Context:
After a prolonged decline due to learning losses during the COVID-19 pandemic, there has now been a modest recovery in foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) among school students, according to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2024, released. The survey of almost 6.5 lakh children in 605 villages across the country tested them in basic reading and arithmetic skills and found a slight improvement in comparison to pre-COVID 2018 levels.
Key Highlights:
- Recovery in Foundational Literacy
- Learning loss recovery since COVID. Now showing better scores in early grade reading and numeracy but major gaps persist.
- Reading Skills
- Class 3 Improved significantly but fourths still cannot read properly.
- Class 5 to 8: No change with half of the students in Class 5 unable to read a Class 2 text.
- Arithmetic Skills
- Early grade numeracy still poor with two thirds of Class 3 students failing basic subtraction.
- Class 5 Slight improvement in division skills but still a majority struggle with basic operations.
State Level Inequalities
- Top gaining states
- Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim and Mizoram topped with a gain of 10 percentage points in reading skills.
- Moderate gainers
- Odisha, Haryana, West Bengal and Jharkhand gained between 699 percentage points.
- Slow gainers
- Himachal Pradesh and Bihar registered only 459 percentage points which signifies the uneven distribution of education recovery in regions.
Access to Technology and Digital Divide
- Mobile phone penetration
- 89 of teens 14 to 16 years own a smartphone but only 57 use it for education.
- Gaps in awareness of digital safety
- Boys are more aware of the online safety features than girls.
- It means there is a need for specific digital literacy programs for girls.
- Social media vs learning
- High engagement in social media 76 but relatively lower use for education 57.
Key Takeaways and Recommendations
- Need for stronger early grade interventions to bridge foundational learning gaps.
- States with successful models should be studied and best practices replicated in lagging regions.
- Leverage technology for learning, ensuring better integration of digital tools in education.
- Promote safer online experiences for girls by bridging the gender gap in digital literacy.
Right to Education
Right to education is the right of every child to receive a quality education, regardless of background and circumstances. It is a fundamental human right, enshrined in international legal instruments and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The right to education in India is guaranteed by Article 21A of the Constitution of India. This article was added by the 86th Amendment Act of 2002.
What does Article 21A say?
- It guarantees free and compulsory education for children between the ages of 6 and 14
- It prohibits discrimination in education
- It ensures equal opportunities for education
- It removes financial barriers to education
- It provides adequate infrastructure, facilities, and qualified teachers
Right to Education Act (RTE) of 2009
The Right to Education Act (RTE) of 2009 guarantees free and compulsory education for children between the ages of 6 and 14.
- The RTE Act was effective from April 1, 2010.
- The RTE Act prohibits denial of admission to any child, irrespective of the time of year.
- The RTE Act also prohibits holding back or expulsion of any child until he completes elementary education.
- Globally
- The Abidjan Principles on the Right to Education were adopted in 2019 by a committee of international human rights law experts.
- The UN‘s Human Rights Council has passed a decision to establish a working group to consider the possibility of including early childhood care and education explicitly within the right to education.
