School education in rural India is witnessing a quiet but profound recovery from the Covid pandemic’s losses. The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2024 by NGO Pratham reveals that despite challenges, there have significant improvements facilitated by the Centre’s initiatives like National Education Policy 2020 and NIPUN Bharat.
Pre-primary school enrolments rose sharply
The ASER 2024 is based on a survey of over 649,491 children aged 3 to 16 across 17,997 villages in 605 districts. The surveyors examined the reading and arithmetic skills of more than 500,000 children in the 5-16 years age group. According to the findings of the survey, there has been a significant rise in pre-school enrolment for children aged 3-5. The report says that enrollment of 3-year-olds in pre-primary institutions has skyrocketed from 68.1% in 2018 to 77.4% in 2024. States like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha and Telangana have achieved near-universal enrolment for this age group. However, Uttar Pradesh and Meghalaya have the highest proportions which is over 50% of 3-year-olds not enrolled in any pre-primary institutions: Anganwadi centre, government pre-primary class, or private LKG/UKG.
The report says that among 4-year-olds, enrolment in pre-primary institutions surged from 76% in 2018 to 82% in 2022 to 83.3% in 2024. “In 2024, enrollment rates in pre-primary for this age exceed 95% in states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Odisha,” the report reads.
Similarly, the percentage of 5-year-olds enrolling in pre-primary institutions also increased from 58.5% in 2018 to 62.2% in 2022 to 71.4% in 2024. Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala, and Nagaland are among the states with enrollment exceeding 90% in pre-primary institutions for this age.
In 2024, about one-third of 5-year-olds are enrolled in a government or private school or preschool. While in 2018 this figure was 37.3%, it dropped to 30.8% in 2022 due to the covid pandemic, however, there has been a significant recovery by 2024 with 37.5% of 5-year-olds attending a private school or pre-school. Punjab and Kashmir have fared well in this aspect and witnessed a substantial increase in enrollment in pre-primary classes in government schools.
Other than this, the proportion of children underage in standard/class 1 is also going down. While in 2018, this figure was 25.6% and in 2022 it stood at 22.7%, the figure went dramatically down in 2024. As per ASER findings, nationally the percentage of underage children in Std I was at its lowest ever at 16.7% with Gujarat witnessing a sharp drop from 36.4% in 2022 to a mere 4% in 2024.
Elementary education: Where the numbers stood in 2024
The report says that the overall rates of school enrolment among the 6-14 age group has exceeded 95% for close to 20 years and in 2024, the percentage has remained almost the same, from 98.4% in 2022 to 98.1% in 2024. In the year 2024, enrollment in this age group is above 95% across all states.
While in the pre-pandemic years and in 2022, there was a significant improvement in government school enrollments by 2024, the all-India figure declined to 66.8% with the only exceptions being Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir.
The children covered in the survey were subjected to a Reading Assessment Test which examines whether a child can read letters, words, a simple paragraph at the STD I level of difficulty, or a “story” at the STD II level of difficulty. As per the ASER 2024, there was a massive improvement in reading levels for children in government schools in all elementary standards, that is, from Class 1 to 8th.
For STD III (Class 3) students enrolled in government schools, basic reading levels have been recorded as highest in 2024 since the inception of ASER in 2005. The report said that the percentage of Std III children able to at least read Std II level text was 20.9% in 2018, however, this figure fell to 16.3% in 2022. In 2024, this figure has increased to 23.4% in 2024.
The ASER attributed this uptick to improvement in government schools. The report said that the improvements in government schools are higher than the corresponding recovery for private schools. States like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Kerala, and Uttar Pradesh among others have done well in this aspect.
“Following a decline in Std III reading levels in government schools in most states in 2022, all states have shown a recovery in 2024. States with more than a 10 percentage point increase in this proportion between 2022 and 2024 in government schools include Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha, and Maharashtra,” the report states.
For STD V (Class 5) students, the reading levels have improved, especially among the children enrolled in government schools. The report said that the proportion of Std V children in government schools who can read a Std II level text fell from 44.2% in 2018 to 38.5% in 2022 and then recovered to 44.8% in 2024. The survey recorded slight improvements in levels of private school students as well.
