Maha schoolkids poor in Mathematics

Mumbai: Apart from a sharp drop in children’s ability to read, the ASER survey also revealed that overall, the understanding of mathematics

was found to be weaker as compared to 2018 when its last report was published.

In Maharashtra, the percentage of students in Class 3 who can do subtraction dropped from 27.2% in 2018 to 18.7% in 2022. Likewise, the proportion of students in Class 5 who can do division has fallen from 30.2% in 2018 to 19.6% in 2022. While 20.1% Class 5 students from government schools can do division, the same among children in private schools stands at 18.8%.

Similarly, children in Class 8 who can do division has also fallen from 40.5% in 2018 to 34.6% in 2022. Also, 38.1% of government schoolchildren in Class 8 can do division, compared to 32.3% of children in private schools. The Class 8 government schoolchildren seem to perform better in division than their counterparts in private schools.

After a four-year gap, in Maharashtra the study was conducted in 33 districts and 983 villages. The data is especially valuable as it taps into the learnings of the pandemic and after the schools physically reopened.

“Learning loss is a huge problem – it has been a topic of discussion among teachers. There was no need for a report or an assessment for an evidence of this fact,” said Geeta Mahashabde, Math teacher and director, Navnirmiti Learning Foundation, Pune.

Mahashabde is censorious of the report as it has failed to tabulate the ground reality of dropouts among girl students. She said, “The report also shows that all RTE indicators such as drinking water, toilets, libraries and mid-day meals have improved. But have they checked for school availability within one to three-kilometre radius from homes of students, or have they simply analysed data provided by the government?”

Apart from Math, children’s English ability was also tested this year. Of the 374,544 households and 699,597 children in the age group 3 to 16 that were surveyed, 19,396 households and 34,280 children in this demographic were surveyed in Maharashtra.

The report states: “The enrollment rate for the 6 to 14 age group has been above 95% for the past 15 years. Despite school closures during the pandemic, overall enrollment figures have increased from 97.2% in 2018 to 98.4% in 2022.The proportion of children in this age group who are not currently enrolled has dropped to 1.6%.” The proportion of children (age 6 to 14) enrolled in government schools in Maharashtra increased sharply from 61.6% in 2018 to 67.4% in 2022.

Girls in school

In 2006, the Maharashtra figure for the percentage of girls in the age bracket of 11-14 who were out of school stood at 6.1%, falling further over the following decade to 1.6% in 2018. This proportion has continued to drop. In 2022, the percentage of girls in this age group who are not enrolled in school was 0.6%.

In 2014, the figure for the percentage of girls in the ages of 15-16 who were out of school stood at 8.3% falling over the last four years to 5.1% in 2018. This proportion has continued to drop. In 2022, the percentage of 15-16 year-old girls who are not enrolled in school will be 1.2% percent.

Maha kids’ reading ability

The percentage of children in Class 3 in government or private schools who can read at least at the Class 2 level dropped from 42% in 2018 to 26.6% in 2022. The percentage of children in Class 5 in government or private schools who can read at least at the Class 2 level dropped from 66.5% in 2018 to 55.5% in 2022. 76.1 percent of children enrolled in Class 8 in government or private schools can read at least basic text in 2022, down from 80.1 percent in 2018.