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Enrolment trends: Major findings of the ASER 2014 have been highlighted below—
• There has been a decline in enrolment in the government schools in the rural areas which fell down from 72.9 per cent of 2007 to 63.1 per cent in 2014. This decline looks made up by an increase in the private schools during the same period which increased from 20.2 to 30.7 per cent. Concerns about the decline in enrolment in government schools need to be identified and addressed. Decline in enrolment in government schools and some shift to private schools might be largely related to the poor quality of education offered in government schools, since it is free or offered for a nominal fee.
• There is a sharp decline in the number of children in standard V who can read a textbook of standard II in both government and private schools.
• The decline in educational outcomes in private schools warrants equal attention since there is an increase in the share of private providers of schooling and education across India.
As per the Economic Survey 2016-17, an important concern that is often raised in the context of school education is ‘low learning outcomes’. This has been pointed out in several studies (including ASER, 2014). While there have been improvements in access and retention, the learning outcomes for a majority of children is still a cause of serious concern. Some of the underlying causes contributing to low quality of education in the primary sector are—
(i) Teacher absenteeism, and
(ii) Shortage of professionally qualified teachers.
Though the share of teacher component in total Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
(SSA) budget has been increasing over the years from 35 per cent in 2011-12 to 59 per cent in 2014-15, teacher absenteeism and the shortage of professionally qualified teachers remain an issue to be addressed. Biometric attendance of teachers—monitored by communities and parents together with putting the data in public domain—may prove useful in this regard. This should be backed by adequate teaching aids, recorded lectures, etc. to fill in for absentee teachers. learning outcomes should be part of the whole exercise. Attention should be given on the aspect of “quality teacher training”.
Professional qualification & training: As per the latest report by the U- DISE (Unified-District Information System for Education) on School Education in India 2014–15, only 79 per cent of teachers are professionally qualified in the country. For the higher secondary level, the per centage of qualified teachers is around 69 per cent. There is need to increase the per centage of qualified teachers and also the training of both qualified and under-qualified teachers.
Gender parity: As per the Ministry of HRD’s Educational Statistics, the Gender Parity Index (GPI) at various levels of school education has improved by 2014-15, except in the higher education in the case of total and Scheduled Caste (SC) students. In the case of Scheduled Tribe (ST) students, parity between girls and boys has not been achieved across all levels of school and higher education. There is need to bridge the gender disparity in higher education among total and SC students and, at all levels of education for ST students.