ASER 2021: Annual Status of Education Report (Rural)

ASER has been conducted every year since 2005 in almost all rural districts of India. Since a field-based survey could not be completed owing to the Pandemic, ASER 2021 used a phone-based survey methodology. Pratham Organisation released the Annual Status of Education Report. 

The poll was carried out in September and October of 2021. The study was created using data from a telephone survey performed in rural regions of 581 districts across 25 states and three union territories between September and October of this year. The study included 76,706 families and 7,299 schools in 17,184 villages across India.

What is ASER 2021? 

The ASER has been conducted every year since 2005 in almost all rural districts of India. Pratham Organisation released the Annual Status of Education Report, ASER 2021 survey. As a result, one section of the survey focused on questions comparable to ASER 2020, permitting comparisons of last year’s findings with data from this year for children whose schools had not reopened. 

The supply of, and access to, remote education methods and resources in rural areas of the nation, as well as how children, families, and educators were engaging with these from their homes, were all investigated. A second section of the poll focused on students whose schools had reopened, asking about their attendance and COVID preventive measures used by schools, among other things.

Findings of ASER 2021

Enrollment of Students in Schools

• A move from private to public schools, with enrolment in private schools falling from 32.5 percent in 2018 to 24.4 percent in 2021 among children ages 6 to 14.

• The proportion of children who have not currently enrolled in school climbed from 1.4 percent in 2010 to 4.6 percent in 2020 but stayed stable in 2021.

• Government school enrolment increased from 57.4 percent in 2018 to 67.4 percent among youngsters aged 15-16.

• Increases in government school enrolment across the country in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh. In contrast, government school enrolment has decreased in several northeastern states throughout this period.

Students Joining Tuition

• Across gender, grades, and school kids, there has been significant growth in the number of children enrolled in tuition, rising from 30% in 2018 to over 40% in 2021.

• The proportion of children enrolled in tuition who have parents with a ‘poor’ education climbed by 12.6 percentage points, compared to a 7.2 percentage point increase among children enrolled in tuition who have parents with ‘high’ education.

• Tuition lessons are more prevalent among youngsters whose schools were still closed when the study was conducted.

• Tuition is rising across the country, except for Kerala.

Smartphone access to Students at Home

• Smartphone ownership is expected to nearly quadruple from 36.5 percent in 2018 to 67.6 percent in 2021. Children at private schools are more likely to have a smartphone at home (79 percent) than children in public schools (63.7 percent ).

• As parents’ education level rises, so is the probability that their family will own a smartphone. More than 80% of children whose parents had studied up to Std IX or higher had a smartphone at home, compared to just over 50% of children whose parents had studied up to Std V or less.

• Even though more than two-thirds of all enrolled children (67.6 percent) have a smartphone at home, more than a quarter of these do not have access to it (26.1 percent ).

Support to Study at Home

• Learning help at home has declined over the previous year, falling from three-quarters of all enrolled children in 2020 to two-thirds in 2021, with the greatest declines apparent among children in higher grades.

• Among both public and private school students, those whose schools have reopened receive less parental support.

Providing Learning Materials to Students

• Almost all of the youngsters enrolled have textbooks for their current school level (91.9 percent ).

• 39.8 percent of students whose schools did not open got the learning materials or activities (other than textbooks) from their teachers.

• During the reference week, 46.4 percent of students in reopened schools got learning materials/activities, compared to 39.8 percent of children in non-reopened schools.

Conclusion

ASER has been conducted every year since 2005 in almost all rural districts of India. Pratham Organisation released the Annual Status of Education Report and ASER 2021 has found a big Increase in every category of the survey except for enrollment of students in private schools and Learning support at home. 

Students are preferring govt schools over private schools as they are providing equal education at a way cheaper cost. Learning support at home is decreasing especially for higher classes. Children are also going to tuition more. Access to smartphones for children at home has increased way too much. It is a good as well as a bad thing for children aging 6-15years depending upon their uses. 

Learning support at home is decreasing especially for higher classes. Learning materials are provided to students timely. All the students enrolled have got the learning material as per their course requirements. So in all, there is some positive news as well as negative news. The government should focus on the negative and start spreading awareness regarding it.