(a) whether UNESCO report has claimed that there are wide disparities in students` achievement of basic skills across States even as the country has succeeded in enrolling more children and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether the Government has indentified the reasons for such differences and if so, the details thereof along with the response of the Government thereto; and
(c) the action taken by the Government in this regard?
MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)
(a) to (c) : The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) report refers to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), brought out by PRATHAM, a non-governmental organisation, claiming that there are wide disparities in students achievement of basic skills. ASER report is an assessment of student learning at the habitation / village level and not a school based assessment of learning outcomes.
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) conducts National Achievement Surveys (NAS), every three years, for classes III, V and VIII. Three rounds of NAS have been conducted by the NCERT which reveal improvement in various subjects in all classes in most States, though the achievement level remain low.
The States/UTs have been financially supported through Central Government’s flagship programme of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan(SSA) to recruit additional teachers to improve the Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR), regular annual-in-service teacher training to all teachers to update their skills & knowledge, distribution of free textbooks to all children, two sets of uniforms to all girls, SC/ST and BPL boys, support for Computer Aided Learning at upper primary level and regular academic support through Block Resource Centres and Cluster Resource Centres.
Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat, a sub-programme under SSA has been launched to enhance the quality of foundational learning in languages and early mathematics in classes 1 & 2 and focused programme for Science and Maths at upper primary level.