• 96.7% of all 6-14 year olds in rural India are enrolled in school**
• Nationally, private school enrollment has risen year after year for the 6-14 age group, increasing from 18.7% in 2006 to 25.6% in 2011**
• Nationally, reading levels are estimated to have declined in many states across North India. The All India figure for the proportion of children in Std V able to read a Std 2 level text has dropped from 53.7% in 2010 to 48.2% in 2011**
• Basic arithmetic levels estimated in ASER 2011 show a decline. Nationally, the proportion of Std III children able to solve a 2 digit subtraction problem with borrowing has dropped from 36.3% in 2010 to 29.9% in 2011**
• At the All India level, children's attendance shows a decline from 73.4% in 2007 to 70.9% in 2011 in rural primary schools**
• Nationally, the proportion of schools with no provision for drinking water remained almost the same – 17.0% in 2010 and 16.6% in 2011**
• The proportion of schools where there was no separate girls' toilet has declined from 31.2% in 2010 to 22.6% in 2011**
• The states with relatively high literacy are- Kerala (94%), Assam (84%), Maharashtra (81%)#
• The states with relatively low literacy are- Bihar (58%), Rajasthan (62%), Andhra Pradesh (64%)#
• In rural India, the literacy rate was the lowest for persons belonging to ST households (42%) followed by persons belonging to SC households (47%)*
• The proportions of persons in each education level were lower for females than for males, showing gender disparity in education*
• Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have shown highest rise in literacy rates between 1993-94 and 1999-2000*
• Literacy rate among the group holding the lowest size class of land was 52% while it was 64% for the group holding the highest size class of land*
** Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2011
# Education in India: 2007-08, Participation and Expenditure NSS 64th Round, (July 2007–June 2008)
* Literacy and Levels of Education in India 1999-2000 55th Round NSS July 1999- June 2000
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Key findings of the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2011, http://pratham.org/images/Aser-2011-report.pdf, are as follows:
Very high enrollment figures for rural India
• 96.7% of all 6-14 year olds in rural India are enrolled in school. This number has held steady since 2010.
• States that had a high proportion (over 10%) of 11-14 year old girls out of school in 2006 have made significant progress. For example Bihar out of school numbers have dropped from 17.6% in 2006 to 4.3% in 2011. Rajasthan shows a decline from 18.9% in 2006 to 8.9% in 2011. Uttar Pradesh has shown the least progress with 11.1% 2006 and 9.7% in 2011.
• Substantial numbers of five year old children are enrolled in school. The All India figure stands at 57.8% for 2011. This proportion varies across states, ranging from 87.1% in Nagaland to 18.8% in Karnataka.
Private school enrollment is rising in most states
• Nationally, private school enrollment has risen year after year for the 6-14 age group, increasing from 18.7% in 2006 to 25.6% in 2011. These increases are visible in all states except Bihar.
• In states like Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur and Meghalaya there has been an increase of over 10 percentage points in private school enrollment in the last five years.
• According to ASER 2011 data, between 30 to 50% of children in rural areas of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are enrolled in private schools.
Basic reading levels showing decline in many states
• Nationally, reading levels are estimated to have declined in many states across North India. The All India figure for the proportion of children in Std V able to read a Std 2 level text has dropped from 53.7% in 2010 to 48.2% in 2011. Such declines are not visible in the southern states.
• In a few states there is good news. In Gujarat, Punjab and Tamil Nadu the numbers for 2011 are better than for 2010. Several states in the north-eastern region of India also show positive change. Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh numbers remain unchanged from last year
Arithmetic levels also show a decline across most states
• Basic arithmetic levels estimated in ASER 2011 show a decline. For example, nationally, the proportion of Std III children able to solve a 2 digit subtraction problem with borrowing has dropped from 36.3% in 2010 to 29.9% in 2011. Among Std V children, the ability to do similar subtraction problems has dropped from 70.9% in 2010 to 61.0% in 2011.
• This decline is visible in almost every state; only Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu show improvements from 2010 to 2011. Several states in the north-eastern region of India also show positive change. There is no change in arithmetic levels in Gujarat.
Main findings from school visits:
Children’s attendance has declined
• At the All India level, children's attendance shows a decline from 73.4% in 2007 to 70.9% in 2011 in rural primary schools.
• In some states, children's attendance shows a sharp decline over time: for example in primary schools of Bihar, average attendance of children was 59.0% in 2007 and 50.0% in 2011. In Madhya Pradesh this figure has fallen from 67.0% in 2007 to 54.5% in 2011 and in Uttar Pradesh from 64.4% (2007) to 57.3% (2011).
More than half of all Std 2 and Std 4 classes are sit together with another class
• During the school visit, ASER focuses on Std 2 and Std 4 and observes whether children in these classes are sitting together with children from other classes.
• Nationally, for rural government primary schools, data suggests that over half of all classes visited are multigrade. For example, all India Std 2 was sitting with one or more other classes in 58.3% of Std 2 classes in primary schools were sitting with another class. This figure is 53% for Std 4.
• Schools get their grants, but not on time
Main findings: Tracking RTE Indicators
Not much change in compliance on Pupil-teacher ratio and Classroom-teacher ratio
• At the All India level, there has been a marginal improvement in the proportion of schools complying with RTE norms on pupil-teacher ratio, from 38.9% in 2010 to 40.7% in 2011. In 2011, Kerala stands out with 94.1% of schools in compliance, and in Jammu & Kashmir, Nagaland and Manipur, more than 80% schools are in compliance with these norms.
