schools

Annual Status of Education Report 2024, facilitated by NGO Pratham, for 605 rural districts has reported significant improvement in learning levels in government schools and swift recovery than the Covid-19 period. As per ASER, all these have been possible due to National Education Policy’s foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) programme. ET takes a look at the key highlights of ASER 2024.

98% ENROLMENT IN 6-14 AGE GROUP
Dropouts in 15-16 age group: 7.9% not enrolled at the all-India level (7.5% in 2022)

READING LEVELS IN GOVT SCHOOLS

• Improvements in all elementary grades: Class I-VIII
• Basic reading levels highest for Class III: 23.4% (20.9% in 2018 and 16.3% in 2022)

READING LEVELS: GOVT VS PRIVATE SCHOOLS

• Class III students of govt schools able to read class II text in 2018: 20.9%
• 40.6% in private schools
• Figures dropped to 16.3% and 33.1% in 2022
• In 2024, govt schools move up to 23.4%, private schools move to 35.5%

ARITHMETIC LEVELS
Class III students’ ability to do at least subtraction had dropped to 25.9% in 2022
Between 2022 and 2024, students’ ability to do subtraction in Class III increased substantially in govt schools

Over 75% schools implemented school readiness programme for students before entering Class I
Over 95% schools distributed textbooks to all grades

EDUCATED NEW PARENTS

• 2014: 43% of mothers and 25% of fathers of children in 3-8 age group had no schooling
• 2024: It dropped to 24% for mothers and 16% for fathers
• Proportion of mothers completing primary school or higher has moved up from 43% to over 64%; corresponding increase for fathers is from 61% to 72%

SYSTEMIC PUSH ON FLN

DIGITAL FIRST

• Almost 90% of girls and boys report having a smartphone at home
• More than 80% know how to use a smartphone (85.5% of boys; 79.4% of girls)
• Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh report lower proportions

OWNERSHIP OF SMARTPHONES
27% of 14 years and 37.8% of 16 years have their own phone (36.2% for boys; 26.9% for girls)
57% use it for an educational activity; 76% used it for social media (boys used social media more)

DIGITAL SAFETY

• 62% knew how to block or report a profile
• 55.2% knew how to make a profile private
• 57.7% knew how to change a password
• Boys score better than girls; gender gaps also noted