Lok Sabha Question No. 2819 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-20
Subject: Learning Outcomes
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: (ADV.) JOICE GEORGE

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

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2819 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.3.2017

## Learning Outcomes

## 2819. ADV. JOICE GEORGE:

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

- (a) whether it is a fact that the students of Himachal Pradesh stand ahead of Kerala and all other States in terms of learning outcomes as per the latest Status of Education Report (ASER) 2016;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the major findings of the report;
- (c) whether as per the report enrolment rate of students in the age group 6 to 14 in Himachal Pradesh was very high;
- (d) if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether it secured first rank in achieving learning outcomes in basic reading and mathematics across the country and if so, the details thereof?

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

- (a) & (b).   PRATHAM, a non-governmental organization conducts annual achievement  surveys  released  in  the  Annual  Status  of  Education  Report (ASER). It is a household survey limited to rural areas of the country. As per their  report  of  2016,  there  has  been  improvement  in  terms  of  learning outcomes  in  Himachal  Pradesh.  The  Department  of  School  Education  & Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development was not associated with this  ASER  2016  survey.  However,  major  findings  of  the  ASER,  2016  are summarised as follows:
- i. In  almost  all  states  there  is  some  improvement  in  the  arithmetic levels of children enrolled in government schools in Std III. States with an increase of 5 percentage points or more since 2014 include
- Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
- ii. From 2014 to 2016, for Std V children, the level of arithmetic as measured by children's ability to do simple division problems has remained almost the same at 26%. Only five major states show an improvement of more than 5 percentage points. These are Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand.
- iii. In comparison, in 2016, 24.5% of children enrolled in Std V could read simple English sentences. This number is virtually unchanged since 2009. However, a few states show improvements since 2014 for government school children enrolled in Std V. These states are Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Maharashtra and Kerala (all with improvements of 5 percentage points or more).
- iv. In nine states, the levels of English reading of private schools has also  improved.  These  are  Himachal  Pradesh,  Punjab,  Assam, Jharkhand,  Chhattisgarh,  Madhya  Pradesh,  Tamil  Nadu,  Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
- (c) & (d). As per ASER, 2016 results, enrollment level of 6-14 age group children in Himachal Pradesh and all India rural is given as under:
- (e). ASER does not rank the States on the basis of achievement or schooling facilities.

| State/Country    |   Government |   Pvt. |   Others |   Not in schools |
|------------------|--------------|--------|----------|------------------|
| Himachal Pradesh |         61.3 |   38.5 |        0 |              0.2 |
| All India        |         65.4 |   30.5 |        1 |              3.1 |

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