Good news must move to better on schools

Good news must move to better on schools

There is cause for cautious optimism on the state of school education. There have been improvements, surveys show, especially in the elementary grades in learning outcomes, powered by progress in government schools. But large numbers of students still do not learn enough at age-appropriate levels. It is also too early to suggest that the improvements are a trend; and change is not even, with some states slipping. The broad findings of the 2016 edition of the Annual Status of Education Report, facilitated by Pratham, an education sector NGO, are in tune with NCERT’s National Achievement Survey for class III, V and X (2014, 2015), and the 2015-16 elementary education survey by District Information System for Education (DISE).
These assessments are not simply periodic state-of-the-union statements but a guide to practices and interventions that help improve learning outcomes and ascertain problem areas to help design policies and interventions that augment learning. There appears to be renewed trust in government schools, India’s largest network: private school enrolment is stable in all but three states. The other significant finding is the improved enrolment for 15-16 year olds, suggesting a stemming of the dropout rate at the end of class VIII. School amenities have improved, but not libraries and computer availability.
But education is not about recalling information but the ability to use the classroom learning to unseen and new situations. NCERT’s surveys find that outcomes on conceptual clarity and understanding are lagging. This points to the need for changing the way teaching is undertaken and to focus on augmenting conceptual clarity and analytic ability of students — after all, today’s students will grow up in a world of rapid technological change calling for ever new skills.