“Small improvements are also seen in reading levels for Std V children in private schools, which fell from 65.1% in 2018 to 56.8% in 2022 and increased to 59.3% in 2024. In 2024, Mizoram (64.9) and Himachal Pradesh (64.8%) had the highest proportions of Std V children in government schools able to read Std II level text. States with over a 10 percentage point increase in this proportion in government schools include Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu,” the report reads.
For STD VIII students in government schools, the reading levels have recovered from a drop in 2022 and stood at 67.5%. This figure was 69% in 2018 and 66.2% in 2022. While the numbers remained stable for private school students, in government schools, improvements were recorded in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Sikkim while declines were recorded in Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana.
In addition to the reading assessment test, the students were also tested for the arithmetic levels. According to the report, the ASER arithmetic tasks assess whether a child in the 5-16 age group can recognise numbers from 1 to 9, recognise numbers from 11 to 99, do a 2-digit numerical subtraction problem with borrowing, or correctly solve a numerical division problem (3-digit by 1-digit).
The results of the test indicated a highest-in-the-decade improvement in both government and private school students. For STD 3 students who are able to at least do a numerical subtraction problem was 28.2% in 2018 and 25.9% in 2022, however, in 2024, this figure surpassed the pre-pandemic levels and rose to 33.7%. Contrary to a minuscule improvement among private school students, among the government school students this figure went from 20.9% in 2018 to 20.2% in 2022, increasing to 27.6% in 2024. There has been impressive improvement in Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh with a 15 percentage point increase.
For STD 5 and 8 students, the figures rose in 2024 to 30.7% and 45.8% respectively.
Coming to the state-wise percentage of children aged 6-14 enrolled in government schools, the ASER data indicates that in the year 2024, states like Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Haryana had lowest enrolment rates between 30-50%. Bihar, Odisha, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, and West Bengal had the highest enrolment rates between 81-90%. Karnataka, Jharkhand and Tripura had enrolment rates between 71-80%. In the 61-70% category came states like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Assam, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Telangana had enrolment rates between 51-60%.
Data on enrolment of children in both government and private schools
At the national level, the proportion of children in the age group 15-16 not enrolled in school was 13.1% in 2018, which came down to 7.5% in 2022 and stayed at 7.9% in 2024. However, the proportion of girls not enrolled in school has witnessed a slight decline from 7.9% in 2022 to 8.1% in 2024.
Of age groups 6-14, 66.8% of the sampled students are enrolled in governments, 30.6% in private schools, 0.7 in Madrasas or Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) and 1.9% were not enrolled in any educational institution. In the age group 7-16, 66.0% are enrolled in government schools, 30.8% in private schools, 0.7% in Madrasas or EGS and 2.5% were not enrolled anywhere. In the age group 7-10, 67.5% are enrolled in government schools, 30.7%in private schools, 0.7% in others and 1.2% not enrolled in any institution.
Effective implementation of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy activities, improved attendance levels, increase in small schools and multigrade classrooms
The report says that ASER surveyors visited 15,728 government schools with primary sections. 8,504 were primary schools and 7,224 were schools which also had upper primary or higher grades. The survey findings reveal that over 80% of the schools received directives from the government to implement Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) activities with classes 1-2 or 3. Around 80% of schools had at least one teacher who received training on FLN.
“More than 75% schools had received TLM and/or funds to make or purchase TLM for FLN activities. More than 75% of schools reported implementing a school readiness program for students prior to entering Std I, in both the previous and the current academic year. More than 95% schools reported having distributed textbooks to all grades in the school, a substantial increase over 2022 levels,” the report reads.
There has also been consistent improvement in attendance levels of students and teachers in primary schools. “Average student attendance increased from 72.4% in 2018 to 73% in 2022 to 75.9% in 2024. Average teacher attendance increased from 85.1% in 2018 to 86.8% in 2022 to 87.5% in 2024. This trend is largely driven by changes in teacher and student attendance in Uttar Pradesh.
According to ASER 2024, there has been a remarkable increase in the proportion of government primary schools with less than 60 students enrolled. The percentage rose from 44% in 2022 to 52.1% in 2024. The report says that over 80% of primary schools in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Nagaland, and Karnataka are small schools with Himachal Pradesh having the highest 75% of small upper primary schools.
About the multigrade classrooms, the ASER says, “Two-thirds of Std I and Std II classrooms in primary schools were multigrade, with students from more than one grade sitting together.”
