How Learning Outcomes Vary With Geography

Recently, Mint HT has conducted an analysis of two large data sets on learning outcomes. The analysis stated that the learning outcomes vary largely across various districts in India. The rural districts have not shown very great learning outcomes, on the other hand, certain other districts have shown better results.

The first set of data has been chalked out from the Annual State of Education report (ASER) survey 2016. The second set of data is the set of district level report cards that have been published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). These report cards are based on the results of the National Achievement Survey (NAS) that was conducted in the year 2017. The analysis has reflected that a large part of certain states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh have the poorest learning outcomes across the country. Alongside these areas are also amongst the poorest, which suggests that India’s school system is failing children especially in such parts and areas where it is needed the most. The data reflects that most of the districts that have performed better are situated in peninsular India, towards the extreme north and in a slim strip along the east coast extending towards the north east. During the analysis, district wise aggregate performance of rural students of the third standard in maths questions asked by NAS was treated as the basis. The two surveys made use of distinct methodology from each other. ASER which is a rapid assessment survey conducted across rural households covered private and government schools students. On the other hand, NAS is slightly more detailed in nature and has been conducted in classrooms of government schools across the country. On looking for similarity in the outcomes of both the surveys it was found that around 34% districts that were ranked in the bottom quintile of the ASER survey, also feature in the bottom quintile of the NAS survey. Nearly, more than half of the districts of the ASER’s bottom quintile feature in the bottom two NAS quintile. The trends of student performances related to reading ability and language scores are quite similar to the trends in maths performance. No matter both the surveys are based upon distinct methodologies, yet both point towards significant geographic inequality in learning outcomes with the prosperous parts of the country performing better than the poorer states. Another factor leading to inequality in the learning outcomes is the status of the households.

By: Anuja Arora

Content:  http://www.livemint.com/education/news/the-geography-of-leaning-outcomes-in-india-1548178547466.html