ASER Report 2020 | UPSC
HEADLINES:
ASER survey: In Covid year, more kids in govt schools, many not enrolled
WHY IN NEWS:
While changes in school enrollment can only be accurately measured once schools reopen and children return to their classrooms.
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3:Education : Reports
LEARNING:
For PRELIMS understand the key parameters on which the report is built . Do not forget the publishers .
For MAINS compare the data with the previous year and note down the conclusion in your own words . Let us dive in !
ISSUE:
TITLE
Annual Status of Education Report 2020
PUBLISHED BY
AIM
- ASER 2020 was conducted in 26 states and four Union Territories.
- A total of 52,227 households and 59,251 children in the 5-16 age group were surveyed.
- The phone-based survey was done in September, the sixth month of national school closures.
OVERVIEW
- Every year from 2005 to 2014, the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) report has provided district, state, and national estimates of the status of children’s schooling.
- Children in the age group 3 to 16 were surveyed to find out their enrollment status in pre-school or school.
- ASER focuses on a different aspect of children’s schooling and learning.
- In 2017, ASER ‘Beyond Basics’ focused on the abilities, activities, awareness, and aspirations of youth in the 14 to 18 age group across 28 districts in the country.
- In 2019, ASER ‘Early Years‘ reported on young children’s (age 4 to 8) pre-school and school enrolment status and their abilities on a range of important developmental indicators across 26 districts in the country.
- The COVID-19 crisis interrupted this alternate-year calendar, making it impossible to conduct the nationwide ‘basic’ ASER that was due to be repeated in 2020.
ASER 2020 EXPLORE THE FOLLOWING AREAS
- CHILDREN’S ENROLLMENT : Explores patterns of enrolment and dropout among 6-16 year olds in rural India.
- CHILDREN NOT CURRENTLY ENROLLED : Examines which children are currently not enrolled in school and the reasons behind this.
- HOUSEHOLD RESOURCES : Explores whether households have key resources that can help support children’s education.
- LEARNING SUPPORT AT HOME : Examines whether and how households support children during school closures.
- ACCESS TO LEARNING MATERIALS : Reports whether families received learning materials or activities from schools, and the mediums through which they accessed these.
- CHILDREN’S ENGAGEMENT WITH ACTIVITIES : Analyses the extent to which children actually engaged with different kinds of materials and activities received from any source; as well as the nature of contact between families and schools during the lockdown.
- SCHOOL SURVEY : Explores teachers’ preparation for and implementation of remote teaching-learning activities with their students.
REPORT ANALYSIS
ENROLLMENT
- It shows a shift in enrollment from private to government schools — 69.55 per cent children in the 6-14 age group are enrolled in government schools, up from 66.42 per cent in 2018.
- It’s a shift that’s visible across grades and among both girls and boys .
- The survey shows the proportion of boys enrolled in government schools has risen from 62.8 per cent in 2018 to 66.4 per cent in 2020.
ENROLLEMENT IN % | SOURCES : ASER 2020 report
- While for girls, that number has gone up from 70 per cent to 73 per cent in the corresponding period.
- ASER 2020 shows that 5.5 per cent children are not currently enrolled for the 2020-21 school year.
- This difference is the sharpest among the youngest children (ages 6 to 10), possibly because they have not yet secured admission to school.
LEARNING PLATFROM
- Yet, in an academic year when learning has shifted almost entirely to online platforms, have penetrated deeply.
- This is a big jump from two years ago, when merely 36.5 per cent children lived in families with at least one smartphone.
SOURCES : ASER 2020 report
STUDY MATERIAL
- Most children (70.2 per cent) said they did some form of learning activity that week through material shared by tutors or family members themselves.
- Overall, approximately one third of all enrolled children received some kind of learning materials or activities from their teachers during the reference week
SUPPORT SYSTEM
- Almost 75 per cent of children said they received some form of learning support from family members, with older siblings playing a key role.
- Similarly, children in lower grades get more family support than in higher ones.
SUPPORT SYSTEM : SOURCES : ASER 2020 report
PARENT’s EDUCATION
- More educated parents had greater contact with school teachers, as well as a lower proportion of children who did not do any activity in the reference week.
- More than half of all mothers (53.1%) and an even higher proportion of fathers (70.8%) have completed more than 5 years of school.
SOURCES : ASER Report 2020 | UPSC
IASbhai WINDUP:
- In a year marred by Covid-19, deep economic distress and uncertainty over school-reopenings.
- The latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) underlines there are more children in government schools than two years ago.
- Also there is a significant number of them are not enrolled in the current academic year.
SOURCES:THE IE | ASER Report 2020 | UPSC
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