16th Annual Status of Education Report (ASER 2021) survey
Context
- The 16th edition of the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER 2021) survey was released recently.
- It analysed the impact of Covid-19 on learning.
- It also shows an increase in dependence on private tuitions and an absence of ready access to smartphones.
Key findings:
- A “clear shift” from private to government schools — from 64.3 per cent in 2018 to 65.8 per cent in 2020, to 70.3 per cent in 2021; and a fall in private school enrolment from 28.8 per cent in 2020 to 24.4 per cent in 2021.
- A growing dependency on private tuition classes especially those from poor families.
- Digital divide - from having no experience of pre-primary class to the lack of access to digital devices , the pandemic has left the youngest entrants in India’s formal education system particularly vulnerable.
- 65.4 per cent teachers flagged the problem of children being “unable to catch up” as one of their biggest challenges — which is also a warning that their learning outcomes are set to be affected unless addressed with urgency.
- The report captured a decline in the proportion of children not currently enrolled in the 15-16 age group — the one in which the risk of dropping out is the highest.
Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) survey:
- Facilitated by Pratham Education Foundation.
- Oldest survey of its kind in the country, and well regarded for the range of insights it provides on levels of foundational learning at the elementary level.
- In the context of the pandemic, the ASER Centre switched its focus to access to learning opportunities in 2020, and in its latest report released on Wednesday.
Government initiatives for education in covid-19:
- DIKSHA – This is an online platform for school education . It offers teachers, parents and students engaging learning material relevant to the prescribed school curriculum.
- e-PATHSHALA - A web portal and mobile app designed and deployed by the National Council for Educational Research and Training.
- NATIONAL REPOSITORY OF OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (NROER): A portal equipped with best quality informational content on diverse topics in multiple languages.
- SWAYAM: This is the national online education platform hosting 1900 courses covering both school (class IX to XII) And Higher Education (both UG and PG) in all subjects including engineering, humanities and social sciences, law and management courses.
- SWAYAM PRABHA -. Has 32 DTH TV channels transmitting educational contents on 24/7 basis. These channels are available for viewing all across the country free of cost.
- NATIONAL DIGITAL LIBRARY: This is a digital repository of a vast amount of academic content in different formats and provides interface support for leading Indian languages for all academic levels.