The Data Point published on January 23 showed that the math skills of rural schoolchildren in the southern and western States were impacted most due to COVID-19. However, further reading of the Annual Status of Education Report (2022), based on which the story was written, shows that the reading abilities of rural schoolchildren were impacted even more than math skills.
In 15 of the 27 States for which relevant data were available, the share of students in Class VIII who could carry out division problems decreased in 2022 compared to 2018. In 19 States, the share of them who could read Standard II-level text decreased in 2022 compared to 2018. Thus, the adverse impact of COVID-19 on reading abilities was seen in more States.
Moreover, the decline in the share of students who could read such texts was steep in most States. Across India, the share of Class VIII students who could read Standard II-level text decreased by 3.5% points in 2022 compared to 2018, whereas those who could solve division problems in fact increased by 0.6% points.
Chart 1 shows the share of Class VIII students who could read Standard II-level text in 2022. Each circle corresponds to a State. The farther a circle to the right, the higher the share of students who could read the text.
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Chart 2 shows the same for 2018.
In Gujarat, only 52% of students in Class VIII were able to read Standard II-level text in 2022, the lowest among all the States. In 2022, among the southern States, the share of such students was above the national average only in Kerala, whereas in 2018, the share of such students was higher than the national average in three southern States — Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala — as well as in Gujarat. On the other hand, except for Jammu and Kashmir, the share of such students was higher than the national average in all the other northern States in both years.
Chart 3 shows the percentage of Class VIII children who were able to read Standard II-level text in 2022 and the change in percentage points from 2018. The States above the zero mark saw an increase in the share of such children. At least one State from the northern, eastern, central and north-eastern regions are part of this group. The States below the zero mark saw a decrease — all the southern and western States are part of this group. This shows that the pandemic had a disproportionately higher adverse impact on the reading abilities of children in the southern and western States.
Moreover, the decline in reading abilities was sharper in the southern and western States. In Gujarat, the share of students who could read Standard II-level text declined by 20.9% points in 2022 compared to 2018. In Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, it declined by more than 10% points. In all the other States where the share decreased, the decline was within 10% points, except Sikkim.
Chart 4 shows the change in the share of Class VIII children who were able to read Standard II-level text in 2022 compared to 2018 (vertical axis). It also shows the change in the share of Class VIII children who were able to solve division problems in 2022 compared to 2018 (horizontal axis). In Gujarat, math skills dipped by 3.8% points, compared to the 20.9% point dip in reading abilities. In all the western and southern States, except Maharashtra, the decline in reading abilities was more than that in math skills. In fact, in Andhra, while the share of students who could perform division increased, the share of those who could read text decreased.
With inputs from Gautam Doshi
vignesh.r@thehindu.co.in
Source: Annual Status of Education Report (Rural)
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