• At the All India level, there has been a marginal decline in the proportion of schools with at least one classroom per teacher, from 76.2% in 2010 to 74.3% in 2011. In Mizoram, 94.8% of schools comply with the teacher-classroom norms and in Punjab, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra more than 80% of schools are in compliance.
No major changes in buildings, playgrounds, boundary walls or drinking water
• All India figures for 2011 show no significant improvement in the proportion of schools with an office cum store. This figure remains at 74%. Similarly, for the country has a whole, about 62% of visited schools had a playground, both in 2010 and in 2011. However, there has been an increase in the proportion of all schools that have a boundary wall, from 50.9% in 2010 to 54.1% in 2011.
• Nationally, the proportion of schools with no provision for drinking water remained almost the same – 17.0% in 2010 and 16.6% in 2011. The proportion of schools with a useable drinking water facility has remained steady at about 73%. Kerala has the best record with 93.8% schools that have a useable drinking water facility.
Better provision of girls’ toilets
• The proportion of schools where there was no separate girls' toilet has declined from 31.2% in 2010 to 22.6% in 2011. Also, there has been a substantial improvement in the proportion of schools that have separate girls' toilets that are useable. This figure has risen nationally from 32.9% in 2010 to 43.8% in 2011
More libraries in schools, and more children using them
• The proportion of schools without libraries has declined from 37.5% in 2010 to 28.6% in 2011. Children were seen using the library in more schools as well-up from 37.9% in 2010 to 42.3% in 2011.
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According to Global Education Digest 2011-Comparing Education Statistics Across the World, UNESCO,
http://www.uis.unesco.org/Library/Documents/global_education_digest_2011_en.pdf:
• The most populated country in South Asia, India, accounts for three-quarters of the regional leap in enrolment. From 1970 to 2009, enrolment in secondary education increased from 21 million to 102 million in this country alone.
• In Afghanistan and India lower secondary enrolment ratios are below 80%.
• The biggest increases in total numbers of primary and secondary school teachers from 1990 to 2009 were observed in sub-Saharan Africa (79% and 157%), the Arab States (71% and 112%) and South and West Asia (49% and 83%). In sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia (in particular in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan), growth has been especially rapid since 2000 with the passage of international agreements set out in the EFA Dakar Framework for Action. However, all three regions are still faced with acute teacher shortages in their bid to meet the EFA goals by 2015.
• In 2009, 702 million children were enrolled worldwide in primary education, compared to 646 million in 1999. This marked improvement in access to primary education represents an increase of 9% worldwide.
• The gross enrolment ratio (GER) in lower secondary education increased from 72% to 80% worldwide between 1999 and 2009, with notable increases in the Arab States and sub-Saharan Africa. Yet despite this progress, the participation rate for this level of education remains very low in sub-Saharan Africa at 43%. In addition, one-third of the world’s children still live in countries where lower secondary education is formally considered compulsory but where the commitment is not met. This is especially the case in South and West Asia.
• Between 1999 and 2009, the GER for girls increased from 69% to 79% in lower secondary and from 43% to 55% in upper secondary education worldwide. However, the Arab States and sub-Saharan Africa still faced serious gender disparities at the lower secondary level, while disparities at the upper secondary level intensified in South and West Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
The key findings of the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2010, http://images2.asercentre.org/aserreports/ASER_2010_PRESS_RELEASE.pdf, are as follows:
• Enrollment: In 2010, ASER found that 96.5% of children in the 6 to 14 age group in rural India is enrolled in school. While 71.1% of these children are enrolled in government schools, 24.3 % are enrolled in private schools.
• Out of school girls: 5.9% of girls in the 11-14 age group are still out of school. However, this percentage has gone down as compared to 6.8% in 2009. In states like Rajasthan (12.1%) and Uttar Pradesh (9.7%), this percentage remains high and shows little change since 2009. Noteworthy in this regard is the performance of Bihar where the percentage of out of school girls and boys in all age groups has been declining steadily since 2005. In 2006, 12.3% of boys and 17.6% girls were out of school in the 11-14 age group. By 2010, these numbers had declined to 4.4% for boys and 4.6% for girls, showing very little difference by gender.
• Rise in private school enrolment: Enrollment in private schools in rural India increased from 21.8% in 2009 to 24.3% in 2010. This number has risen steadily since 2005 when it was 16.3% nationally. Between 2009 and 2010, the southern states have shown a substantial increase in private school enrollments. The percentage of children in private school increased from 29.7% to 36.1% in Andhra Pradesh, from 19.7% to 25.1% in Tamil Nadu, from 16.8% to 20% in Karnataka and from 51.5% to 54.2% in Kerala. Among other states, Punjab showed an increase from 30.5% to 38%. However, this proportion remains low in Bihar (5.2%), West Bengal (5.9%), Jharkhand (8.8%), Orissa (5.4%) and Tripura (2.8%).
• Increasing numbers of five year olds enrolled in school: Nationally, the percentage of five year olds enrolled in schools increased from 54.6% in 2009 to 62.8% in 2010. The biggest increase was visible in Karnataka where the proportion of five year olds enrolled in school increased from 17.1% in 2009 to 67.6 in 2010. Enrollment of five year olds increased substantially between 2009 and 2010 in several other states such as Punjab (68.3% to 79.6%), Haryana (62.8% to 76.8%), Rajasthan (69.9% to75.8%), Uttar Pradesh (55.7% to 73.1%) and Assam (49.1% to 59%).
