Aser Report
Pratham has put out a report on the state of early education in India.
Here is a link to the report.
• The percentage of out-of-school children has further reduced to 4.1%. 98 % of
the rural population now has access to a primary school within a mile.
• Reading fluency has improved across grade levels although it remains low (See
graph). Math ability shows no improvement.
• English reading and comprehension were tested for the first time. 60.9% of
children in Grade 1 cannot read letters in English. 72.1 % of children in Grade 5
cannot read easy sentences
• Pre-school attendance has increased substantially among 3-4 year olds
Visited schools show clear improvements in pupil-teacher ratios. The availability
of functioning toilets, drinking water facilities, and midday meals has improved.
Here is a review of the report by Yamini Aiyar.
The good news from ASER 2007 is that enrolment is up ( 98.5 per cent across the country) and learning levels have improved (the proportion of children in classes 1 and 2 who can recognise letters and read words has gone up from 73.3 per cent in 2006 to 78.3 per cent in 2007). But nearly 40 per cent of children in Class 5 cannot read a Class 2 textbook. Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh have improved while, somewhat surprisingly, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are amongst the worst performers. Still more surprising: Bihar is doing consistently well. In 2007, it significantly improved its enrolment levels.
Before ASER, information of this nature was simply not available. Three years on, we can now measure progress and draw comparisons. We now have tools to analyse what works, what doesn’t and what gaps need to plugged — all of which are critical if we want to improve the quality of public education in India.
How do we measure outcomes and impact on a national scale? This is where lessons from ASER become extremely important.
In 2005, the Centre launched the ‘Outcomes Budget’ — an important step towards shifting focus from outlays to outcomes. The aim was to make the government more performance-oriented by making explicit the objectives and outcomes expected from public expenditures and allocating funds to each of these objectives. Like most government efforts, this has been poorly implemented.
There are two critical elements to a successful Outcomes Budget. First, it requires the identification of clear and quantifiable outcome indicators. But as of now, these indicators are vague and that makes measurement impossible and irrelevant.
Second, for an Outcomes Budget to achieve results, it must be accompanied by increased information on performance against these indicators. On this count, too, the Outcomes Budget has fallen far short of expectations. The budget itself was launched with much media fanfare, but over the years, it has simply disappeared from the public radar. There is no evidence of any proactive effort by government agencies to generate and disseminate information on progress.
The ASER experience offers important lessons that can go a long way in addressing these weaknesses. First, it has successfully identified simple indicators of learning competence — word and number recognition, basic comprehension and basic arithmetic. These are tangible and quantifiable and are applicable all over the country. Most importantly, these indicators are realistic and relevant. After all, it is reasonable to expect that a child in Class 5 can recognise words, do basic math and read a Class 2 textbook.
Second, ASER has developed an inbuilt strategy for information dissemination across the country. This includes the preparation of annual regional reports and simple district level report cards.
Here is a link to the report.
• The percentage of out-of-school children has further reduced to 4.1%. 98 % of
the rural population now has access to a primary school within a mile.
• Reading fluency has improved across grade levels although it remains low (See
graph). Math ability shows no improvement.
• English reading and comprehension were tested for the first time. 60.9% of
children in Grade 1 cannot read letters in English. 72.1 % of children in Grade 5
cannot read easy sentences
• Pre-school attendance has increased substantially among 3-4 year olds
Visited schools show clear improvements in pupil-teacher ratios. The availability
of functioning toilets, drinking water facilities, and midday meals has improved.
Here is a review of the report by Yamini Aiyar.
The good news from ASER 2007 is that enrolment is up ( 98.5 per cent across the country) and learning levels have improved (the proportion of children in classes 1 and 2 who can recognise letters and read words has gone up from 73.3 per cent in 2006 to 78.3 per cent in 2007). But nearly 40 per cent of children in Class 5 cannot read a Class 2 textbook. Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh have improved while, somewhat surprisingly, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are amongst the worst performers. Still more surprising: Bihar is doing consistently well. In 2007, it significantly improved its enrolment levels.
Before ASER, information of this nature was simply not available. Three years on, we can now measure progress and draw comparisons. We now have tools to analyse what works, what doesn’t and what gaps need to plugged — all of which are critical if we want to improve the quality of public education in India.
How do we measure outcomes and impact on a national scale? This is where lessons from ASER become extremely important.
In 2005, the Centre launched the ‘Outcomes Budget’ — an important step towards shifting focus from outlays to outcomes. The aim was to make the government more performance-oriented by making explicit the objectives and outcomes expected from public expenditures and allocating funds to each of these objectives. Like most government efforts, this has been poorly implemented.
There are two critical elements to a successful Outcomes Budget. First, it requires the identification of clear and quantifiable outcome indicators. But as of now, these indicators are vague and that makes measurement impossible and irrelevant.
Second, for an Outcomes Budget to achieve results, it must be accompanied by increased information on performance against these indicators. On this count, too, the Outcomes Budget has fallen far short of expectations. The budget itself was launched with much media fanfare, but over the years, it has simply disappeared from the public radar. There is no evidence of any proactive effort by government agencies to generate and disseminate information on progress.
The ASER experience offers important lessons that can go a long way in addressing these weaknesses. First, it has successfully identified simple indicators of learning competence — word and number recognition, basic comprehension and basic arithmetic. These are tangible and quantifiable and are applicable all over the country. Most importantly, these indicators are realistic and relevant. After all, it is reasonable to expect that a child in Class 5 can recognise words, do basic math and read a Class 2 textbook.
Second, ASER has developed an inbuilt strategy for information dissemination across the country. This includes the preparation of annual regional reports and simple district level report cards.
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