The Problem
For every 100 students who enter primary school in India, only 25 graduate from college. While many reasons for these drastic numbers accrue to financial shortcomings, gender disparity, and socio-cultural barriers, a lot of students drop out simply because they are unable to cope with the pace of our education system.
Note: GER is the number of students enrolled in a given level of education, as a percentage of the total population of that age. It can be greater than 100%, if the students from outside the official age group are also enrolled.
Source: Education Statistics at a Glance, AISHE
Percentage of Children in Government schools in
Std. V who can read Std. ll level text, 2008-2018
A study by ASER (Annual Status of Education Report, 2018) shows glaring figures. On average, only 44.2% of fifth-graders enrolled in government schools can read 2nd standard level text.
Percentage of Children in Government schools in
Std. V who do division, 2008-2018
When it comes to Math, the results are even bleaker. The report states that only 22.7% of fifth graders are able to do basic division-a concept introduced in 2nd grade.
The Short Story
This goes to show that even though around 96% of the children in our country are enrolled in primary schools, the learning outcomes are dismal. To put it simply:
85% of the 1.3 million schools in India are in Villages
50% of rural children drop-out between class 5 & 7
56% of Class 5 children can’t read standard 2 Text
