Low learning outcomes in Primary schools in India – Part 1

By Ankit Vyas

All India surveys such as ASER and the Planning Commission Evaluation Report indicate the existence of low learning outcomes in primary schools across India, specifically in reading and mathematics. These outcomes are linked to poor teacher training and quality of teaching in the classroom. In turn, these learning outcomes affect achievement at higher levels of education. Significant dropout rates exist at the higher level of education, with only a fraction making it to the tertiary level. The low quality of education at a primary level threatens to leave a large part of India’s future workforce uneducated and unproductive.

Introduction to the Indian context

The Indian education system has 8 years of primary education, which is free and compulsory, followed by two years of secondary and another two of higher secondary. Primary education starts from 1st grade and has an official entry age of six years. However, this entry age does not hold true in reality and classes generally tend to have a wide age-range. Students are enrolled in public schools as well as private schools, with those in private schools, making up close to 28% (ASER 2012). Education is a fundamental right, according to the Right to Education Act, 2009. Currently, India’s literacy rate is 73%. (Census 2011)
Programs such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and other government initiatives have traditionally been focused on increasing access to schooling. This aspect of education has been fairly successful in India, with a 96% enrolment rate at primary level. (ASER 2012) However, the enrolment rate peters down significantly by the end of the secondary level and only a fraction of the students who enrolled in first grade are still a part of the system by the time their peers go to college.

Problem Definition

Too many students are not learning basic skills such as reading and numeracy in primary school and then dropping out before completing secondary education. A large part of the student population doesn’t develop skills that will help them participate actively in the economy.

Learning Outcomes in Primary Schools

According to the ASER 2012-13 report, the number of students unable to read a second grade text in 5th grade is close to 54% of total students. A similar trend was observed for grade 3 students, administered a grade 1 text.

The findings of the Planning Commission Evaluation Report on the SSA(2010) reinforce this. Only 41.7% at a second grade level were able to read alphabets in their local language. It follows that basics not being built up at the 1st-2nd grade level are reducing the ability to learn in higher grades. Students fared worse in writing, with an average score of 30. This is indicative of the procedural and rote learning methodologies followed in school, which ill prepares students for problems that require application.

In 2010, of all children enrolled in Std. V, 29.1% could not solve simple two-digit subtraction problems with borrowing. This proportion increased to 39% in 2011 and further to 46.5% in 2012. The proportion of all children enrolled in Std. V who could not do division problems has increased from 63.8% in 2010 to 72.4% in 2011 to 75.2% in 2012. (ASER 2012-13) Not only is student performance low, learning outcomes are declining and are likely to decline further unless remedial measures are taken.

The disturbing fact to be noted here is that even though the most basic of concepts were tested, student performance was dismal. While policies talk about teaching analytical skills and building meta-cognitive skills, the current performance of the students indicates a gap between the policy framework and reality.

The EI-Wipro quality education survey measured quality of learning outcomes in the top schools of India. It found that class 4 students even in these schools performed below the international average on TIMMS and PIRLS. (Quality Education survey, 2011)More disturbingly, these outcomes have declined over time, which is consistent with the ASER 2012 findings. This indicates that rote learning and exam-focused teaching methodologies are not helping students learn application of skills.

The existence of these methodologies even in India’s top schools reflects a mindset within teachers and school systems that is fixated on a particular pedagogy and is resistant to change.

The EI-Wipro quality education survey also shows that students performed relatively better on procedural questions, thus indicating a very one-dimensional understanding of the concepts. As a corollary of that, students faltered badly on questions that were in a format that they were unaccustomed to.
India participated in the PISA study for the first time in 2012. The PISA looks to test application of skills in real life situations. Students are not tested on the basis of the syllabus. Two of India’s relatively higher-achieving states, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh were chosen as the sample for the test. In this study, India stood 71st out of 73 nations. In Himachal Pradesh, only 11% of the students were above the reading baseline level needed to participate productively in life. (Dev Lahiri, 2012, October 9, Times of India) India’s abysmal performance in PISA goes to show that rote-learning and syllabus-focused learning is hugely prevalent and that most students have never had the opportunity to apply the knowledge they have learnt.

This goes back to the syllabus and examination-focused teaching that happens in classrooms across India. Classroom instructional time is spent in preparation for examinations and this leads to a process-based approach with focus on teaching content rather than skills.