‘Significant improvement in reading & arithmetic skills of students in state’

Kolkata: The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2024 has revealed a marked improvement in the reading and arithmetic skills of students in Bengal. According to the report, the percentage of students in Classes I to VIII exhibiting basic reading and arithmetic abilities has risen since 2022, signifying a positive trend in educational recovery.

ASER’s learning assessments were conducted across rural districts, evaluating children aged 5-16. In Bengal, 12,301 students participated in the reading assessment, while 12,286 students were assessed on their arithmetic skills. The reading test gauged children’s ability to recognise letters, words, simple paragraphs at Standard-I level or a short story at Standard-II level. Arithmetic assessments involved tasks such as number recognition, subtraction and division.

The report highlights a significant rise in reading proficiency among government school students. In Class III, the percentage of children able to read a Standard-II level text rose from 32.6 per cent in 2022 to 34 per cent in 2024. In Class V, the proportion of students who can read at this level increased from 47.1 per cent to 53.9 per cent and in Class VIII, it rose from 69.8 per cent to 71.3 per cent.

Arithmetic skills have also shown improvement. In Class III, the percentage of students who could perform subtraction rose from 32.4 percent in 2022 to 37.5 per cent in 2024. In Class V, the proportion of students able to carry out division increased from 26.9 per cent to 34.3 per cent, while in Class VIII, the figure rose from 32 per cent to 33.5 per cent.

These improvements are part of a broader national recovery from the learning losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the ASER report. However, the report also highlights areas of concern. For example, in Class III, 6.1 per cent of children were found unable to recognise letters and 4.4 per cent could not identify numbers from 1 to 9. Additionally, while 36.3 per cent of Class III students could read a Standard-II level text, only 22.3 per cent were able to perform division.

The report also provides insights into government school enrolment trends. The percentage of children aged 6-14 enrolled in government schools in West Bengal increased from 88.1 per cent in 2018 to 92.2 percent in 2022, before slightly declining to 89.9 per cent in 2024. Private school enrolment stood at 8.7 per cent. The report notes that the surge in government school enrolments during the pandemic has now reversed, with private school enrolments continuing to rise steadily.