Question : Learning Outcomes

(a) whether it is a fact that the students of Himachal Pradesh stand ahead of
Kerala and all other States in terms of learning outcomes as per the latest
Status of Education Report (ASER) 2016;
(b) if so, the details thereof along with the major findings of the report;
(c) whether as per the report enrolment rate of students in the age group 6 to
14 in Himachal Pradesh was very high;
(d) if so, the details thereof; and
(e) whether it secured first rank in achieving learning outcomes in basic reading
and mathematics across the country and if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(SHRI UPENDRA KUSHWAHA)
(a) & (b). PRATHAM, a non-governmental organization conducts annual
achievement surveys released in the Annual Status of Education Report
(ASER). It is a household survey limited to rural areas of the country. As per
their report of 2016, there has been improvement in terms of learning
outcomes in Himachal Pradesh. The Department of School Education &
Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development was not associated with
this ASER 2016 survey. However, major findings of the ASER, 2016 are
summarised as follows:
i. In almost all states there is some improvement in the arithmetic
levels of children enrolled in government schools in Std III. States
with an increase of 5 percentage points or more since 2014 include
Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh,
Telangana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
ii. From 2014 to 2016, for Std V children, the level of arithmetic as
measured by children''s ability to do simple division problems has
remained almost the same at 26%. Only five major states show an
improvement of more than 5 percentage points. These are Himachal
Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand.
iii. In comparison, in 2016, 24.5% of children enrolled in Std V could
read simple English sentences. This number is virtually unchanged
since 2009. However, a few states show improvements since 2014
for government school children enrolled in Std V. These states are
Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Maharashtra and
Kerala (all with improvements of 5 percentage points or more).
iv. In nine states, the levels of English reading of private schools has
also improved. These are Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Assam,
Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra
Pradesh and Telangana.
(c) & (d). As per ASER, 2016 results, enrollment level of 6-14 age group
children in Himachal Pradesh and all India rural is given as under:
<pre>
State/Country Government Pvt. Others Not in
schools
Himachal Pradesh 61.3 38.5 0.0 0.2
All India 65.4 30.5 1.0 3.1
</pre>
(e). ASER does not rank the States on the basis of achievement or schooling
facilities.
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