Govt school admissions score high, but learning levels fail to make grade

The impact of Covid is palpable, given India recorded a sharp decline in children’s basic ability to read and calculate, reveals data from the Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) 2022, or ASER 2022.

The proportion of children in standard VIII having the ability to read standard II level text declined from 76.5 per cent in 2012 to 69.6 per cent in 2022. Among students in government schools, the fall was from 73.4 per cent to 66.2 per cent in the same period.

Government schools, which historically have lower learning levels, witnessed a higher decline in learning ability