The ASER 2021 report, released on November 17, 2021, highlights a significant increase in enrollment in government schools amidst the pandemic, with private school enrollment decreasing notably from 32.5% in 2018 to 24.4% in 2021. The survey, which covered 25 states and union territories, revealed that access to learning materials and technology remains limited, particularly for younger students. Additionally, the demand for private tuition has surged, with 40% of students now opting for it, largely due to disruptions in classroom learning.

2. MENU
f in a m
HOME EWS OPIN ON BUSI ESS SPORT E ERTA NMENT CROSSWORD+ SC E CE
f l)lJ(,"i,: :u1-.; CAREERS COLLEGES SCHOOLS
EDUCATION SCHOOLS
SCHOOLS
ASER reportsays morechildren opting
fortuition; enrolmentin government
schools increase
R.Ravikanth Reddy HYDERABAD, NOVE BER 17 202117:25 1ST
UPDATED: NOVEMBER 17 2021 18:03 1
ST

3. • On 17th November 2021, the
Annual Status of Education Report
(ASER) 2021 was released.
• ASER 2021 is based on a survey
conducted in September-October
2021, 18 months after the first
lockdown.

4. How was the survey conducted?
• The survey is conducted by the ASER Centre.
Beginning in 1996 – The non government
organization Pratham has worked with children in
thousands of villages and urban slums across India.
2008 – ASER Centre was established as an
autonomous unit within the Pratham network.

5. 2004 – the idea of the Annual Status of Education Report
(ASER) was born.
Conceived as an annual, nationwide survey of children's
ability to read simple text and do basic arithmetic that would
engage ordinary citizens in finding out whether their children
were learning.

6. The survey now:
• explores how children in the age group of 5-16 studied at
home since the onset of the pandemic, and
• the challenges that the schools and the households now
face as schools reopen across states.

7. • ASER 2021 was conducted in 25 states and three Union
Territories.
• It reached a total of 76,706 households and 75,234 children
in the age group of 5-16 years.
• It also surveyed teachers or head teachers from 7,299
government schools offering primary grades.

8. The survey findings
• Increase in enrolment in government schools between 2018
and 2021.
Enrollment in Government
Schools
2018 64.3%
2020 65.8%
2021 70.3%

9. Private schools
• The report says that private schooling increased rapidly in India
from 2006 to 2014 and from there it hovered around 30%.
• However, in the pandemic years, private enrolment dipped
significantly.
• In the age group of 6-14 years, enrollment in private schools
decreased to 24.4% in 2021 compared to 32.5% in 2018.
• This shift is seen in all grades and among both boys and girls.

10. This is being attributed to:
the closure of schools in the pandemic and
the inability of parents to afford the huge fee structure in
private schools (they instead opt for government schools
where the fee is almost nil).
low incomes in the pandemic
• The is one of the reasons for
the shift.

11. • One in every three children in Classes I and II have never
attended in person classes before.
Never attended pre-primary
classes
Government school students of
Classes I and II
36.8 per cent
Private school students of Classes
I and II
33.6 per cent

12. Access to study material
• The survey report pointed out that almost all enrolled
children have textbooks for their current grade (91.9 %).
• Only about a third (33.5 %) of children in classes 1-2 of yet
to be reopened schools reported to have received learning
material from schools in the form of worksheets in print or
virtual form, online or recorded classes or other learning-
related video clips.

13. Digital education
• The report noted that smartphone ownership has
dramatically risen over the last few years.
• However, children’s access to these devices is often quite
limited, especially among the youngest learners who have
the least access to technology.
• It also noted that almost a third of all children in classes 1
and 2 did not have smartphones available at home.

14. • Only 19.9 per cent children in grades I-II have access to the
devices whenever they require.
• The access rises with age.
• 35.4 per cent of students in Classes IX and above having
constant access.

15. Private tuition
• The report also highlights that more school children are
opting for private tuition.
• 40% of the school children are now opting for private
tuition classes compared to 30% in 2018.
• This proportion has increased across both sexes and all
grades and school types.
• The incidence of tuition has increased across all States
except Kerala.

16. This is being blamed on:
1. the disruption of classroom teaching due to the pandemic
or
2. the inability to adapt to online education.

17. • Interestingly, those opting for private tuition are from the
lesser privileged classes.
• There is an increase of 12.6 percentage points among the
children of parents who fall in the low education category.
• Increase of 7.2 percentage points among children with
parents in the ‘high’ education category.

18. • The report also reveals that fewer children whose schools have
reopened are taking tuition.
• Tuition classes were common among children whose schools
were still closed at the time of the survey.