ASER 2022 report shows Arunachal Pradesh records over 95% enrollment of students in schools.

The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) released a report which shows Arunachal Pradesh records over 95% enrollment of students in schools.

The report released on Wednesday shows that about 96.9 % of children in the age group of 6 to 14 years have been enrolled in the schools of Arunachal Pradesh in 2022.

The report as a whole shows enrollment of the students is increasing than pre Covid days even after though the schools were closed during the pandemic. Post Covid or the pandemic, the physical classes started all over again i.e., after two years the schools have reopened.  The survey was done after 4 years.

According to the report, the percentage of students enrolled in different types of schools age 6-14 increased from 96.1 per cent in 2018 to 96.9 per cent in 2022. While the enrollment of children age 6-14 enrolled in the government schools have increased from 60.1% in 2018 to 62.2% in 2022.

Similarly, the percentage of girls not enrolled in schools of Arunachal Pradesh back in 2006 was way too high as compared to the year 2022. For the age group of 7-10 (not enrolled or drop outs)was 8.3 but in 2022 it has been reduced to 2.6, for age 11-14 it was 8.8 but in 2022 it has been reduced to 3% and lastly for age 15 to 16 in 2006, it was 20.2 and in 2022, it has been reduced to 6.4%.

The percentage of children enrolled in pre-primary schools of 3 year olds is 64.5% in 2022. In 2018, the percentage was 60.3. There has been an increase of 4.2 percent since 2018.

In the Reading category, the reading ability among the children in both govt. And private schools have dropped to pre 2012 levels. In 2012, percentage of children in standard III who can read STD II level text was 21.2 % and in 2022, it has dropped to 10.8%. However, the percentage of children enrolled in STD V in both govt. And private schools who can read a STD II level text have improved from 37.0% in 2018 to 37.8% in 2022. And for STD VIII as well, the level has improved from 2018 to 2022.

Other category which includes in learning level is the number of children who can do arithmetic. In 2018, 33.5% of the children in the state of Arunachal Pradesh studying in Standard III (both private and govt. Schools) were able to do at least subtraction but now in 2022, the percentage stands at 35.8%.

In terms of school facilities be it usable girl’s toilet facility, drinking water availability, electricity etc have also rose to a great extent in comparison to the year 2018.

The ASER 2022 which is the seventeenth ASER report was released on January 18, 2023 in New Delhi by Ajay Piramal Chairman, Piramal Group and Chairman, Pratham Education Foundation.

Speaking on the occasion, Chairman Piramal, firstly, congratulated the NGO Pratham for the release of ASER 2022 report stating this is the largest citizen-led rural survey, delineating the status-quo of primary education in India.

He further said that primary education is an important element to mould the children with right schooling and education in their formative years and that the report unveils high enrolment of children in schools which is a good performance indicator for government programmes like Nipun Bharat Mission.

He also said that the report shows another positive outcome i.e., the increase in the number of girl child in schools which indicates synergies and effectiveness of Government programs like Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana and Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao.

“Although there is good monitoring, feedback and capacity building mechanism in place by the Government, more effort needs to be put into enhancing foundational literacy to raise the overall standards of children’s education in the country,” he stated.

“This report gives us the direction and also the sense that to enhance education standards, the eco-system involving Government, Corporates, Civil Society and NGOs need to work together. A concerted effort by all in the education space is needed to propel India’s economic and social development,” he added.

ASER 2022 filed survey which was done through phone calls due to the pandemic is back after a gap of 4 years.

“This year’s data will be especially valuable as it comes after schools reopened after prolonged closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” stated an official press release.

ASER is a national household survey which has been done every year since the year 2005 except 2015. The survey records the schooling status of children in the age group 3-16 and also assessed the children aged between 5-16 in basic reading and arithmetic. This year the children’s english ability was also tested.

The ‘basic’ ASER implemented in 2022 focused on foundational skills of children in the elementary school-going age group and was done annually from 2005 to 2014 and then again in 2016 and 2018. Because tools, sampling strategies, and survey methods are comparable over time, ASER 2022 data can be compared with previous years to provide trends over time. Estimates of “learning loss” between 2018 and 2022 can provide important information to states and districts as they plan interventions for “learning recovery” and “catch up”.

ASER 2022 reached 616 districts and a total of 19,060 villages in rural India. 374,544 households and 699,597 children in the age group 3 to 16 were surveyed.