At a time when the enrolment in schools has improved, the reading level of students has further dropped in the State, according to the Annual Status of Education Reports (ASER) 2022.
Key findings of the report for Karnataka rural stated that closure of schools during the pandemic did not impact enrolment of students in the State. The enrolment figures jumped from 99.3% in 2018 to 99.8% in 2022. When it came to government-run schools, in the category of students of age 6 to 14, enrolment jumped from 69.9% to 72.6% during the same period. In another positive development, the proportion of girls who were not enrolled dropped from 1.2% in 2018 to 0.4%.
In the pre-primary age group, enrolment of children of 3 and 4 years jumped by more than 6% and 12% respectively.
According to a release, the survey data was collected from 30 districts by reaching 990 villages. A total of 17,184 households and 31,854 children in the age group of 3 to 16 were surveyed.
Drop in reading level
The report states that the percentage of children in class 3 in government and private schools, who can read class 2 level, dropped from 19.3% in 2018 to 8.6% in 2022. The decline is visible in both government and private schools. Performance of girls (9.6%) in reading level was better than boys (7.5%).
In the category of class 5, students who could read class 2 level text dropped from 46.21% to 30.2% in the same period. When it came to class 8, percentage of students able to read class 2 textbooks dropped from 70.5% to 59.9 % .
In the arithmetic test, conducted for students of class 3, revealed that ability to do the subtraction dropped from 26.4% to 22.2%. The ability to do division among students of class 5 dropped from 20.5% to 13.3 %.
In the assessment of English reading ability - to read capital letters, small letters, simple three-letter words, and short essays - Karnataka students performed better than the national average.
Nationally, the proportion of children in classes 1 to 8 taking paid private tuition classes increased from 26.4% in 2018 to 30.5% in 2022, but in Karnataka it decreased from 11.3% in 2018 to 9.2% in 2022.
Commenting on the findings of the report, Vishal R., Commissioner for the Department of Public Instruction, said: “Using our master data, we followed up on enrolment at each school level. The measures were taken to enrol students by looking at granular details at the school level. This helped in improving enrolment. On learning ability, because of the pandemic which resulted in the closure of schools, there was a fall in learning skills. To improve learning skills, the government implemented Kalika Chetarike. Without Kalika Chetarike, learning ability would have further dropped. However, we agree that there is more room for improvement. We will continue with our efforts to improve learning skills among children.”
In figures
Enrolment figures jumped from 99.3% in 2018 to 99.8% in 2022.
In the category of students of age 6 to 14 in government-run schools, enrolment jumped from 69.9% to 72.6% during the same period.
Proportion of girls who were not enrolled dropped from 1.2% in 2018 to 0.4%.
Reading level
Percentage of children in class 3, who can read class 2 level, dropped from 19.3% in 2018 to 8.6% in 2022.
In class 5, percentage of students who can read class 2 level text dropped from 46.21% to 30.2% in the same period.
In class 8, percentage of students who can read class 2 textbooks dropped from 70.5% to 59.9 %.
In arithmetic test, ability of students of class 3 to do subtraction dropped from 26.4% to 22.2%.
In English reading, Karnataka students performed better than the national average.
Published - January 18, 2023 11:04 pm IST
