The latest Annual Status of Education Report released on Wednesday, by the Pratham Foundation, revealed that a quarter of teenagers aged between 14-18 years can’t read a text fluently, which has only reached the level of 2nd standard.
The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) is a comprehensive household survey led by citizens, with the objective of assessing the enrollment and learning status of children in rural India. The primary ASER survey, conducted nationwide, gathered information on the enrollment of children aged 3-16 years, as well as the fundamental reading and arithmetic proficiency levels of those aged between 5-16 years. During the intervening years, ASER directs its attention on various aspects of children’s education and learning.
The ASER 2023 report delves into the following domains, including questioning what activities India’s youth are presently involved in, checking their proficiency in basic and applied reading and math, and examining their smartphone access, usage, and capability to perform simple tasks on their smartphones. In reading a Standard II level text in their regional language, females (76%) outperform males (70.9%) across enrollment categories. Regarding the digital access aspect for individuals aged 14-18, the ASER 2023 report notes that nearly 90% of all youth has a smartphone in their households and have proficiency in its usage. The report from Pratham Foundation also stated that among those capable of using a smartphone, males (43.7%) are more than twice as likely to own their own smartphone compared to females (19.8%).
The survey named as ‘Beyond Basics’, was conducted in 28 districts across 26 states, reached around 34,745 youth in the age group of 14-18 years. One rural district has been covered in every major state except Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, where two districts have been covered. The report highlighted that 86.8% teenagers have been enrolled in schools or colleges with the numbers going down, along with the age. The portion of youth who are not enrolled in educational institutions, rises to 3.9% from the age of 14 year old to 10.9% of 16 year old reaching towards 32.6% students aged 18 year old, with 0.2% more boys are enrolled than girls.
