While the state has seen an increase in agitations from teachers organisations, the annual economic survey report 2015 shows that the reading abilities of students in Classes III and V is equivalent t
While the state has seen an increase in agitations from teachers organisations, the annual economic survey report 2015 shows that the reading abilities of students in Classes III and V is equivalent to students of Classes I and II, posing a question on the teaching being imparted to students and also the validity of the teachers’ demands.
As per the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2015 for the state of Maharashtra, the basic levels of learning of children in reading abilities and arithmetic was low. The survey stated that the percentages of children in Class III who can read Class I text and children from Class V who can read text meant for students of Class II were only 63.3 and 61.8 per cent respectively. The survey further highlights the percentage of Class III children who can successfully do subtraction and Class V children who can manage divisions is an abysmal 23.6 and 24.4 per cent. This implies that 37.7 per cent children from Class III and 38.2 per cent students from Class V cannot read. Similarly, 76.4 per cent children from Class III are unable to carry out subtraction while 75.6 per cent children from class V are unable calculate division.
The results are based on a survey carried out by an NGO in which 19,722 households were surveyed and involved 26,883 children in the age group of 6-13 years. The NGO had visited 984 villages in 33 districts of the state.
According to a statement by the NGO, the outcome of the survey indicates that the standard of education was extremely low, as a result of which students of higher classes were unable to read and do basic arithmetic too. The NGO further said that apart from the quality of education being imparted, the quality of teachers imparting education was also one of the reasons for the poor academic condition.
Speaking about the survey, an official from the school education department said, “The teachers have been resorting to numerous agitations to get their demands fulfilled but they fail to deliver on their duties. In such a scenario the government has a right to refuse their demands,” said the official.
However, teachers and principal organisations said it was wrong on the part of the government to draw conclusions based on the ASER report.
“The validity of the survey is questionable and our organisation does not believe in the statistics,” said Prashant Redij, spokesperson of the Maharashtra State Unaided School Principals Association. “There are some regions in the state where the standard of quality of teachers may not be very good but it does not mean that teachers in the entire state are bad. The survey is not accurate and cannot be a reason for the government to refuse the demands of the teachers,” said Mr Redij.