• Nationally, not much change in reading ability, except in some states: Even after five years in school, close to half of all children are not even at the level expected of them after two years in school. Only 53.4% children in Std V could read a Std II level text.
• Math ability shows a declining trend: On average, there has been a decrease in children’s ability to do simple mathematics. The proportion of Std I children who could recognize numbers from 1-9 declined from 69.3% in 2009 to 65.8% in 2010. Similarly, the proportion of children in Std III who could solve two digit subtraction problems decreased from 39% to 36.5% in the same period. Children in Std V who could do simple division problems also dropped from 38% in 2009 to 35.9% in 2010. Contrary to this trend, Punjab's performance in basic arithmetic has improved over the last few years. For example, the percentage of children in Std II who could recognize numbers up to 100 in 2008 was 56.3%. This number increased to 59.6% in 2009 and to 70.4% in 2010. Similarly, the proportion of Std IV children who could do subtraction increased from 66.9% in 2008 to 81.4% in 2010. The percentage of Std V children who could do division rose from 43.5% in 2008 to 69.8% in 2010.
• Middle school children weak in everyday calculations: In 2010, children in Std V and above were asked a set of questions based on everyday calculations. The tasks included calculations from a menu card, reading a calendar, estimating volume and calculating area. Overall, in Std VIII, three quarters of all children were able to do the calculations based on the menu. About two thirds of all children could answer questions based on a calendar and only half could do the calculations related to area. The questions related to area seemed to be the most difficult for children to solve, even though such problems are usually found in textbooks in Std IV or V. Children in Std VIII in Kerala and Bihar solved the area related questions the best, 79% and 69% respectively.
• Tuition going down for private school children: A clear decrease is seen in the incidence of tuition among children enrolled in private schools across all classes up to Std VIII. This proportion has not changed much among children enrolled in government schools, although in states like Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha, where private school enrollment is low, the proportion of children in Std V enrolled in government schools who take tuition classes is high (West Bengal-75.6%, Bihar-55.5% and Odisha-49.9%).
• RTE compliance: ASER 2010 found that over 60% of the 13,000 schools visited satisfied the infrastructure norms specified by the RTE. However, more than half of these schools will need more teachers. A third will need more classrooms. 62% of the schools visited had playgrounds, 50% had a boundary wall or fence and 90% had toilets. However, toilets were useable in only half of these schools. 70% of schools visited had a separate girls’ toilet, but this facility was useable in only 37% of the schools. 81% schools had a kitchen shed and 72% had drinking water available. The all India percentage of primary schools (Std 1-4/5) with all teachers present on the day of the visit shows a consistent decrease over three years, falling from 73.7% in 2007 to 69.2% in 2009 and 63.4% in 2010. For rural India as a whole, children’s attendance shows no change over the period 2007-2010. Attendance remained at around 73% during this period. But there is considerable variation across states.
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The Annual Status of Education Report 2009,
http://www.asercentre.org/asersurvey/aser09/pdfdata/national%20highlights.pdf show:
Fewer girls 11-14 out of school
• The overall percentage of children (6-14) who are out of school has dropped from 4.3% in 2008 to 4% in 2009.
• Out of school girls in the age group 11 to 14 has dropped from 7.2% in 2008 to 6.8% in 2009. In terms of a decline in percentage points, this decrease is clearly visible in Chhattisgarh (3.8), Bihar (2.8), Rajasthan (2.6), Orissa (2.1), Jammu and Kashmir (1.9). Other than Meghalaya all other states in the North East also show a drop.
• Andhra Pradesh records an increase in the percentage of 11-14 year old girls out of school from 6.6% in 2008 to 10.8% in 2009. So does Punjab from 4.9% in 2008 to 6.3% in 2009.
Private school enrolment hasn’t changed much
• Overall, for 6-14 year olds, between 2008 and 2009 there has been a slight decline in the percentage of children enrolled in private school (0.8 percentage points). However, six states show a decline in private school enrolment of more than 5 percentage points. Of these, Punjab which has one of the highest private school enrollments in the country shows the greatest drop (11.3 percentage points).
Half of India’s five year olds are enrolled in primary school
• In 2009 as in 2008, well over 50% of 5 year olds are enrolled in school.
• Although for the country as a whole, the status of 3 and 4 year olds going to preschool (anganwadi or balwadi) has not changed much since 2008, among the major states Bihar, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat record a more than five percentage point increase in the proportion of children going to anganwadi.
Learning levels improving in Std 1
• The foundation of children’s learning is built in early grades. Overall, the percentage of children in Std 1 who can recognize letters or more has increased from 65.1% in 2008 to 68.8% in 2009. Similarly there is an increase in number recognition, with percentage of children recognizing numbers or more increasing from 65.3% in 2008 to 69.3 in 2009.
• For Std 1 children in government schools in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Orissa there is an increase of 10 percentage points or more as compared to last year in their ability to at least recognize letter and numbers up to 9. In Tamil Nadu and Goa, there is an improvement in both reading and maths of more than 5 percentage points. Similar increases are visible in Uttarakhand and Maharashtra in maths and in Karnataka in letter recognition.
