ASER 2023 report

General Studies Paper -2

Context: The article discusses the ‘Beyond Basics’ Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) released by Pratham. It focuses on a survey of rural students aged 14 to 18 years, addressing their educational progress and challenges in India.

What were the major findings in the ASER 2023 report?

• Enrolment Rates:Overall, 86.8% of 14-18-year-olds are enrolled in an educational institution. The percentage of youth not enrolled is 3.9% for 14-year-old youth and 32.6% for 18-year-olds. Most of the people in this age group were enrolled in the Arts/Humanities streams.
• Foundational skill gaps: About 25% cannot read Grade 2 text, and over 50% face difficulties with arithmetic skills expected by Grade 5, highlighting a deficit in foundational learning.
• Digital technology underutilized:Despite the high availability of smartphones in rural households (95%), their use for educational purposes is limited.

Gender disparities:

• Fewer females (28.1%) are in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics stream (STEM) stream compared to males (36.3%).
• Females are better at reading in their regional language, while males excel in arithmetic and English.
• Males are more likely to own and use smartphones.
• vocational training: The survey shows a low enrollment in vocational training, with only 5.6% of young people participating. Among these, college students are more engaged, with 16.2% enrolled in courses, usually lasting no more than six months.

What were the suggestions provided in the ASER 2023 report?

• Pedagogic Reforms for Rural Students: The report suggests reforming teaching methods to help students who balance academic and farm work, addressing the educational challenges faced in rural areas.
• Leverage Smartphones for Education and Address Digital Gender Gaps:ASER advocates using the widespread access to smartphones (95% of households) for educational purposes and emphasizes closing the gender gap in digital skills, as females lag behind males in smartphone proficiency.
• Rethink vocational education: To increase the 6% enrollment in vocational courses, ASER suggests reimagining vocational training to make it more aspirational and aligned with students’ interests.