Maths queries confound 60 per cent class 8 kids

MUMBAI: On an average, 60 per cent of Class 8 students in Maharashtra cannot respond to questions pertaining to Science and Mathematics. This was highlighted in the Maharashtra Learning Report by the National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2017, which was conducted on 1,43,598 students of Classes 3, 5 and 8 in 6,099 schools in all 36 districts.

In the survey, it was also found that in Class 3, 35 per cent, 31 per cent and 30 per cent of average children could not respond correctly to questions pertaining to Mathematics, EVS and language subjects respectively whereas in Class 5, 48 per cent, 44 per cent and 39 per cent could not respond correctly to questions pertaining to Mathematics, EVS and language subjects.

While among Class 8 students, the percentage of students who could not respond to questions related to language subjects, Mathematics and Science, and Social Science was 37 per cent, 60 per cent and 58 per cent respectively.

The survey also stated that close to 9 per cent of students could not understand what the teacher says or what is being taught in the classroom, while 18 per cent of students in Classes 3 and 5 and 16 per cent of Class 8 students find it difficult to travel from school to home. Only 5 per cent students across the classes do not like to go to school, which means 95 per cent students enjoy their school life.

Apart from students, the survey also sheds light on the conditions of teachers. The survey, which was conducted on 16,002 teachers in the 6,099 schools, revealed that 40 per cent of Class 3 teachers, 32 per cent of Class 5 teachers and 15 per cent of Class 8 teachers are not teaching the same subject they had pursued during their higher studies. On an average, close to 33 per cent of teachers don’t fully understand the curricular goals while 66 per cent claimed they are overloaded with work and 41 teachers are not satisfied with their job.

The NAS survey was conducted across government and government-aided schools. As per the ministry of human resource development, the survey employed multiple test booklets with 45 questions for Class 3 and 5 students and 60 questions for Class 8 in Mathematics, Language, Science and Social Scie-nces. Along with the test items, questionnaires pertaining to students, teachers and schools were used.

The finding of the survey will help the government to guide education policy, plan for improving learning levels of children.