Lok Sabha Question No. 3000 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-08-06
Subject: Annual School Education Report
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: MOHANBHAI KALYANJIBHAI KUNDARIYA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3000 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.08.2018

## Annual School Education Report

## 3000. SHRI KUNDARIYA MOHAN BHAI KALYANJI BHAI:

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state :

- (a) whether the Annual School Education Report (ASER) for 2017 has been released recently;
- (b)   if so, the details thereof indicating the major points revealed by the said report;
- (c)   whether the said report had pointed certain inadequacies in the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE Act) and the state of education in the country; and
- (d)  if so, the details thereof and the corrective action taken/to be taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI UPENDRA KUSHWAHA)

(a) to (d): Achievement surveys are released in the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) by a non-governmental organization. It is a household survey limited to rural areas of the country. ASER 2017 report shows inter-alia, that, 53% of all 14 year olds in the sample can read English sentences. For 18 year-old youth, this figure is closer to 60%. Of those who can read English sentences, 79% can say the meaning of the sentence. The report also points out that only 43% student are able to do a 3digit  by  1-digit  division  correctly.  The  Department  of  School  Education  &  Literacy,  Ministry  of Human Resource Development was not associated with this ASER 2017 survey.

However,  National  Council  of  Educational  Research  and  Training  (NCERT)  conducted  National Achievement Survey (NAS) on 13th November, 2017 through which the learning levels of around 22 lakh students of Classes III, V and VIII from 1.10 lakh schools across 700 districts in all 36 States and  UTs  were  assessed.  This  competency  based  assessment  was  based  on  the  Learning  Outcomes developed by the NCERT. District report cards for NAS 2017 have been released by this Department and  are  available  on  MHRD/NCERT  website.    These  cards  contain  various  sections,  including indicating the lowest performing area in Learning Outcomes.

NCERT is facilitating States/UT's for post NAS activities to  improve the learning level of students in the districts which  includes community  participation, teacher training in Assessment,  use of Science  and  Mathematics  Kits  developed  by  NCERT,  State Text  book  analysis,  use  of Early language kit and Early Mathematics kit developed by NCERT, training in child friendly assessment practices for teachers etc.

Further, Central Government has launched an integrated scheme, for school education named as Samagra Shiksha w.e.f 2018-19, which subsumes the three erstwhile Centrally Sponsored schemes of school education i.e Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Centrally Sponsored Scheme on Teacher Education (CSSTE). Samagra Shiksha envisages school education as a  continuum from pre-school to senior secondary level and aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all.

The  Scheme  focuses  on  improvement  of  quality  of  education  by  providing  support  for  different interventions like; in-service training of teachers and schools heads, conduct of achievement surveys at National and State level, composite school grant to every school for providing a conducive learning environment, library grants, provision of textbooks  and uniforms as per Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, remedial teaching for academically weaker students, ICT and digital initiatives, grants for sports and physical education etc.

The  scheme  also  supports  States  and  UTs  on  early  grade  reading,  writing  &  comprehension,  and early  Mathematics  programmes  through  a  sub-programme  namely  'Padhe  Bharat  Badhe  Bharat' (PBBB) in foundational years of schooling.  Rashtriya Aavishkar Abhiyan (RAA) was also launched to  motivate  and  engage  children  of  the  age  group  from  6-18  years  in  Science,  Mathematics  and Technology  through  observation,  experimentation,  inference  drawing,  model  building,  etc.  both through inside and outside classroom activities.

In order to increase focus on quality of elementary education, the Central rules to the RTE Act, 2009 have been amended on 20th February, 2017 to include reference on classwise, subject-wise Learning Outcomes. The Learning Outcomes for each class in Languages (Hindi, English  and  Urdu),  Mathematics,  Environmental  Studies,  Science  and  Social  Science  up  to  the elementary  stage  have,  accordingly,  been  finalized  and  shared  with  all  States  and  UTs.  Learning outcomes  have  been  translated  in  different  languages  and  serve  as  a  benchmark  for  student's capabilities to be achieved in each subject & class.

Section 23(2) of the RTE Act has been amended to extend the period for training of untrained in-service elementary teachers to 31st March, 2019. As per above amendment, all untrained in-service teachers working in Government, Government aided, and Private un-aided schools should acquire minimum qualification as laid down by an academic authority, authorized by the Central Government, by 31st March, 2019.

The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) has been entrusted to conduct this training through ODL (Open Distance Learning) mode. The online D.El.Ed. course has started from 3rd October, 2017. More than 13 Lakh teachers have joined these courses.

*****