Small but profound improvement in school facilities
Citing the Right to Education-related indicators, ASER says that there have been small improvements between the 2018, 2022, and 2024 levels. The report said that the fraction of schools with useable girls’ toilets increased from 66.4% in 2018 to 68.4% in 2022 to 72% in 2024. Similarly, the proportion of schools with drinking water available increased from 74.8% to 76.1% to 77.7%, and the proportion of schools with books other than textbooks being used by students increased from 36.9% to 43.9% to 51.3% over the same period.
While these improvements are seen across all states, the ASER stressed that schools in Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Nagaland continue to lag in these facilities. Meanwhile, the sports-related indicators are stagnant at the 2018 levels although there was a slight improvement in 2022.
Digital literacy: Improved access to smartphones and digital skills among children in the 14-16 age group
The report said that this is the first time ASER included a digital literacy section which was administered to children aged between 14-16. The survey findings state that nearly 90% of both girls and boys have a smartphone at home with over 80% (85.5% of boys as compared to 79.4% of girls) knowing how to use a smartphone. Compared to other states, the proportion of those who have a smartphone at home and those who can use a smartphone is lower in Bihar, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.
Regarding smartphone ownership, the ASER says “Of the children who could use a smartphone, 27% of 14-year-olds and 37.8% of 16-year-olds reported having their own phone. Moreover, there is a large gender gap in smartphone ownership: 36.2% of boys as compared to 26.9% of girls reported owning their own smartphone. This gender gap is seen across all states.”
The report further stated that 82.2% of all children in the 14-16 age group know how to use a smartphone with 57% of them using smartphones for educational purposes in addition, they also used smartphones for social media. In this age group, the proportion of boys using social media is higher than girls.
“While the use of a smartphone for educational activities was similar among girls and boys, girls were less likely than boys to report using social media (78.8% of boys as compared to 73.4% of girls). Kerala stands out in this respect, with over 80% of children who reported that they used the smartphone for educational activity and over 90% using it for social media,” the report says.
The report said that the children covered in the survey were asked to set an alarm, browse for a specific piece of information, locate a YouTube video on their smartphones and share it over any messaging platform. Most of the children could complete the task with over 90% being able to find and share a YouTube video. However, gender disparities were observed in every task, particularly in setting an alarm.
“More than three-quarters of children to whom these tasks were given were able to perform them successfully. Among those who could locate the video on YouTube, over 90% were able to share it. Gender gaps were observed in performance on every task, with the largest gap in children’s ability to set an alarm on the smartphone (81.5% boys as compared to 72.4% girls). In some southern states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala, girls either outperform boys or are at the same level as them,” the report said.
The ASER found that these children were not only decently skilled in performing basic operations on smartphones and using social media but also knew how to protect themselves online. “62% knew how to block or report a profile, 55.2% knew how to make a profile private, and 57.7% knew how to change a password. Boys’ awareness of these safety features was substantially higher than girls’ across a majority of the states,” the ASER said.
Fall in unschooled mothers from 47% to 29% in 8 years: Remarkable improvements but way to go
Over the last eight years, maternal education levels have seen massive improvements. The ASER says that the proportion of mothers (of children in the 5-16 age group) who have never attended school has slumped from 46.6% in 2016 to 29.4% in 2024. The report attributed this to a shift that represents the gains of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, now Samagra Shiksha, launched in 2001-02 to achieve universal enrolment.
What is even more interesting is that these women are not only attending schools but also pursuing higher levels of education beyond class 10. The data shows that 9.2% of mothers had studied after class 10 in 2016, however, in the last eight years, this surged by 10 percentage points to 19.5% in 2024 with Kerala leading the way, followed by Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. Notably, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal have also recorded a 10 percentage point increase. However, Madhya Pradesh where 3.6% of mothers had studied beyond class 10 in 2016 rose only to 9.7% in 2024, making it the poorest-performing state in this aspect.
At the national level, there has been an increase from 9.2% mothers having studied beyond class 10, to 19.2% in 2024.
In addition, ASER recorded a small eight percentage point increase in the percentage of fathers who have studied beyond class 10— from 17.4% in 2016 to 25% in 2024. It is worth noting that in the last eight years, the gap between the percentage of mothers and that of fathers who have studied beyond class 10 has reduced to a noticeable extent.
