ASER, NAS, and FLS: What the education surveys broadly reveal and where they fall short

The Hindu

16-05-2025

With schools set to reopen next month, understanding how children are actually learning beyond their exam results becomes crucial for parents, teachers and policymakers alike. India currently relies on three major assessments to gauge learning levels: the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), the National Achievement Survey (NAS)–recently revamped as PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan—and the Foundational Learning Study (FLS).
Each of these tools offers a different lens into the country's school system, but their findings have raised deeper questions about what's being measured, what's being missed and what must change on the ground.
Comparing the three surveys
Pioneering the assessment of foundational reading and arithmetic skills in India, ASER was launched in 2005 by the non-profit organisation Pratham. According to Pratham's website, ASER is a household based survey that collects information on children's schooling status and basic learning outcomes in almost every rural district in the country.
Covering 600 districts, ASER is predominantly a rural survey with representative data at the district, state and national levels. ASER's reports have been quoted in government reports such as the planning commission report and the economic survey. As it is the only non-government survey in India, it serves as a proper counterpoint.
Another important study is the National Achievement Survey (NAS), which the NCERT replaced with the PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 last year. NAS focuses on student performance in core subjects and adopts a different methodology from ASER, as it is conducted within schools rather than households.
The NAS assesses students in government and government-aided schools across Grades 3, 5, 8 and 10, focusing on subject-wise performance in Language, Math, EVS/Science, and Social Science. In contrast, ASER evaluates foundational reading and arithmetic skills among all children aged 5–16, including those out of school.
ASER surveys assess children in their homes rather than in schools, to avoid inflated results or coaching by teachers. However, this method has its own limitations as experts point out that children may feel intimidated in unfamiliar settings and lack the supportive environment they're used to at school.
While NAS and ASER are periodic assessments, FLS was a one-time nationwide exercise carried out by NCERT in 2022. It aimed to assess the foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) skills of students in early grades and to set national benchmarks for learning outcomes across different languages.
Achievements and limitations of surveys
While FLS has been a new survey to gauge its impact, the other two surveys have been commended for acknowledging the gaps in the school education system and also questioned for its very existence. 'It is easy to get the data of enrollment, dropout and retention from the existing school systems. But these surveys indicate how the system is functioning,' said Professor Srinivasan Ramanujam, retired faculty member, Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc), Chennai.
These national surveys do not fully expose the systemic challenges within India's educational infrastructure. Recent reports indicate that over 9.8 lakh teaching positions remain vacant across the country, with more than 2.5 lakh vacancies at the secondary level alone.
The Right To Education Act mandates nine essential infrastructure parameters under norms and standards for schools, including adequate classrooms, separate toilets for boys and girls, and safe drinking water facilities among other basic needs to create an enabling learning environment. However, a public manifesto by civil society organizations revealed that only 25.5% of Indian schools are fully compliant with these RTE norms.
Under such circumstances, can a survey reveal fair results? 'It is like checking for haemoglobin in a person without providing them with basic nutrition,' said Niranjanaradhya V P, development educationist.
Questioning the methodology of NAS and ASER, Niranjanaradhya said, 'They are rather unscientific. Teaching and testing should be done by the same people. That is the spirit of continuous and comprehensive evaluation. A survey conducted with volunteers would not yield correct results.'
In India, education is a State subject, and each State follows its own pedagogical methods, curricula, and learning outcomes. This raises an important question: can a uniform, nationwide assessment truly reflect the diverse learning realities across states?
It is in this context that states like Tamil Nadu are conducting their own assessments tailored to local contexts. 'The national surveys never state the reason for the low or good performance of the students. They never address the issue of equitable access to quality education for all children. This is more of an administrative approach and in a multi-grade school system, how could one expect equitable learning outcomes?' Prince Gajendrababu, an educationist said.
The impact of these surveys at the national level has largely been limited. Experts argue that for the surveys to translate into real change, School Management Committees must be made aware of the assessments and their findings.
'Kerala is a rare exception, where community interventions—particularly through active and functional School Management Committees (SMCs)—have helped bridge learning gaps and ensure accountability. In most other states, including Tamil Nadu, SMCs have remained largely dormant. Until 2022, many in Tamil Nadu hadn't even heard of these committees,' said Professor Dr Vasanthi Devi, former Vice-Chancellor of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University
'The poorest of the poor study in government schools. If these surveys are to drive improvements, the community must be involved,' Vasanthi Devi added.