Students in Kerala continue to stumble on basic arithmetic skills, though they have made some gains in reading, according to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2024, released recently. Education officials from the State say that attention should have been given to the pre-primary phase along with Classes I and II.
The survey, conducted to measure the change in basic learning and school statistics, indicated a recovery in Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) among students in the country. In Kerala, a State famed for its model of education, the percentage of Class III students who could read a Class II text was 46. This was an uptick from 38.7% in 2022, but still a decline from over 52% in 2018.
The proportion of Class V students who could read a Class II text in Kerala was 66, an increase from 64.7% in 2022, but an 11 percentage point loss from 77.3% recorded in 2018.
Basic arithmetic
It was a different story in basic arithmetic. The percentage of Class III students in Kerala who were able to do at least subtraction was 32.6%, a decline from 38.6% in 2022 and over 47% in 2018. The percentage of Class V students in Kerala who could do division too showed a steady decline – from 43 in 2018 to 26.6 in 2022 and 21.3 in 2024.
Only 24.1% of primary schools and 27% upper primary schools in Kerala received a directive from the government to implement FLN activities, as per the survey.
Less focus on FLN?
Top education officials said the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 accorded high priority to achieving FLN. Accordingly, the foundational stage from ages 3 to 8 in the new academic structure focused on FLN. In Kerala, attention should have been given to the pre-primary phase along with Classes I and II. However, no discussions had been opened in the State on the NEP structure, and the concept of FLN was likely not taken in the right spirit, though textbooks had been prepared for this segment.
Moreover, there was no uniform framework for pre-primary education in Kerala as various agencies under the government ran pre-schools. Many pre-primary institutions functioned in the private sector too. Differences in their functioning could be a hurdle to the thrust on FLN.
The State, they said, was aware of problems with learning outcomes and so had drawn up a comprehensive education plan with time frames for implementation in the coming academic year.
State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) Director Jayaprakash R.K. said programmes implemented last year for improving Class I students’ language skills such as Sachithra notebook, Samyukta diary, and Kunhezhuthu would start showing results soon. Workbooks in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Sanskrit, Urdu, and Arabic had also been provided to Class I students as part of the revised curriculum this academic year. A study of how effective these had been would be undertaken in March. Similar workbooks would be made available to Class II students in the 2025-26 academic year.
Published – February 01, 2025 09:45 am IST
