ASER: Lessons for Karnataka

The findings of the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2022 show that Karnataka has generally followed the national trend in learning standards of students and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on education in 2022. But there are departures from the general trend in certain areas. The learning levels among Class 3 students in reading Class 2 level texts fell steeply to 8.6 per cent in 2022 from 19.3 per cent in 2018. The levels among Class 5 students dropped from 46.1 per cent in 2018 to 30.2 per cent, indicating that the recovery of learning after the pandemic has been slow. The decline was seen in numeracy levels also. Class 3 students who are able to do subtractions dropped from 26.4 per cent in 2018 to 22.2 per cent in 2022, and the proportion of children in Class 5 who can do divisions fell from 20.5 per cent in 2018 to 13.3 per cent in 2022.

The fall was seen in other age groups also. This was only to be expected because the schools were closed for a prolonged period and most students had no access to learning. One welcome finding is the increase in the number of enrolments in schools. There were apprehensions that the pandemic would adversely affect enrolment and cause children to drop out from schools. But the overall enrolment has increased from 99.3 per cent in 2018 to 99.8 per cent in 2022. This is much above the national average and almost the maximum possible. The state also saw an increase in enrolments in Anganwadis, much more than the national average. Enrolment in government schools had declined during the period 2006 to 2014. But the proportion of children in the 6-14 age group enrolled in government schools increased from 69.9 per cent in 2018 to 72.6 per cent in 2022. The average teacher attendance and students’ attendance in schools is better in the state than at the national level. There was an improvement in infrastructure facilities like girls’ toilets and libraries, but drinking water facilities declined.

It has been officially stated that the state’s learning recovery programme was designed to deal with the situation and that it would have been worse if the programme did not exist. The government is planning to extend the programme for the next academic year in the form of Kalika Chetarike (learning recovery) 2.0. It will take time for the leaning gap to be bridged, but normalcy should be brought about at the earliest. Online learning has become an important part of schooling but access to it has to be improved, especially in rural areas. Government schools should receive more attention. The ASER data provides useful information, and policies can be formulated on the basis of the strengths and weaknesses pointed out by the report.