57% of teenagers in 14-18 age group lack even Class 4 math skills: ASER
ASER-2023 study highlights the lack of basic arithmetic and poor reading skills among students in the 14-18 age group. It also points to the trend of students opting more for humanities stream
A recent study shows that more than half of the teenagers in the 14-18-year age bracket in the country struggle with basic math skills like division (three-digit by one-digit) problems.
Only 43.3 per cent of 14-18-year-olds are able to correctly attempt such problems, a skill that is usually expected from a child in Class III/IV.
This is one of the key startling findings of the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2023 released on Wednesday (January 17). Based on the findings, the report pushed for urgently building foundational literacy and numeracy for about a 'fourth' of the youth in the 14-18 age group.
For nearly two decades, ASER reports have consistently pointed to the fact that many children in elementary school need urgent support for acquiring foundational skills like reading and basic arithmetic. With this year’s focus on an older teenage group, the report probed the level of basic skills among youth and how prepared they were to do tasks that go “beyond basics”.
Arithmetic skills
To assess their arithmetic skills, the children were tested on how they calculated time, measured length, added weights and undertook financial calculations like managing a budget, applying discount, calculating repayment etc.
The report revealed that around 45 per cent of the students surveyed could calculate the number of hours a child had slept based on the time she went to bed at night and woke up in the morning.
In another everyday task of measuring an object with a scale, 85 per cent of those surveyed could calculate the length of an object correctly if it was placed at the '0' mark on the ruler. But when the object was moved and placed elsewhere on the ruler, less than 40 per cent could give the right answer.
According to the report, low levels of foundational numeracy affect the ability of youth in tackling everyday calculations where they need to apply measurement or use the unitary method in practical situations, or even do simple financial computations (managing a budget, applying a discount or calculating interest rates or repayment of a loan).
Reading skills
After testing the teenagers on their reading and comprehension skills by asking them to read from an ORS solution packet, the study found that only two-thirds of the surveyed children (65.1 per cent) were able to read the functional instructions.
The report found that 42 per cent of children in the age group of 14 to 18 years in rural India cannot read easy sentences in English.
"About 25 per cent of this age group still cannot read a Class 2 level text fluently in their regional language. More than half struggle with division (three-digit by one-digit) problems. Only 43.3 per cent of 14-18-year-olds are able to do such problems correctly. This skill is usually expected in Class 3 and 4," said the report.
"A little over half can read sentences in English (57.3). Of those who can read sentences in English, almost three quarters can tell their meanings (73.5 per cent)," the report said.
Regional language reading skills
Notably, the report also noted that 25 per cent youngsters in the age group of 14-18 years cannot read a Class 2 level text fluently in their regional languages.
Across enrollment categories, females (76 per cent) do better than males (70.9 per cent) in reading a Class 2 level text in their regional language. In contrast, males do better than their female counterparts in arithmetic and English reading.
Other trends - More join humanities stream
According to the report, out of the 86.8 per cent youngsters in the 14-18-year age bracket enrolled in educational institutions, interestingly, more than half of them opt for the humanities stream.
"Most of the young people in this age group were enrolled in the arts and humanities stream. In class 11 or higher, more than half are enrolled in the Arts and Humanities stream (55.7 per cent)."
The report said more than 55 per cent students of Classes 11-12 opt for humanities, followed by science and commerce.
Gender gaps
The report also pointed out that females are less likely to be enrolled in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) streams (28.1 per cent) than males (36.3 per cent).
While the report noted small gender gaps in enrolment, it flagged notable differences between age groups. "There are small gender gaps in enrollment, but notable differences are visible by age. Older youth are more likely to be not enrolled. The percentage of youth not enrolled is 3.9 per cent for 14-year-old youth and is 32.6 per cent for 18-year-olds," the report said.
No dropouts during COVID-19
The report also puts an end to fears that several older students dropped out of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic due to a loss of livelihood.
Urgent need for catch-up efforts
What the study finally highlighted is that "catch up efforts" for foundational literacy and numeracy are needed for a significant portion of the 14-18 year-old population, not only for doing better in school but also for everyday needs.
"Trends on basic learning have remained relatively unchanged over the last decade. Although the National Achievement Survey (NAS) and ASER use different metrics and methods for assessing learning, both point to the fact that basic learning levels of elementary school children need significant improvement," stated the report.
"NEP 2020 also clearly states the urgent need for ensuring that by Std III, children have acquired basic reading and arithmetic skills," the report said.
"NEP (National Education Policy) 2020 recognises the need for 'catch up' in the case of those who have fallen behind. Thus, programmes could be put in place, if they do not already exist, to help students from Std VIII and higher grades who are lagging behind academically," it added.
What's the ASER 2023 'Beyond Basics' report?
First implemented in 2005, the 'basic' ASER survey was conducted annually until 2014 and switched to an alternate-year cycle in 2016.
The 'basic' ASER collects information about enrollment in pre-school and school for children in the age group of three to 16, and assesses children aged five to 16 one-on-one to understand their foundational reading and arithmetic abilities.
The ASER 2023 'Beyond Basics' survey was conducted in 28 districts across 26 states, reaching a total of 34,745 children in the age group 14-18 years. One rural district was surveyed in each major state, with the exception of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, where two rural districts were surveyed.