ASER 2024: The State of Education in Rural India

Context

The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2024 is a comprehensive nationwide survey conducted by Pratham, a non-governmental organization, to assess the schooling status of children in rural India and their proficiency in basic reading and arithmetic skills.

Key aspects of ASER 2024:

• Covers three age groups: Pre-primary (3-5 years), Elementary (6-14 years), and Older children (15-16 years).

• Focuses on learning recovery post-pandemic and evaluates the impact of recent educational reforms.

• Assesses digital literacy among teenagers for the first time.

Key Findings from ASER 2024

1. Enrollment Trends

• Overall school enrollment rate (6-14 years) remains high at 98.1% in 2024, showing stability from 98.4% in 2022.

• Pre-school enrollment (ages 3-5) has increased significantly, especially among 5-year-olds, rising from 58.5% in 2018 to 71.4% in 2024.

2. Recovery in Reading Skills

• The percentage of Class III students reading at a Class II level has recovered from the pandemic, improving from 20.5% in 2022 to 27.1% in 2024.

• Among Class V students, reading proficiency has climbed to 48.7% in 2024, nearing pre-pandemic levels (50.4% in 2018).

3. Progress in Arithmetic Skills

• Basic subtraction skills among Class III students have improved significantly, reaching 33.7% in 2024, the highest in a decade.

• Class V students' ability to perform division increased to 30.7% in 2024, surpassing the pre-pandemic level of 27.8% in 2018.

4. Digital Literacy Insights

ASER 2024 assessed digital literacy among 14-16-year-olds, focusing on smartphone access, ownership, and usage:

• Smartphone usage: More boys (85.5%) than girls (79.4%) reported knowing how to use a smartphone.

• Gender disparity in smartphone ownership: 36.2% of boys own a smartphone, compared to only 26.9% of girls.

• Usage patterns: While nearly 90% of teenagers have smartphone access at home, only 57% use them for education, whereas 76% use them for social media.

Performance of Government Schools

1. Enrollment Trends

• Government school enrollment has returned to near pre-pandemic levels at 66.8% in 2024, compared to 65.6% in 2018 and 72.9% in 2022.

2. Improvements in Learning Outcomes

• Arithmetic skills in government schools have shown remarkable improvement:

  • Class III subtraction proficiency rose by 36.6% in government schools, compared to only 10.2% in private schools.

  • Reading skills among Class III students in government schools increased from 16.3% in 2022 to 23.4% in 2024.

3. Factors Behind the Improvement

• National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has prioritized Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN), significantly improving early learning.

• The Nipun Bharat Mission, launched by the Union Education Ministry, has played a vital role in enhancing learning outcomes in primary education.

State-Wise Progress

1. Remarkable Recovery in Low-Performing States

• Uttar Pradesh (UP): The percentage of Class III government school students reading at a Class II level rose from 12.3% in 2018 to 27.9% in 2024.

• Bihar: The proportion of Class III students reading at a Class II level improved from 12.1% in 2018 to 20.1% in 2024. Arithmetic proficiency also increased from 18% to 28.2%.

2. Improvement in High-Performing States

• Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Haryana, and Odisha saw a 10-percentage point increase in reading proficiency between 2022 and 2024.

• Uttarakhand recorded a sharp rise in Class III reading proficiency, from 24.7% in 2018 to 35.6% in 2024.

School Infrastructure Developments

ASER 2024 also assessed progress in Right to Education (RTE) indicators, showing slight improvements in school infrastructure, including:

• Functional girls’ toilets

• Availability of drinking water facilities

• Access to usable classrooms and playgrounds

Conclusion

ASER 2024 marks a transformative shift in India’s approach to foundational learning, highlighting not just recovery but significant progress in basic education.

• The implementation of NEP 2020 has set a unified goal for all states, enabling them to adopt customized strategies to improve FLN.

• The data reflects a strong nationwide commitment to foundational literacy and numeracy, signifying a historic milestone in India's education system.