Lok Sabha Question No. 3385 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-16
Subject: Learning  Level among  Students belonging to SCs/STs/OBCs and Rural Areas
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Dharmendra Yadav, Shri Charanjit Singh Channi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

## DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-3385 ANSWERED ON -16/12/2024

## Learning Level among Students belonging to SCs/STs/OBCs and Rural Areas

## †3385  Shri Dharmendra Yadav: Shri Charanjit Singh Channi:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to State:

(a) Whether  the  Government  is  aware  of  the  recent  report  published  in  the  newspaper  which revealed  that  over  40  per  cent  of  rural  students  in  some  States,  including  Punjab  and  Uttar Pradesh are unable to answer grade-level questions;

(b) if  so,  the  reasons  for  such  low learning outcomes in rural areas despite various educational schemes and initiatives;

(c) the current status of learning level among SC, ST and OBC students in the country, especially in Uttar Pradesh;

(d) the  measures  being  taken  to  improve  the  quality  of  education  as  well  as  enrolment  of  the children  of  deprived  section  of  the  society,  particularly  in  Uttar  Pradesh  including  teacher training, curriculum enhancement and infrastructure development; and

(e) the  target  set  by  the  Government  to  ensure  that  rural  students  achieve  grade-appropriate learning levels in the next five years?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

(a):    As per NAS-2017 and NAS-2021 reports, the learning level of the rural students including Punjab and Uttar Pradesh is at Annexure-I .

(b):  Ministry of Education has been implementing a rolling programme of sample based National Achievement Survey (NAS) at classes 3, 5, 8 and 10 with an interval of three years to assess children's progress and learning competencies as an indicator of the health education system and to  take  appropriate  steps  for  remedial  actions  at  different  levels.  The  last  round  of  NAS  was conducted on 04.12.2024 and the report is awaited. The National Achievement Survey conducted in 2017 and 2021 has not shown any significant difference in the level of achievements between Urban and Rural Schools.

(c):    The NAS 2017 and NAS 2021 result comparing the grade-wise, subject- wise performance of students from Uttar Pradesh by Social Group (SCs/STs/OBCs) is placed at Annexure-II.

(d) & (e): Education is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution and the majority of Schools are in the domain of the respective States/UTs. The States/UTs and Centre endeavour to uplift the educational status of the students of the country, including rural, deprived and underprivileged students. Various schemes/projects/programmes run by the Ministry have been aligned with the National  Education  Policy  (NEP),  2020.  NEP  2020  aims  to  ensure  that  no  student  loses opportunity to learn and excel because of the circumstances of birth or background. It has taken into  account  the  concerns  of  the  Socio-Economically  Disadvantaged  Groups  (SEDGs)  which inter-alia  includes  geographical  identities  such  as  students  from  villages,  small  towns,  and aspirational districts and other categories. This policy aims at bridging the social category gaps in access, participation and learning outcomes.

The Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha focuses on improvement in quality of education by providing support for different interventions to all States and UTs like introduction of new pedagogical and curricular structure, Early Childhood Care and Education, Foundational Literacy  and  Numeracy  and  Transforming  Assessment  for  Student  Development,  Experiential and  Competency  based  Learning,  in-service  training  of  teachers  and  school  heads,  conduct  of achievement  surveys  at  state  and  national  level,  composite  school  grant  to  every  school  for providing  a  conducive  learning  environment,  grants  for  library,  sports  and  physical  activities, support for Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan,  ICT  and  digital initiatives, School Leadership development programme, remedial teaching for academically weaker students etc. The scheme aims to ensure that all children have access to quality education with an equitable and inclusive classroom environment which should take care of their diverse background, multilingual needs, different academic abilities and make them active participants in a continuous learning process.