No major improvements in learning levels for children in Std 5 except in Tamil Nadu for reading and in a few states in maths
• The all India figure for percentage of all rural children in Std 5 reading text at Std 2 level shows a decline from 56.2% in 2008 to 52.8% in 2009. This means that well over 40% of all rural children in Std 5 in India are at least three grade levels behind.
• In reading, for government school children in Std 5 in Tamil Nadu there is an 8 percentage point increase over 2008 levels. Karnataka and Punjab also show improvements over last year. Hardly any change in other states in reading as compared to 2008.
• In maths, for children in Std 5, for the country as a whole, the ability to do division problems has hardly increased. However 7 states show increases of 5 to 8 percentage points. These states are Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Assam, West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Wide variation in the ability to read and comprehend English across India
• The all India numbers indicate that a quarter of all rural children in Std 5 children can read simple sentences. Of those who can read sentences, over 80% can understand the meaning of the sentence.
• By Std 8, 60.2% of all children can read simple sentences. In all the north-eastern states (except Tripura), Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala more than 80% of children in Std 8 can not only read simple sentences fluently but also understand the meaning.
Increase in tuition classes for all children across all grades
• Nationally, between 2007 and 2009, the percentage of children taking paid tuition increased for every class, in both government and private schools. Only Kerala and Karnataka show a small but consistent decline in the incidence of tuition across government school children in most classes.
• Among government school children, the percentage going to tuition class increases steadily as children move into higher classes: from 17.1% in Std 1 to 30.8% in Std 8.
• Among children attending private schools, almost a quarter (23.3%) take private tuition from Std 1 onwards. The percentage peaks at 29.8% in Std 4.
• Children in West Bengal are by far the most intensive users of paid private tuition in the country; more than half of all Std 1 and almost 90% of all Std 8 government school children take some kind of paid tuition. The incidence of tuition in Bihar and Orissa is also high, with very large numbers of government school children taking tuition, ranging from about a third in Std 1 to well over half in Std 8.
Children’s attendance needs improvement in some states
• Comparisons across the three years (2005, 2007 and 2009) indicate that children’s attendance in school, as observed on a random day in the school year, varies considerably across states. There are states like Bihar where less than 60% of enrolled children are attending on the day of the visit to southern states where average attendance is well above 90%. In addition, states like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh need to pay more attention to raising attendance in schools. In most states, on the day of the visit, close to 90% of appointed teachers were present in the school.
Multigrade grouping is widespread
• In 2007 and 2009, surveyors were asked to observe if Std 2 and Std 4 were grouped and sitting together with any other grade. In both years, the incidence of multi-grade groupings was high. At the all-India level close to 50% children in class 2 and 4 were sitting with other classes.
Increase in useable toilets and improvements in availability of drinking water
• All India figures indicate that overall, the percentage of schools with no water or toilet provision is declining over time. Water is available in 75% of government primary schools and 81% of upper primary schools. Useable toilets can be found in over 50% of government schools. Four out of ten government primary schools do not have separate toilets for girls. This number is lower for upper primary schools at 26%. About 12 -15% girls’ toilets are locked and only about 30 - 40% are useable.
Not all schools received the annual school grants for the last school year
• There is considerable variation across states for grants received in the last school year. In Nagaland close to 90% of schools visited had received all their annual grants, where as the percentage of visited schools receiving their grants in the 2008-2009 school year was 60% or below in Jharkhand, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh.
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According to Education in India: 2007-08, Participation and Expenditure
NSS 64th Round, (July 2007–June 2008), Report No. 532(64/25.2/1):
• A survey on ‘Participation and Expenditure in Education’ was conducted in NSS 64th round (July 2007 - June 2008). A sample of 445960 persons, from 63318 rural households and 37263 urban households spread over the country, was surveyed.
• The states with relatively high literacy are- Kerala (94%), Assam (84%), Maharashtra (81%)
• The states with relatively low literacy are- Bihar (58%), Rajasthan (62%), Andhra Pradesh (64%)
• Other low-literacy states included Rajasthan (61.7%), Andhra Pradesh (63.5%), Jharkhand (64.6%), Uttar Pradesh (66.2%), J&K (67.7%) and Orissa (68.3%)
• 66% of the country’s adult population (population of age 15 & above) was found to be literate.
• In rural India, 51.2% of the population in the lowest decile class of monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) were not literate. Even in the highest decile class, 22.8% persons were not literate.
• The literacy rate (i.e. percentage of literates) for all ages among rural female (RF), rural male (RM), urban female (UF) and urban male (UM) populations was found to be 51.1%, 68.4%, 71.6% and 82.2% respectively. The corresponding rates two decades ago as estimated in NSS 42nd round (1986-87) were 24.8%, 47.6%, 59.1% and 74.0% respectively.
• 98% of rural households & 99% of urban households have school with primary classes within 2 km
• 79% of rural households & 97% of urban households have school with middle classes within 2 km
• 47% of rural households & 91% of urban households have school with secondary classes within 2 km
• Among persons in age-group 5-29: 46% were not currently enrolled in any educational institution; 2% were currently enrolled but not attending; 52% were currently attending educational institutions
• Among persons aged 5-29 attending education of level primary & above - 49% were in Primary level; 24% were in Middle level; 20% in Secondary/HS level; 7% in above-HS level
• For major course attended: type of education was General in 97.8%, Technical in 1.9%, Vocational in 0.3% cases.
