Assam: Reading and arithmetic skills among school students unsatisfactory

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2024, which was released on January 28, 2025, revealed improvements in basic reading and arithmetic among students of Classes III and V in rural areas at the national level. However, the report is not very encouraging for school education in Assam, especially in terms of enrolment in government schools in rural areas, as well as reading and arithmetic skills in students from Class I to VIII.

Regarding enrolment in government schools in rural areas, for students from Class I to V, the enrolment of boys in 2024 was 69%, compared to 72% in 2022. In the case of girls, the enrolment in 2024 was 71.6% compared to 73.7% in 2022.

For students from Class VI to VIII, the enrolment of boys was 72% in 2024 compared to 73.2% in 2022. For girls, the enrolment was 75.5% in 2024 compared to 77.6% in 2022.

The above sets of figures, as per the report, show a decreasing trend in the enrolment of both boys and girls in government schools in rural areas.

In terms of reading skills, the reading tool is a progressive tool. However, the report shows that there is variation in children's reading levels within a given grade. For example, among children in Class III, 8% cannot even read letters, 22.6% can read letters but not words or higher, 29.6% can read words but not Standard I level text or higher, 21.7% can read Standard I level text but not Standard II level text, and 18.2% can read Standard II level text.

The highest level in the ASER reading assessment is a Std II level text. The weighted average of children in Class III in both government and private schools who can read a Class II level text was 18.3% in 2024. Of this average, 13.2% of students are from government schools and 30.8% are from private schools in the state. However, the figures for students in government schools were 10.1%, and 38.4% in private schools in 2022.

The weighted average of children in Class V in both government and private schools who can read a Class II level text was 38.5% in 2024. Of this average, 32.8% of students are from government schools and 55.8% are from private schools in the state. However, the figures for students in government schools were 29.2% and 58.7% in private schools in 2022.

Moreover, the weighted average of students in Class VIII in both government and private schools who can read a Class II level text was 66.2% in 2024. Of this average, 61% of students are from government schools and 83.5% are from private schools in the state. However, the figures for students in government schools were 63.6% and 85.8% in private schools in 2022.

In terms of arithmetic skills, it is stated in the report that the arithmetic tool is a progressive tool. Also, there is variation in children's arithmetic levels within a given grade. Among children in Class III, 5.9% cannot even recognize numbers from 1 to 9, 28.1% can recognise numbers up to 9 but cannot recognize numbers up to 99 or higher, 36.9% can recognize numbers up to 99 but cannot do subtraction, 25.3% can do subtraction but cannot do division, and 3.9% can do division.

The weighted average of students in Class III in both government and private schools who can do at least subtraction of two digits by two digits was 29.5% in 2024. Of this, 22.3% of the students are from government schools and 46.5% are from private schools. In 2022, 15.8% of the students are from government schools and 47% are from private schools.  For students of Class V who can do division, the weighted average of students in both government and private schools was 16.7% in 2024. Of this average, 12% are from government schools and 30.9% are from private schools. In 2022, 10.1% of the students are from government schools and 30.3% are from private schools.

For students of Class VIII who can do division, the weighted average of students in both government and private schools was 29.6% in 2024. Of this average, 24.2% are from government schools and 47.7% are from private schools. In 2022, 21.7% of the students are from government schools and 46.7% are from private schools. The report for Assam is based on a rural household survey conducted in 780 villages in 26 districts. A total of 15,456 households were surveyed.

 Also Read: Guwahati: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma Calls upon Students to Contribute to Viksit Bharat

Also Watch: