77.4 % OF CLASS V
STUDENTS UNABLE TO SOLVE SIMPLE SUMS FROM CLASS III
Swati Shinde Gole
| TNN
Pune: An annual national
survey in 2012 of school-going children’s ability in mathematics and reading has
put Maharashtra right at the bottom with just about 22.6% of the total number of
Class V students surveyed able to solve simple arithmetic problems from their
Class III books. The national average was 24.8%.
Educationists blame the
Maharashtra’s poor score to the many childfriendly reforms, such as
the no exam rule, the government has introduced in the education system but has
failed to implement them properly.
The survey, called the annual status
of education report (ASER) 2012, was conducted by non-governmental organization
Pratham Education Foundation, and it has disturbingly revealed that basic
arithmetic skills of students in government schools has declined since 2010.
Ironically, the year 2012 was celebrated as the national year of mathematics to
pay tribute to great mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.
"The report
revealed that most children in school today are at least three grade levels
behind where they should be," said Madhav Chavan, president, Pratham Education
Foundation.
The survey was
conducted in 967 villages of 33 districts and covered 823 Zilla Parishad
schools. As many as 27,834 students in the 3 to 16 year age group were surveyed,
of which children in the 5-16 age group were tested for learning abilities
including reading and arithmetic skills. In the report, it was stated that even
private schools in Maharashtra, showed a decline in reading ability.
The
findings of the survey are telling. It found 77.4 % of the students from Class V
could not do simple division problems taught in Class III. It is a sharp decline
compared to 2010, when 58.6 % Class V students failed to solve division
problems.
Educationists attribute the drop to the many
changes that have been introduced in the education system, such as the no exam
rule, but the state’s failure in implementing it effectively. Vasant Kalpande,
former chairman of the state board of secondary and higher secondary education
said, "The state government has introduced new education reforms in the past two
to three years. These reforms include no exam system up to
Class VIII, continuous
and comprehensive evaluation and other things. However, the government has
failed to implement these changes effectively. There is absolutely no discipline
in executing the new reforms."
Kalpande said that, bringing new reforms
into the education system is like a ritual for the
government but monitoring its implementation was never on its agenda.
Dilip Gogate, former director of education said, "With the no exam
system, teachers, students as well as parents are taking education very lightly.
There is no target for the students to perform and nobody knows if they can
solve mathematics or read English."
Suman Karandikar education expert
said, "Mentoring and supervision are most important aspects in the education
system, which sadly lacks in the state. Teachers should
be role models and when performance is poor, students should be motivated to do
well, which is not seen anymore."
Another former chairman of the state
board, Ujjwaladevi Patil said, "The problem is with the student-teacher
relationship. The crux of education and learning lies there. The relationship
should be intimate so that students know what they are learning and they
generate interest in everyday schooling. How many times do we see this kind of a
teacher-student interaction?" PUNE DIVISION OUTSMARTS
REST OF THE STATE
* Pune division (Pune,
Solapur, Satara, Kolhapur and Sangli) has been reported as the best performing
division in Maharashtra, in ASER report prepared by Pratham Education
Foundation. However, there is a decline in reading and basic arithmetic level of
students since 2010 in Pune division like in the rest of the state.
* As per
the survey’s findings, 52.39 % students of Class V could solve problems related
to division and multiplication while the state average was 38.63 %. Amravati was
among the lowest performing divisions with just 27.22 % students clearing the
test. PUNE
DIVISION’S REPORT CARD * 81.65 % students up to
Class II could read simple words or more nnn State performance in this category:
77.44 %
* 82.29 % students between Class III and V could read English
sentences nnn State performance in this category was: 77.11 % * Amravati
division finished last with 58.13 %
* 84.67 % students up to Class I, could
recognise numbers from 1 to 9 nnn The state performance in the category was
79.75 % BASIC READING LEVELS
ALSO DECLINE In 2010, about 27.5% of
students studying in Class III could not read text from Class I books. This
proportion increased to 36.4 % in 2011 and further to 40.7% in 2012
The
survey also reported a decline in the reading levels of children in
higher
classes. The percentage of students enrolled in Class V who could not read text
from Class II books increased from 26.9 % in 2010 to 36.5 % in 2011 and further
to 41.7 % in 2012
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