• Net Attendance Ratio (NAR) for Classes I-VIII (All-India): 86%
• Major states with relatively high NAR (I-VIII): Himachal Pr. (96%), Kerala (94%), Tamil Nadu (92%)
• Major states with relatively low NAR (I-VIII): Bihar (74%), Jharkhand (81%), Uttar Pradesh (83%)
• At Primary level – 73% of students in private unaided institutions attended recognized institutions
• At Middle level – 78% of students in private unaided institutions attended recognized institutions
• At Primary level: 71% students got free education (Rural- 80%, Urban- 40%)
• At Middle level: 68% students got free education (Rural- 75%, Urban- 45%)
• At Secondary/ HS level: 48% students got free education (Rural- 54%, Urban- 35%)
• Average annual private expenditure per student at Primary level - Rs. 1413 (Rural- Rs. 826, Urban- Rs.3626)
• Average annual private expenditure per student at Middle level - Rs. 2088 (Rural- Rs.1370, Urban- Rs.4264)
• Average annual private expenditure per student at Secondary/ HS level- Rs. 4351 (Rural- Rs.3019, Urban- Rs.7212)
• Average annual private expenditure per student at Above HS level- Rs. 7360 (Rural- Rs.6327, Urban- Rs.8466)
• Average annual private expenditure per student for Technical Education: Rs.32112 (Rural- Rs.27177, Urban- Rs.34822)
• Average annual private expenditure per student for Vocational Education: Rs.14881 (Rural- Rs.13699, Urban- Rs.17016)
• Average annual private expenditure on education at primary level varied from around Rs. 600-800 in states like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa to more than Rs. 3500 in states like Punjab and Haryana.
• For primary education, students in the poorest category in the rural sector incurred an average expenditure of Rs. 352, compared to Rs.3516 for the richest class. In the urban sector the disparity in average educational expenditure was greater still, from Rs. 1035 in the lowest decile class to Rs.13474 in the highest decile class of MPCE.
• For the country as a whole average expenditure on tuition fees (Rs. 1034), examination fee, other fees and payments (Rs. 459) together contributed about half of total expenditure (Rs. 3058) on education. Books and stationery (Rs. 586) was reported to be the next major component of expenditure followed by private coaching (Rs. 354).
• In rural India, tuition fee, together with examination fee and other fees and payments, contributed 40% of total expenditure while another 25% was spent on books and stationery. In the urban sector tuition fee alone contributed 40% of total expenditure.
• In rural areas, the majority of students were attending government schools – 76% of primary level students, 73% of middle level students, and 62% of secondary and HS level students.
• In urban areas, on the other hand, 59% of students at primary level were in private schools. At middle and secondary/ HS level, 54-55% was in private schools. Government schools accounted for only 35% of primary level students, 40% of middle level students, and 43% of secondary/ HS level students.
• While in states like Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Orissa, more than 90% of students at primary level attended schools run by government or local bodies, the corresponding proportion was only 35% in Kerala and 45% in Punjab. In these two states, the majority of students, even at primary level, were in private schools – aided or unaided.
• About 60% of students in government and local-body-run institutions got mid-day meals compared to 16% in aided private institutions and 2% in unaided private only.
• Differentials across institution types were equally marked in case of free/ subsidised books, with 69% of students in government-run schools receiving such books compared to 22% in aided private and only 4% in unaided private institutions.
• Major reasons for Discontinuance/ drop-out: Financial constraints (21%), Child not interested in studies (20%), Unable to cope up or failure in studies (10%), Completed desired level or class (10%), Parents not interested in studies (9%)
• The three most frequently given reasons for non-enrolment were a) parents not interested in education of their children (33.2%), b) financial constraints (21%) and c) education not considered necessary (21.8%).
Note: Net Attendance Ratio (I-VIII)=(Number of persons in age-group 6-13 currently attending Classes I-VIII divided by Estimated population in the age-group I-VIII years) multiplied by hundred
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According to the Education for All Report 2010,
http://www.unesco.org/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/ED/GMR/pdf/gmr2010/gmr2010-highlights.pdf:
• Human development indicators are deteriorating. An estimated 125 million additional people could be pushed into malnutrition in 2009 and 90 million into poverty in 2010.
• With poverty rising, unemployment growing and remittances diminishing, many poor and vulnerable households are having to cut back on education spending or withdraw their children from school.
• National budgets in poor countries are under pressure. Sub-Saharan Africa faces a potential loss of around US$4.6 billion annually in financing for education in 2009 and 2010, equivalent to a 10% reduction in spending per primary-school pupil.
• The number of children out of school has dropped by 33 million worldwide since 1999. South and West Asia more than halved the number of children out of school – a reduction of 21 million.
• The share of girls out of school has declined from 58% to 54%, and the gender gap in primary education is narrowing in many countries.
• Between 1985–1994 and 2000–2007, the adult literacy rate increased by 10%, to its current level of 84%. The number of adult female literates has increased at a faster pace than that of males.
• Malnutrition affects around 175 million young children each year and is a health and an education emergency.
• There were 72 million children out of school in 2007. Business as usual would leave 56 million children out of school in 2015.
• Literacy remains among the most neglected of all education goals, with about 759 million adults lacking literacy skills today. Two-thirds are women.
• Some 1.9 million new teacher posts will be required to meet universal primary education by 2015.