National  Initiative  for  Proficiency  in  Reading  with  Understanding  and  Numeracy  (NIPUN Bharat) was launched on 5 th July 2021, for ensuring that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy by the end of Grade 3, by 2026-27. The  mission covers the  first  5  years  of  the  school  continuum  of  the  5+3+3+4  pedagogical  structure including  3 preschool years.

In  order  to  provide  continuous  learning  opportunities  to  the  teachers,  NISHTHA  (National Initiative for School Heads' and Teachers' Holistic Advancement) platform in October launched using  DIKSHA  (Digital  Infrastructure  for  Knowledge  Sharing)  platform  in  October,  2020  to reach  out  to  elementary  teachers  and  its  further  extension  to  all  level  of  teachers.  It  includes multiple approaches for interaction i.e. Text Modules along with videos. All these contents are aligned  to  the  developmental  goals  and  learning  outcomes  of  Foundational  Literacy  and Numeracy (FLN).

To  prepare  an  initial  cadre  of  high-quality  Early  Childhood  Care  and  Education  (ECCE) Teachers in Anganwadis, NISHTHA-ECCE and FLN were launched in July, 2022. It is aimed towards  sensitization  of  master  trainers  on  developmentally  appropriate  pedagogy  for  holistic development  of  children  which  will  contribute  for  enhancing  quality  education  at  Foundation level. These cater to both training of Anganwadi workers and preschool teachers.

The NEP 2020 also recognizes reinvigoration of DIETs to change the capacity and work  culture of these institutions and develop them into vibrant institutions of excellence. Financial  assistance under Samagra Shiksha is provided to States/UTs for physical upgradation of all 613 functional DIETs in the country in a phased manner in the next five years. In the FY 2023-24,  125 DIETS across 33 States/UTs with an approximate budget of Rs. 92,320.18 lakhs were approved.

PM SHRI (PM Schools for Rising India) scheme was launched on 7th Sep 2022 with an aim to strengthen the existing schools from amongst schools managed by Central government/State/UT Government/local bodies. These schools are to showcase all the initiatives of National Education Policy 2020 and emerge as exemplar schools over a period of  time, and also offer leadership to other schools in the neighbourhood. Under the scheme, there is a provision of setting  up  of  more  than  14500  PM  SHRI  Schools  by  strengthening  the  existing  schools  from amongst  schools  managed  by  Central  government/State/UT  Government/local  bodies  out  of which 12,084 PM SHRI Schools have been selected so far.

The Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) has  been  revamped  and  extended  to  cover  students  of  Balvatika  in  addition  to students of Classes I-VIII in Government and Government-Aided Schools. It encourages setting up of School Nutrition Gardens (SNG) and strengthening of community participation through 'Tithi Bhojan'.

*****

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3385 FOR ANSWER ON 16.12.2024 ASKED BY SHRI DHARMENDRA YADAV AND SHRI CHARANJIT SINGH CHANNI HON'BLE MEMBERS  OF PARLIAMENT REGARDING 'LEARNING LEVEL AMONG STUDENTS BELONGING TO SCs/STs/OBCs AND RURAL AREAS'

The data comparing the grade-wise and subject-wise performance of students at National Level` in NAS 2017 and NAS 2021

## NATIONAL LEVEL:

| Grade 3        | Grade 3   | Grade 3   | Grade 3   | Grade 3   |
|----------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|                | NAS 2017  | NAS 2017  | NAS 2021  | NAS 2021  |
| Subject        | Rural     | Urban     | Rural     | Urban     |
| Language       | 68        | 67        | 62        | 61        |
| Mathematics    | 64        | 64        | 58        | 56        |
| EVS            | 65        | 65        | 58        | 56        |
| Grade 5        | Grade 5   | Grade 5   | Grade 5   | Grade 5   |
| Subject        | NAS 2017  | NAS 2017  | NAS 2021  | NAS 2021  |
|                | Rural     | Urban     | Rural     | Urban     |
| Language       | 58        | 59        | 55        | 56        |
| Mathematics    | 55        | 52        | 44        | 43        |
| EVS            | 57        | 56        | 49        | 48        |
| Grade 8        | Grade 8   | Grade 8   | Grade 8   | Grade 8   |
| Subject        | NAS 2017  | NAS 2017  | NAS 2021  | NAS 2021  |
|                | Rural     | Urban     | Rural     | Urban     |
| Language       | 57        | 57        | 50        | 58        |
| Mathematics    | 43        | 39        | 36        | 37        |
| Science        | 45        | 41        | 38        | 42        |
| Social Science | 45        | 42        | 39        | 40        |

