Over half the students in rural Karnataka, who complete elementary education, leave their schools without being able to do a simple division or read easy sentences in English. About 30 per cent of the class 8 students cannot read a class 2 level text.
These were some of the findings of the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)-2016 conducted by Pratham, a non-governmental organisation, in rural schools in the State. The survey tests the reading and arithmetic skills of students.
Compared to the previous survey in 2014, there was an improvement at the class 3 level in reading skills, but a decline at the classes 5 and 8 levels. About 19.8 per cent of the students (government and private schools) in class 3 could read a class 2 level text this year, an increase of 1.4 per cent compared to the last.
However, at the class 5 level, the number of students who could read a class 2 level text stood at 42.1 per cent, a decline of 5.2 per cent compared to the previous survey. In the class 8 level too, there has been a marginal decline of 0.5 per cent with only 70.1 per cent of these students being able to read a class 2 level text.
Across many categories, performance of government school students and private school students is almost similar. In fact, the improvement seen in class 3 students is attributed to the improvement in the performance of government school students. About 19 per cent of government school students in class 3 could read a class 2 level text, an improvement of 2.6 per cent. In contrast, it was 22.1 per cent, a decline of 1.2 per cent compared to 2014, in private schools.
In arithmetic learning too, there was an improvement in the number of class 3 students who could subtract, but it declined at the class 5 level and increased at the class 8 level compared to the previous survey.
Declining enrolment
Nearly 80.4 per cent of the schools surveyed by ASER had student enrolment of 60 or less. The situation was far better in upper primary schools (classes 1 to 7 or 8) compared to primary schools that had only classes 1 to 5.
Lack of adequate teachers and declining student strength in government schools have led to small schools and single classroom schools with a single teacher teaching students of different classes. During the survey, 94.1 per cent children in primary schools were observed sitting with students from other classes.
Unused facilities
ASER survey reveals that many schools had the facilities, but they were not being used or not in a usable condition. About 33.8 per cent of the schools in the State had toilets but were not usable, and 21 per cent had girls’ toilet but locked. Similarly, 41.3 per cent of the schools had libraries but students were not seen using them on the day of the visit.
Poor access to computers
While Karnataka fares well in terms of infrastructure in comparison with other States, it lags in providing access to computers. About 55 per cent of the schools surveyed did not have computers and 30.4 per cent of the schools had computers but were not being used by students on the day of the visit.