• In twenty-two countries, 30% or more of young adults have fewer than four years of education, and this rises to 50% or more in eleven sub-Saharan African countries.
According to Secondary Education in India: Universalizing Opportunity, January 2009, prepared by Human Development Unit, South Asia Region, The World Bank,
• On the supply side, four key constraints limit access to secondary education: (i) insufficient and uneven distribution of school infrastructure; (ii) lack of trained teachers and inefficient teacher deployment; (iii) suboptimal use of the private sector to expand enrollment capacity and to achieve social objectives; and (iv) insufficient open schooling opportunities for those who have left the formal system.
• There is a 40 percentage point gap in secondary enrollment rates between students from the highest and lowest expenditure quintile groups (70 percent versus 30 percent enrollment, respectively). In addition, there is a 20 percentage point gap between urban and rural secondary enrollment rates, and a persistent 10 percentage point gap between secondary enrollment rates of boys and girls. Enrollment of STs, SCs and Muslims is well below their share in the population at large.
• India’s gross enrollment rate (GER) at the secondary level of 40 percent is far inferior to the GERs of its global competitors in East Asia (average 70 percent) and Latin America (average 82 percent). Even countries such as Vietnam and Bangladesh, which have lower per capita incomes than India, have higher gross enrollment rates.
• At the lower secondary level (grades 9 and 10), the gross enrollment rate (GER) is 52 percent, while at the senior secondary level (grades 11 and 12) it is just 28 percent, for a combined GER of 40 percent (2005). In absolute terms, total secondary enrollment (lower and senior secondary) in 2004/05 was 37.1 million students, with 65 percent (24.3 million) in lower secondary and 35 percent (12.7 million) in senior secondary. It is estimated at over 40 million in 2008.
• Projections suggest an increase in absolute demand for secondary education between 2007/08 and 2017/18 of around 17 million students per year, with total enrollment growing from 40 to 57 million students.
• Wealthier children are more than twice as likely to be enrolled in secondary education as poor children. In some states (e.g. Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh) there is more than a twenty-point percentage gap in enrollment between boys and girls. Secondary attendance of the general population is 80 percent higher than that for STs, SCs and Muslims. Finally, secondary enrollment by state varies greatly, from 22 percent in Bihar to 92 percent in Kerala; and from 4 percent in Jharkhand to 44 percent in Tamil Nadu at the senior secondary level. Such huge differences reflect, in part, a lack of central government involvement in secondary education to equalize opportunities, particularly in the poorer states.
• Secondary education currently accounts for less than a third of India’s total public spending on education, equivalent in absolute terms to about US$7.2 billion per year (less than 10 percent of this on investment). About 75 percent of the public spending on secondary education comes from the states, which spend less than 1 percent of their per capita incomes for this purpose. Compared with international benchmarks, India’s per student public spending on secondary education as a percentage of GDP per capita is somewhat high (27 percent, compared to a benchmark for fast-growing economies of 18 percent). India’s per-student public spending on secondary education is also high as a ratio of per student spending on primary education (2.9, compared to a benchmark for fast-growing economies of 1.4). On the other hand, by international standards, India’s per student spending on secondary education appears quite reasonable in absolute terms (average US$173, compared to spending per student in secondary education of US$577 in Latin America and the Caribbean, US$257 in Sub-Saharan Africa, and US$ 117 in South Asia). Public teacher salaries as a ratio of GDP/capita are 4:1 (private teacher salaries as a ratio of GDP/capita are 2.3:1).
• With current low levels of efficiency in India’s secondary schools, the estimated cost of producing a lower secondary graduate is high, at around Rs. 21,500 (about US$500 in 2005), or about Rs. 40,000 (US$911) for both levels of secondary education. Government schools spend less per student than private aided schools; approximately half of public funds in secondary education are spent through grants-in-aid to private schools, although these schools constitute just 30 percent of the total number.
The Annual Status of Education Report 2008 (Rural)
http://asercentre.org/asersurvey/aser08/pdfdata/aser08national.pdfshows:
Percentage of children not in school is dropping. Bihar has done well
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Nationally, the proportion of 7-10 year-olds not-in school is at 2.7%, and proportion of 11-14 year olds not in school is at 6.3%
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All India proportion of 11 – 14 year old out of school girls remains steady at 7.3% over 2007 and 2008.
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The percentage of out of school children in most states has decreased since 2007. UP and Rajasthan are exceptions.
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In Bihar, children (6 – 14 year old) not on school have dropped steadily over the last four years from 13.1% in 2005 to 5.7% in 2008. Over the same period, the proportion of girls 11-14 not in school has dropped from 20.1% to 8.8%.
Enrollment in private schools is increasing
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Among all 6-14 year olds, the proportion of children attending private schools has increased from 16.4% in 2005 to 22.5% in 2008. This increase in private school enrollment represents a 37.2 percent increase over the baseline of 2005. This increase is particularly striking in Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
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In 2008, private schools have 20% more boys than girls in both age groups; 7-10 and 11-14.
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Half of all school going children in Kerala and Goa go to private schools. (According to DISE, 95% of private schools in Kerala and 70% of private schools in Goa are government aided.)
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Between 32% to 42% of all school going children In Nagaland, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan go to private schools. (DISE data indicates that In these states private schools are mostly unaided).
Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh show dramatic improvement in reading
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Chhattisgarh has shown a dramatic improvement in children’s reading ability. The proportion of children in Std III who could read a Std I level text has increased from 31% in 2007 to 70% in 2008. The proportion of Std V children who could read a Std II level text in 2007 was 58% . By 2008, this figure had gone up to 75% in 2008. Reading levels in Chhattisgarh have improved dramatically across the board.
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In Madhya Pradesh too, reading levels in 2008 show a big jump at every level over 2006, and 2007. With 86.8% government school children in Std V being able to read Std. II level text, Madhya Pradesh tops the ASER scale of reading among all states including Kerala and Himachal where 73-74% children in Std V can read a Std II text in government schools.
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Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, and Himachal Pradesh are states that lead the country in terms of children’s basic reading fluency. In these states children who can read letters or more in Std I are over 85% and those who can read Std II text or more in Std V is over 75%.
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Madhya Pradesh has achieved progress in two stages with the first jump coming in 2006 and the next in 2008.
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Karnataka, and Orissa show a steady increase in proportion of children who can read from Std II to Std IV. Over 2006 to 2008, the reading levels recorded show about 5-6 percentage point improvement.
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ASER has used essentially the same tool and the same method for four years.1 Barring some states such as Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal, Andhra, and Chhattisgarh, no major change has been observed in basic reading in other states.
Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh show improvement in arithmetic also
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ASER tests indicate that Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have made remarkable strides in improving basic math skills over the last year. In both states more than 91% children in Std I can identify numbers 1-9 or more. Although in Kerala this proportion is 96% in Std I, the highest literacy state loses its lead by Std III.
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In Std III, the proportion of children in Madhya Pradesh who can solve at least a subtraction problem has jumped from 61.3% in 2007 to 72.2% in 2008, while Kerala is at 61.4%.
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In 2008, 78.2% of children in Std V in Madhya Pradesh, could correctly solve a division problem. This is the highest recorded in the country. In several other states, this figure is around 60%; for example in Himachal, Chattisgaroh, Manipur and Goa.
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In Chhattisgarh, the improvement in arithmetic is dramatic, indicative of a focused intervention. In 2008, Std II children who could identify numbers up to 100 or do higher level operations was at 77.8. This figure for Std II in 2007 was 37.2%. Similarly, those who could at least solve subtraction in Std III jumped from 21.8% in 2007 to 63.5% in 2008.
Telling time
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61% of children in Std V in India can tell time on a clock correctly.
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In states such as UP, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, about 50% children in Std V can tell time. Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Haryana, J&K, Punjab, Uttarakhand are all above the national average.
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In Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, where math and reading ability is recorded to be much better than the national average, more than 75% children in Std V can tell time.
Other interesting findings from the survey
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ASER (Rural) 2008 also explored village infrastructure and household characteristics to find links with education. The links will be explored later. However, here are some findings.
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Primary schools are available within 1 km of 92.5% rural habitations and 67.1% villages have government middle school, and 33.8% have government secondary schools. Private schools are available in 45.6% Indian villages.
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STD booths are present in 58.5% villages while 48.3% village households have a cell phone or a land line connection.
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Electrical connections were available in 65.9% households surveyed.
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Pukka road connects 71.9% villages to the outside world. Lowest numbers are Assam (32.7%), West Bengal (44.2%), Bihar (53.2%) and Madhya Pradesh (58.9%%) are states among the poorest connected states.
According to the Literacy and Levels of Education in India 1999-2000 of the 55th Round NSS, July 1999- June 2000:
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In urban India, the proportion of literates was 798 out of 1000. Therefore, about one-fifth of the urban population was not literate. Among the literates, 325 persons (out of 798) attained education level secondary and above. This is much higher compared to rural India. Among the males, the literacy rate was as high as 865 out of 1000 while the same for females was about 72%.
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In rural India, the literacy rate was the lowest for persons belonging to ST households (42%) followed by persons belonging to SC households (47%). But in urban India, the literacy rate was the lowest for SC households (66%) followed by ST households (70%). For both the sectors the literacy rate was the highest for persons belonging to social group ‘others'.
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The proportions of persons in each education level were lower for females than for males. The proportion of persons in any education level was an increasing function of monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) as in rural areas for each education level and also for both males and females.
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In rural India, literacy rate per thousand was the highest (737) for household type ‘others' followed by self-employed in non-agriculture (630). The rate was the lowest (426) for agricultural labour households.
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Literacy rate in rural India is a very slowly increasing function of the area of land possessed for both males and females and so for all persons. For the lowest size class of land possessed the literacy rate of all persons was 52% while it was 64% for the highest size class of land possessed.
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Literacy rate in rural India for males was much higher than that of females for any specified size class of land possessed, the differential being above 20 for different size classes.
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It is seen that the literacy rate was rather low for both males and females in rural India for ‘Islam' compared to other religions. ‘Hinduism' and ‘others' are not much better, especially for females. In urban India, the literacy rate was 88-89% for males following three religions, namely, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism. Further, males who followed Christianity or Jainism had a still higher rate of literacy, 94% or more. Here also ‘Islam' shows a lower literacy rate. The picture is similar for females in urban areas.
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In rural areas, gender disparity in literacy rate was very large for Hinduism and Islam, compared to other religions. The pattern was similar to some extent in urban areas, but here the gender disparities were generally smaller.