The  data  comparing  the  grade-wise  and  subject-wise  performance  of  students  by location, from Punjab and Uttar Pradesh in NAS 2017 and NAS 2021.

## PUNJAB:

| Grade 3        | Grade 3   | Grade 3   | Grade 3   | Grade 3   |
|----------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|                | NAS 2017  | NAS 2017  | NAS 2021  | NAS 2021  |
| Subject        | Rural     | Urban     | Rural     | Urban     |
| Language       | 64        | 62        | 76        | 73        |
| Mathematics    | 56        | 56        | 72        | 69        |
| EVS            | 58        | 56        | 70        | 69        |
| Grade 5        | Grade 5   | Grade 5   | Grade 5   | Grade 5   |
| Subject        | NAS 2017  | NAS 2017  | NAS 2021  | NAS 2021  |
|                | Rural     | Urban     | Rural     | Urban     |
| Language       | 53        | 54        | 70        | 68        |
| Mathematics    | 47        | 46        | 58        | 56        |
| EVS            | 51        | 51        | 61        | 58        |
| Grade 8        | Grade 8   | Grade 8   | Grade 8   | Grade 8   |
| Subject        | NAS 2017  | NAS 2017  | NAS 2021  | NAS 2021  |
|                | Rural     | Urban     | Rural     | Urban     |
| Language       | 54        | 55        | 66        | 68        |
| Mathematics    | 31        | 32        | 50        | 49        |
| Science        | 37        | 36        | 50        | 50        |
| Social Science | 35        | 34        | 50        | 48        |

UTTAR PRADESH:

| Grade 3        | Grade 3   | Grade 3   | Grade 3   | Grade 3   |
|----------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| Subject        | NAS 2017  | NAS 2017  | NAS 2021  | NAS 2021  |
| Subject        | Rural     | Urban     | Rural     | Urban     |
| Language       | 58        | 54        | 58        | 56        |
| Mathematics    | 59        | 60        | 54        | 51        |
| EVS            | 56        | 54        | 55        | 52        |
| Grade 5        | Grade 5   | Grade 5   | Grade 5   | Grade 5   |
| Subject        | NAS 2017  | NAS 2017  | NAS 2021  | NAS 2021  |
|                | Rural     | Urban     | Rural     | Urban     |
| Language       | 51        | 50        | 52        | 52        |
| Mathematics    | 51        | 50        | 42        | 39        |
| EVS            | 53        | 52        | 47        | 44        |
| Grade 8        | Grade 8   | Grade 8   | Grade 8   | Grade 8   |
| Subject        | NAS 2017  | NAS 2017  | NAS 2021  | NAS 2021  |
|                | Rural     | Urban     | Rural     | Urban     |
| Language       | 53        | 50        | 46        | 52        |
| Mathematics    | 41        | 34        | 33        | 33        |
| Science        | 43        | 35        | 35        | 37        |
| Social Science | 43        | 36        | 36        | 36        |

****

## ANNEXURE-II

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (c)  OF  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  3385  FOR  ANSWER  ON  16.12.2024  ASKED  BY  SHRI  DHARMENDRA YADAV AND SHRI CHARANJIT SINGH CHANNI HON'BLE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT REGARDING 'LEARNING LEVEL AMONG STUDENTS BELONGING TO SCs/STs/OBCs AND RURAL AREAS'

