Assam: Dismal findings in ASER on youths’ reading ability

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The Annual State of Education Report (ASER) 2023 threw up some findings that are a matter of concern for the education departments of the central as well as state governments.   The ASER is a report on a survey conducted on education in rural areas of the country. The survey was done in 28 districts in 26 states.

Regarding their foundational skills, the report states that about 25% in the age group of 14 to 18 years still cannot read Standard II-level textbooks fluently in their regional language.

Also, more than half struggle with division (3-digit by 1-digit) problems. Only 43.33% of 14- to 18-year-olds can do the sums. The ability is expected in Standard III/IV.

The report states that a little over half of them can read sentences in English (57.3%), while three quarters of them (73.5%) can tell their meaning.

It also appeared from the report that, across enrollment categories, females (76%) fared better than males (70.9%) at reading standard II text books in their regional language. However, the males fared better in arithmetic and English reading skills.

In Assam, the survey was conducted in the Kamrup district, which comprised 60 villages with 1200 households. The number of 14- to 18-year-olds surveyed stood at 1320, including 14- to 16-year-olds numbering 827 and 17- to 18-year-olds numbering 493.

In the survey in Assam, in the 14-16-year-old age group, 56.9% of students cannot read Standard II text books in their regional language; among the 17-18-year-old age group, 63.8% cannot do the same.

Among the youths who can do division problems (3-digit by 1-digit), in the 14-16-year-old age group, 19.1% can, while in the 17-18-year-old age group, 21.2% display the ability.

Among those who can read at least sentences in English, 48.6% in the 14-16 age group and 59% in the 17-18 age group displayed the ability.

Those who can read at least Standard I-level text books-in the 14-16 age group, 59% males and 56.6% females can do so, while in the 17-18 age group, 65.7% males and 63.3% females had the ability.

On using social media on smartphones, however, the youth displayed proficiency, with 96.1% in the 14-16 age group and 94.6% in the 17-18 age group showing their ability to do so.

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