Failing our children: When will state deliver?

Bangalore: The Annual Status of Edu­cation Report 2013 Karn­ataka (Rural) has once again highlighted the glaring inadequacies in the state’s education system in the rural areas. It shows a sharp slide in the reading and mathematical abilities of students in the period 2009-13. 

Despite state gov­e­rnment’s repeated promise to ensure girls have access to toilets, only 59.6% of schools have them. In Karnataka, 7.6% of the scho­ols that were surveyed did not have separate facilities for girls, while of the schools that did make a separate provision, 23.4% kept them locked, while 9.4% of the toilets were unusable. 

Next: Our kids can’t read, write or add

Our kids can’t read, write or add

Bangalore: In what has to come as a wake-up call to the state, the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2013 for Karnataka (rural) says the reading and mathematical skills of students in rural parts of the state has fallen drastically between 2009  and 2013.

Shockingly, 3.6%  of class III students cannot even recognize numbers 1 to 9, 18.3% can recognize  numbers upto 9 but not more, 50.1% can recognize numbers up to 99,  but cannot do subtraction, 24.9% can do subtraction but not division, which only 3.2% can do. 

In 2009, 21% of students studying in class V of government schools were able to do at least subtraction and division . But in 2013 only 16.4%  could do so. In private schools the numbers fell from 26.7% to 25.3 %  in this period.

Students  seemed to lose their reading skills in this period as well. While in 2009 46.1% of children inf class V of government schools were able to read class II textbooks, only 41.3%  could do so in 2013.

In private schools the fall was from 55.3 % to  45.8%. Sadly in class III, 5.1% children cannot even read letters, 20% can read letters but not more, 36.8% can read words but not class I  textbooks or higher, 22.6% can read class I  textbook but not a class II  text. Only 15.5% can read this. 

The report also says that only 59.6%  of the schools covered had usable toilets for girls.  Despite repeated directions from various courts 7.6%  of the schools  didn’t have separate girls toilets,  23.4 %   had the  toilets but kept them locked and 9.4% of schools did not have usable toilets for them.

The highest number of out of school children were among the  15 and 16 year olds. While  14.3%  of boys in this age group were not in school, 12.1%  of girls in this group were not get any schooling.

Over the last two years the number of students attending private coaching too has fallen in rural Karnataka going by the report. While in 2010, 6.5% students studying in government schools and 14.8% students studying in private schools were attending private tuition/ coaching, in 2013 their number  came down to 6.3% and 13.9% respectively.