UP: ASER Survey Shows 50% of Class VIII Students Could not do Division

Lucknow: The basic reading skills of students from Uttar Pradesh have drastically decreased as hardly 46.4% of class V students can read class II level text as against 52.4% in 2018, revealed the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2022 released on Wednesday.

The situation is more or less similar in both private and government schools in the state. As part of the survey, 2,096 villages across 70 districts, including 91,158 children in the age group of 3-16 from 41,910 households, were visited in Uttar Pradesh.

When it comes to class III students, only 24% of students can read class II texts, as against 28.3% in 2018. The adverse impact of the pandemic is visible among class VIII school students, as about 70.7% can read class II text as against 73.8% in 2018.

The same goes with arithmetic skills, as only 29% of students in class III can at least do subtraction in 2022, against 26.9% in 2018. The arithmetic skills of class V students have slightly increased, with only 31.7.% being able to subtract as against 29.8% in 2018. Regarding class VIII, only 49.4% can do division in 2022, against 44.6% in 2018.

The findings concerning reading and maths skills indicate that both teachers and students are finding it hard to reorient themselves in the post-pandemic period. The emphasis on online classes for two years has taken its toll on learning outcomes. This calls for corrective steps to plug the gaps. Schools need to be proactive and innovative in overcoming the challenges thrown up by the pandemic. The Ministry of Education, which launched the National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat) in 2021, should identify the problems impeding the smooth implementation of this mission, which aims to achieve 'universal foundational literacy and numeracy in primary classes.'

"As per data, less than half of the children of class V can read class II books, and since 2018 it has declined. To increase the foundation literacy of the children, the government should immediately start a catch-up programme for these students. As per NIPUN Bharat mission, the government's target is to ensure that every class 3 child has foundational literacy and numeracy within five years. Still, as per data, only 1/4 students can read," Sunil Kumar, state coordinator of ASER, told NewsClick.

He further added, "Even after practising eight years in the school, 50.6% of students in class VIII can not do divisions, although they have been practising it since they were in class III, which is a sad reflection on the schools' performance."

Meanwhile, the UP government has now developed a comprehensive strategy to train the teachers who teach maths and languages at government schools. According to the Director General School Education Uttar Pradesh, teachers from across the state will be given special training to make weak children from class 6 to class 8 proficient in mathematics and language in upper primary schools.

A deadline has been fixed to complete the training program by February 28. Director General School Education has instructed all principals to train teachers. It has been said that, first of all, a three-day training should be given to the mathematics teacher of each upper primary school and then to the teacher of the language subject.

A government teacher wishing anonymity told NewsClick, "Basically teachers of government upper primary schools will concentrate on improving language skills, oral fluency, comprehension and numerical skills, for example, whether or not the child can do simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The recent ASER survey indicated that class V students could not do simple maths or read simple sentences of class II. Similarly, class VIII students are not able to do subtraction and have poor proficiency in languages."