When Gita Thakur, 9, a class 4 student, was asked to subtract 27 from 39, one look at the numbers was enough to make her cry. When she finally arrived at an answer, it was 116. But it’s probably not entirely her fault.
Gita studies in the Parchanpal village school in Bastar — 290 kilometres south of Chhattisgarh’s capital, Raipur — where there is only one teacher instead of the mandatory four.
Chhattisgarh has eliminated the career teacher and now relies entirely on ill-qualified para teachers hired on contract for government schools on lower pay. Undergraduate Navan Kumar, 21, has applied to become such a teacher. When surveyors tested him, he could not divide 919 by 9.
According to the government 300 million children in India have enrolled in school this decade. The quality of education the majority of them receive is evidently poor.
{{/usCountry}}According to the government 300 million children in India have enrolled in school this decade. The quality of education the majority of them receive is evidently poor.
{{/usCountry}}Each year in January, a citizen’s report card (ASER, or Annual Status of Education Report) is presented on the quality of education. ASER tests children to see if they can read and solve numerical problems of Class 2. In 2008, the survey found that 44 per cent of schoolchildren of ages 5-14 can’t solve Class 2 problems.
The 3-month-long effort, spearheaded by NGO Pratham, brings together over 30,000 volunteers — from students and scientists to investment bankers and picklemakers — who fan out across India to test children and look at school infrastructure. An estimated 7-lakh children are part of the exercise this year.