The Annual Status of Education Report 2011 paints a grim picture of the quality of education in rural Maharashtra.
The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2011 paints a grim picture of the quality of education in rural Maharashtra. In a shocking reflection of poor reading and arithmetic abilities, the report revealed that 51.1% students cannot read standard II level text, nearly 73.7% cannot do division while 71.5% cannot do basic subtraction.
The learning curves of reading and arithmetic have plunged drastically in 2011 compared to 2010. The percentage of students who cannot read out alphabets has increased from 1.6% in 2010 to 3% in 2011. Similarly, the percentage of students who cannot recognise numbers has increased from 1.8% in 2010 to 2.9% in 2011, the report said.
Educationists blame it on the government’s no detention policy for students up to standard VIII under the Right to Education (RTE) Act and teacher absenteeism, resulting in a ‘casual’ attitude among students and teachers. Multi-grade classrooms where students of standard II and IV study in the same room may also be responsible for the declining standards, they claim.
"Since the implementation of the RTE, the government is looking at improving infrastructure in schools such as building compound walls and girl’s toilets,” said Madhav Chavan, founder and CEO of NGO Pratham.
“However, this has shifted its focus from the most important aspect - quality of education in classrooms," said Chavan, founder and CEO of Pratham, an NGO which facilitated the survey.
He pointed out that teacher attendance has dropped from 94% to less than 90%. "Also teachers had to go on Census duties from December. This left students in the lurch," he said.
Former divisional secretary of the state board Basanti Roy said there has been no accountability in the absence of exams. "A casual attitude has crept in as the fear of detention is out of the student’s minds. Even the teachers have become lax. It is alright to do away with exams, but the government needs to bring in alternative accountability systems,” she said.
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