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ASER-Annual
Status of Education Report 2005 released
Findings by
Pratham
a NGO.
New Delhi: Annual
Status of Education Report- 2005 prepared by Pratham was released on January
17, 2006 by Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Dr Montek Singh
Ahluwalia at New Delhi.
It is a citizen`s initiative to monitor the status of primary education in
India. The nationwide household survey covered 332,971 children in 191,057
households spread over 9521 villages in 485 districts across 12 states.
Facilitated by Pratham, an education NGO working in 14 states of India, and
executed by local groups in each district, it is the largest household
survey on school education in India conducted by non-government bodies. More
than 20,000 volunteers from 776 local groups, NGOs, colleges and
universities were part of this effort.
Among those present on the occasion were Sarva Shiksh Abhiyan Joint Director
General, Vrinda Sarup, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Secretary
Prof. Krishna Kumar, NCERT Director, Anil Bordia-former Education Secretary,
Govt. of India, and Loksatta Founder, Jayaprakash Narain.
For statistics please
refer to:
http://www.pratham.org/aserreports/
nationalfigures.pdf
MAIN FINDINGS:
ENROLLMENT:
93.4% children in 6 to 14 age
group are enrolled in school. In the 6 to 10 age group, there is not much
difference in the enrollment of boys and girls.
Of the children not enrolled in
school, 71.2% are in just five states: Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan,
Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. Many states like Kerala, Karnataka, Uttaranchal,
Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat have less than 4% children in the 6
to 14 age group out of school.
Nationally, private schools
provide education to 16.4% children in the 6-14 age group. In Haryana and
Uttar Pradesh close to a third of all children are in private schools.
GENDER DIFFERENCES:
60% of students in private schools
are boys.
There are noteworthy state
differences. At one end we have Rajasthan and Uttaranchal where the
proportion of boys in private schools is over 65% and at the other end is
Kerala where proportion of girls is 51%. Boys and girls are almost even in
Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
Girls as a percentage of all
out-of-school children are 52.8%.
LITERACY METER:
35%
of all children in the age group 7-14 could not read simple paragraphs at
standard I level and close to 52% could not read a short story at a standard
II level of difficulty.
40% of children who are in school
and studying in standard V could not read the story text at standard II
level of difficulty.
Although many more children in
higher classes (standard 6 to 8) can read, there are still 22% children in
government schools
Children
currently studying in standard V, in Kerala, Uttaranchal, West Bengal, Bihar
and Chattisgarh, less than 25% are unable to read a story of standard II
level difficulty. However, the proportion of children unable to read (Level
2) is substantially higher in several other states: close to 50% children in
Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh cannot read
a simple ‘story’text of standard II level.
50%
of standard II to V children in government primary schools and 38% in
private schools could not solve a two digit subtraction problem with
borrowing.
In
higher classes (standard VI to VIII), 40% of government school children and
33% of private school children could not solve a simple division problem (3
digits divided by 1 digit.)
Pupil-teacher ratio based on attendance (i.e. number of children
actually present and number of teachers attending on the day of the visit)
shows that this ratio, all India, is well below 40 – with the exception of
Uttar Pradesh
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