The Annual Status of Education Report 2023, unveiled on Wednesday, indicated that over 50% of rural Indian students aged 14 to 18 struggle with basic division problem-solving.
The “Beyond Basics” survey conducted by the non-governmental organization Pratham covered 28 districts across 26 states, surveying 34,745 children aged 14 to 18. Its purpose was to evaluate the fundamental skill levels within this age group.
In total, 86.8% of participants were found to be attending an educational institution. Among 14-year-olds, the percentage of those not enrolled in schools was 3.9%, whereas for 18-year-olds, it escalated to 32.6%.
The study revealed that over 50% of youngsters in this age bracket face challenges with solving division problems, specifically dividing three-digit numbers by one-digit numbers—a skill typically acquired by Grade four. Only 43.3% demonstrated proficiency in correctly solving such problems.
In the survey group, 25% struggled to read a text at a Class 2 level in their regional language, and more than 42% faced difficulty reading English sentences. Among those who could read English sentences, nearly 73.5% could comprehend their meanings.
According to the report, girls outperformed boys in reading a Class 2 level text in their regional language, with 76% of females compared to 70.9% of males. Conversely, male students in the same age group exhibited better performance than their female counterparts in arithmetic and reading English.
