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The Hindu
16-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
ASER, NAS, and FLS: What the education surveys broadly reveal and where they fall short
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.
New Indian Express
11-05-2025
- Science
- New Indian Express
Tamil Nadu Class 8 kids caught in Math, Science bind: Survey
CHENNAI: A first-of-its-kind State-Level Achievement Survey that tested 9,80,341 students in Classes 3, 5 and 8 has found that the average mark scored by Class 8 students in Mathematics and Science barely crossed 40. The survey, jointly conducted by the State Planning Commission, Samagra Shiksha, SCERT, and the Directorates of School Education and Elementary Education, covered 66% of students enrolled in Classes 3,5 and 8 in all 45,924 government and government-aided schools across the state. The primary school students of Tamil Nadu, however, have shown improvement in Tamil language skills, the survey showed. Compared to the National Achievement Survey (NAS) of 2011, the average scores of students in all subjects in these classes have gone up, except in Mathematics in Class 3, where the score declined from 57% to 54%. As per the report's district-wise performance data, Kanniyakumari, Cuddalore, Madurai, Tenkasi and Sivagangai were the top-performing districts. Nilgiris, Erode, Chengalpattu, Chennai and Coimbatore performed poorly. Many of the poorly-performing districts are located in North and West Tamil Nadu (except Tiruvarur in the East and Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli in South Tamil Nadu).
The Hindu
10-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
‘Ennum Ezhuthum helped Class 3, 5 students make up for learning loss'
: Students of Classes 3 and 5 have achieved better learning outcomes in Tamil with an average of 67% and 76% respectively, according to the State-level Achievement Survey 2025 (SLAS), which was released on Saturday. In a first for the State, the survey was conducted by Samagra Shiksha, State Council of Educational Research and Training, Directorates of School Education and Elementary Education and supervised by the State Planning Commission to assess the learning outcomes of Classes 3, 5, and 8 students in government and aided schools. A total of 9,80,341 students from 45,924 schools took part in the survey. They were given a questionnaire containing 35-50 questions, which they had to answer in 90 minutes. As many as 38,670 final-year students from arts and engineering colleges served as field invigilators. Class 3 students achieved 67% in Tamil, 54% in Mathematics, and 76% in Environmental Science. The scores of Tamil, English and Environmental Science, are higher than the national averages, based on the 2021 National Achievement Survey results. The trend is similar with Class 5, which recorded 76% in Tamil, 51% in English, 57% in Environmental Science, and 57% in Mathematics. The report noted that the improvement in Class 3 and 5 was the effective implementation of Ennum Ezhuthum which enhanced student learning outcomes. However, as noticed in the National Achievement Survey of 2021, the scores in Mathematics and Science take a dip in Class 8, with the students scoring 38% and 37% respectively. Across the classes, there was a progressive decline in English too with class 3 at 69%, class 5 at 51% and class 8 at 38%. Addressing a press conference, Vice Chairman of the State Planning Commission J. Jeyaranjan attributed the decline in Class 8 to learning loss due to COVID-19 pandemic. 'While the benefits of utilising schemes such as Ennum Ezhuthum and Illam Thedi Kalvi have been reflected in Class 3 and 5, more utilisation of these programmes are required for Class 8,' he said. He further added that SSLAS will be conducted next year also to further assess learning outcomes after interventions. 'We will consult and formulate action plans at the granular level so that each school benefits,' a senior official from the School Education Department said.
