A recent release of the Annual State of Education Report (ASER) has shed light on the impact of varying access to technology, school and family resources on education in rural India, revealing significant learning losses. The survey stretched across 52,227 rural households with school-age children in 30 States and Union Territories (UTs) was conducted via phone calls amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Annual Status of Education Report: An Overview
The ASER is a national survey conducted by NGO Pratham for the past 15 years, studying rural education and learning outcomes in terms of reading and arithmetic skills. This survey uses Census 2011 as the sampling frame and plays a crucial role in providing insight into children’s foundational skills in India.
Survey Evolution Over the Years
ASER 2018 focused on children ranging from 3 to 16 years old across almost all rural districts in India and provided insights into their fundamental reading and arithmetic abilities. The following year, ASER 2019 concentrated on the pre-schooling or schooling status of children aged 4 to 8 years in 26 rural districts. It emphasized the critical “early years” and the importance of “developing problem-solving faculties and building a memory among children, not just content knowledge”. ASER 2020 marked the first ever telephone-based iteration of the survey, having been conducted during September 2020, amidst the national school closures prompted by the pandemic.
Key Findings: Enrollment
The report identified a 5.5% un-enrollment rate amongst rural children for the 2020 school year, an increase from 4% in 2018. This rise is pronounced amongst younger children (6 to 10), with 5.3% not enrolled in 2020, compared to 1.8% in 2018. Moreover, 10% of six-year-olds are not in school due to pandemic-induced disruptions and the subsequent wait for physical school openings. However, enrollment for 15-16 year-olds has slightly improved compared to 2018.
Government vs Private Schools
The report noted an increase in government school enrollment, from 62.8% in 2018 to 66.4% in 2020 for boys, and from 70% to 73% for girls. Meanwhile, private schools saw a decrease in enrollments across all age groups.
Smartphone Accessibility
The survey showed that 61.8% of enrolled children belong to families that own at least one smartphone, which was only 36.5% in 2018. Approximately 11% of families purchased new phones, 80% being smartphones post-lockdown.
Learning Material and Learning Activities
The report stated that over 80% of children claimed to have textbooks for their current grade, with a higher proportion reported among government school students (84.1%) than those in private schools (72.2%). Less than 8% of Bihar students, and 20% in West Bengal, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh received learning materials from schools while more than 80% of rural children in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala, and Gujarat did. Most children (70.2%) engaged in some form of learning activity, with 11% having live online classes, and 21% having videos or recorded classes.
Addressing the Challenges
Upon reopening, monitoring who returns to school and assessing potential learning losses compared to previous years is critically important. The report also suggested leveraging rising levels of parental education to improve planning for learning improvement. It further discussed the potential for a hybrid learning approach that combines traditional and new ways of teaching and learning, potentially bridging the digital divide.
Implications and Way Forward
COVID-19 has ushered in economic distress and uncertainty over school reopenings, spurring challenges in all areas. The nationally representative sample echoed the importance of family support where everyone in the family assists children, irrespective of their education levels. Harnessing this strength by reaching out to more students and reducing the distance between schools and homes is crucial.
