ASER Report

• 18 Nov 2021

Why in News

The 16^th Annual Status of Education Report (Gramin) 2021 was released on November 17, 2021. Accordingly, there has been an increase in enrollment in government schools of Bihar.

Key Points

• According to the report, there has been an increase of 3.6% in the number of children in the age group of 6-14 years studying in government schools of Bihar as compared to the previous year.
• In 2020, the number of children (6-14 years) enrolled in government schools in Bihar was 76.9 percent.
• 78.2 percent boys (6-14 years age group) and 82.9 percent girls (6-14 years age group) are enrolled in government schools in Bihar, while at the national level only 67.9 percent boys and 73 percent girls are enrolled in government schools, the rest Enrollment in private schools.
• According to the report, 73.5 percent of Bihar's enrolled students take tuitions, compared to the national average of 39.2 percent.
• In the year 2021, the number of enrolled students of Bihar, who have a smartphone in their homes, has increased to 54.5 percent, which was only 27.2 percent in the year 2018. This has been possible due to the promotion of online education in the Covid era.
• Bihar, however, is still at the bottom in terms of smartphone availability. While Kerala ranks first with 97.5 percent smartphone availability, the national average is also 67.6 percent, which is much higher than Bihar.
• Despite the availability of smartphones at homes, 53.8 percent of the enrolled students of Bihar are not able to get smartphones to study, which is the highest in the country and this has become a cause of great concern.
• Bihar's 89.4 percent of enrolled children have books for their grades, compared to the national average of 91.9 percent.
• According to the report, 6.7 percent of children in Bihar in the age group of 6-14 years are still unenrolled, including 7.1 percent boys and 4.7 percent girls. At the national level, 4.6% children are enrolled.
• It is clear from the report that only 10 percent of the enrolled students of Bihar are able to study online from home, while in Kerala it is 91 percent, while the national average is also much higher than Bihar at 24.2 percent.
• It may be noted that the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) released by NGO Pratham presents data on the schooling status and basic reading and math abilities of children in rural India.
• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ASER 2021 has been prepared on the basis of a phone based survey.