The data comparing the grade-wise and subject-wise performance of students by Social Group in NAS 2017 and NAS 2021

## NATIONAL LEVEL:

| Grade 3        | Grade 3   | Grade 3   | Grade 3   | Grade 3   | Grade 3   | Grade 3   |
|----------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|                | NAS 2017  | NAS 2017  | NAS 2017  | NAS 2021  | NAS 2021  | NAS 2021  |
| Subject        | SC        | ST        | OBC       | SC        | ST        | OBC       |
| Language       | 67        | 66        | 68        | 62        | 61        | 62        |
| Mathematics    | 64        | 62        | 65        | 57        | 55        | 57        |
| EVS            | 64        | 63        | 66        | 58        | 57        | 57        |
| Grade 5        | Grade 5   | Grade 5   | Grade 5   | Grade 5   | Grade 5   | Grade 5   |
|                | NAS 2017  | NAS 2017  | NAS 2017  | NAS 2021  | NAS 2021  | NAS 2021  |
| Subject        | SC        | ST        | OBC       | SC        | ST        | OBC       |
| Language       | 57        | 55        | 60        | 54        | 53        | 54        |
| Mathematics    | 53        | 51        | 56        | 43        | 41        | 43        |
| EVS            | 56        | 55        | 58        | 48        | 47        | 48        |
| Grade 8        | Grade 8   | Grade 8   | Grade 8   | Grade 8   | Grade 8   | Grade 8   |
|                | NAS 2017  | NAS 2017  | NAS 2017  | NAS 2021  | NAS 2021  | NAS 2021  |
| Subject        | SC        | ST        | OBC       | SC        | ST        | OBC       |
| Language       | 55        | 53        | 58        | 49        | 47        | 51        |
| Mathematics    | 40        | 40        | 44        | 35        | 33        | 35        |
| Science        | 43        | 43        | 46        | 37        | 36        | 38        |
| Social Science | 42        | 43        | 45        | 38        | 37        | 39        |

## UTTAR PRADESH (BY SOCIAL GROUP):

| Grade 3        | Grade 3   | Grade 3   | Grade 3   | Grade 3   | Grade 3   | Grade 3   |
|----------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| Subject        | NAS 2017  | NAS 2017  | NAS 2017  | NAS 2021  | NAS 2021  | NAS 2021  |
|                | SC        | ST        | OBC       | SC        | ST        | OBC       |
| Language       | 59        | 57        | 57        | 57        | 58        | 58        |
| Mathematics    | 59        | 57        | 59        | 53        | 52        | 54        |
| EVS            | 56        | 55        | 55        | 54        | 53        | 54        |
| Grade 5        | Grade 5   | Grade 5   | Grade 5   | Grade 5   | Grade 5   | Grade 5   |
| NAS 2017       | NAS 2017  | NAS 2017  | NAS 2017  | NAS 2021  | NAS 2021  | NAS 2021  |
| Subject        | SC        | ST        | OBC       | SC        | ST        | OBC       |
| Language       | 51        | 42        | 52        | 51        | 51        | 52        |
| Mathematics    | 50        | 41        | 51        | 41        | 40        | 41        |
| EVS            | 53        | 43        | 54        | 46        | 45        | 46        |
| Grade 8        | Grade 8   | Grade 8   | Grade 8   | Grade 8   | Grade 8   | Grade 8   |
|                | NAS 2017  | NAS 2017  | NAS 2017  | NAS 2021  | NAS 2021  | NAS 2021  |
| Subject        | SC        | ST        | OBC       | SC        | ST        | OBC       |
| Language       | 53        | 49        | 54        | 44        | 43        | 46        |
| Mathematics    | 41        | 36        | 41        | 32        | 32        | 33        |
| Science        | 42        | 38        | 42        | 34        | 34        | 35        |
| Social Science | 42        | 38        | 42        | 35        | 34        | 36        |