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Among the rural areas of 15 major states, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh showed the highest increase in literacy rate for males and females over 1993-94 to 1999-2000. The increase was by 9% for males and by 10% for females. For females, there was one more major state, namely, Maharashtra, for which the increase in literacy rate was 10%. Among urban areas of the major states, the increase over 1993-94 to 1999-2000 was more than the national increase in urban areas of Karnataka, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
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Among the major States, the rural literacy rate for all persons was the highest in Kerala. It was around 90% in both the NSS rounds-50th and 55th. The second highest literacy rate among the rural areas of major States was found for Assam (69%). The rate was the lowest for Bihar (42%) followed by Andhra Pradseh (46%) and Rajasthan (47%). The literacy rate was also relatively low (between 50 and 60%) in the rural areas of the following States: Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh.
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In urban India, the literacy rate was distinctly low for casual labour households compared to other households. It was 59% (593 out of 1000) of persons belonging to casual labour households compared to the national average of 80%. For the remaining household types, the proportions of literates among males, females or persons were the highest for regular wage /salary earning households.
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In urban areas the variation of literacy rates across States/UT's was much smaller compared to the rural areas. It ranged from 70% to 99% over the urban areas of different States and UTs while it varied from 42-91% in rural areas. The urban literacy rate (%)was very high in Kerala (94), Meghalaya (92), Mizoram (99), Nagaland (94) and relatively low in Andhra Pradesh (75), Bihar (70), Orissa (76), Punjab (79) and Uttar Pradesh (70).
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Out of a total of 32 States and UTs, there were only 8 where the rural literacy rate was 80% and above. These States and UTs were Goa, Kerala, Mizoram, Nagaland, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Daman and Diu, Delhi and Lakshadweep.
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At the national level, literacy rate (%) increased during the period from 1993-94 to 1999-2000. For males, it increased from 63 to 68 in rural areas and from 85 to 87 in urban areas. For females, the corresponding figures were 36 and 43 in rural areas and 68 and 72 in urban areas. The figures for persons were 50 and 56 in rural areas and 77 and 80 in urban areas
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At the national level, the difference in census and NSS estimates of literacy was 3% for both males and females. For rural males, NSS literacy rate was 73% while census literacy rate was 76%. Similarly, for females NSS estimate was 51% and the census estimate was 54%.
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The difference in literacy rate between NSS 55th round and Census 2001 was roughly similar for males and females for any State/UT. For persons, the absolute difference in literacy rate was more than 5% in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa and Rajasthan and was less than 2% in Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Chandigarh, Lakshadweep and Pondicherry.
**page**
Source: SES, MHRD
From the table below, one can decipher that although enrolment of both boys and girls has increased in between 1999-2000 and 2004-2005, yet there exist gender disparities in enrolment.
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According to the VII Educational Survey (2002), the number of habitations, which had a primary school within a distance of 1 km was 10.71 lakh (87%); the uncovered habitations numbered 1.6lakh.
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Access facilities in the upper primary schooling is, however, still an issue as, only 78% of the habitations had such facilities within a radius of 3 Km. In 2002-03. This catered to the need of 86% of the rural population. Nearly, 88,930 new upper primary schools have been opened since 2002-03. However, a gap still remains.
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In Madhya Pradesh, only one third of the teachers attend school, in UP, the figure is 20% and in Bihar 25%.
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There is a need of more upper primary schools. At the national level, there was one upper primary school for 2.8 primary schools in 2004-05. In 2005-06 this ratio of number of primary to upper primary schools was 2.5:1. To bring the ratio of primary: upper primary school to 2:1 (SSA norm), the additional need for upper primary schools works out to 1,40,000.”
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The Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) has recruited 7.95 lakh teachers to improve the pupil-teacher ratio from 44:1 to 40:1 at the primary level in addition to providing annual in-service training, free distribution of textbooks to the tune of Rs 6.9 crores.
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The dropout rates were 15% in 2002-03, which reduced to 13% in 2003-04 and further reduced to 12% in 2004-2005. Although the trend is encouraging, concerted efforts would be needed to ensure further reduction.
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In absolute terms, a substantial increase in the number of teachers has been registered since 1999-2000. At the primary stage, there were 19.2 lakh teachers in 1999-2000. This increased to 20.9 lakh in 2003-04. With respect to the upper primary stage, this increased from 12.98 lakh to 16.02 lakh
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The government has set up institutions like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA), District Primary Education programme (DPEP), National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE), the Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) and the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme (KGBVS).
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Education at a glance
Youth (15–24 years) literacy rate, 2000–2007*, female 77 Number per 100 population, 2006, phones 15 Number per 100 population, 2006, Internet users 11 Primary school enrolment ratio 2000–2007*, gross, male 90 Primary school enrolment ratio 2000–2007*, gross, female 87 Primary school attendance ratio 2000–2007*, net, male 85 Primary school attendance ratio 2000–2007*, net, female 81 Secondary school enrolment ratio 2000–2007*, gross, male 59 Secondary school enrolment ratio 2000–2007*, gross, female 49 Secondary school attendance ratio 2000–2007*, net, male 59 Secondary school attendance ratio 2000–2007*, net, female 49 Note: Enrolment ratio means total enrolment in a specific level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the eligible official school-age population corresponding to the same level of education in a given school year. For the tertiary level, the population used is that of the five-year age group following on from the secondary school leaving Source: UNICEF, http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/india_statistics.html |