Editorial 1: Bright spots, areas of concern in ASER 2022
Recent Context: Recently, After a gap of four years, Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)2022, released its report related to trends in school enrollment, attendance, and reading and arithmetic abilities
How has school enrollment been affected in the pandemic years?
- Enrollment has gone up even in a period when schools were shut, and we were already at very high levels before.
- It has risen further, including for older age groups, even though there was a fear that older girls, especially, may drop out.
- And then there is a big shift to government schools; ASER 2022 states that nationally, the percentage of children aged 11 to 14 who are enrolled in government schools has risen from 65% in 2018 to 71.7% in 2022.
- While the period from 2006 to 2014 saw a steady decrease in proportion of children in government schools, it plateaued for the next four years, only to rise to 71.7% in 2022.
Have improvements in facilities like midday meals, toilets, etc. contributed to the increased enrollment?
- Over time, there has been an improvement in infrastructure variables. As the issue of enrollments is coming potentially from the fact that during Covid, the rural private schools couldn’t do much because their own economy was very fragile.
- But being attached to the State, government schools distributed textbooks, they often distributed midday meals.
- The teachers were able to reach out in some form or fashion. So, there is a pull factor.
- And from our usual experience, it is also the case that maybe family incomes have been hit, but everybody still believes that schooling must happen. As a result parental involvement and interest in education should be leveraged.
What could the corresponding increase in private tuition mean?
- The reason private tuition went up is probably that it is more flexible. There could probably negotiate better with the provider that this month a parent don’t have money, but next month they can have .
- And so parents felt that schools are closed, we are not sure when they will open, but we need to get some extra help. In a way, we can think about this as a local organising.
- Tuition can mean many things, but it is also a function of parents wanting more for their children and going wherever possible to get it.
What is the trend on foundational skills, emphasised in the National Education Policy of 2020?
- ASWER surveyed various schools and ask questions about infrastructure and asked whether, given schemes like National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN) Bharat and Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) mission, have you received any guidelines and has any teacher been trained?
- Almost 80 per cent of the schools reported that we have received guidelines and teachers have been trained.
- This means that the seriousness with which governments are also sort of pushing on NIPUN Bharat is quite high. It makes the case for how to keep the momentum going.
- There is a decline in learning levels since 2018, but again it varies across the country.
- And strangely we have to understand from experts — why the drop in reading is more than in math. Is it because math, especially at such a basic level, is used by people much more? It’s hard to say, but we can see that recovery is possible.
- There is need to know that NIPUN Bharat’s goals are that every child by Class three is at grade level, which means they can read or can do basic arithmetic. The number of such children before Covid was around 30 per cent, and now is somewhere for reading around 20 per cent and for math around 25-26 per cent.
What is the road ahead to improve these foundational skills?
- In the past 10 years, we’ve seen improvement, but it has been in small bits. So it means that we really need to shake up things.
- Therefore, what we are going to do as a school system, as a family system, is to say that every year big jumps need to be taken.
- It is a critical thing for improving the productivity of the country. Business as usual is not going to work.
- Again, it’s not a new message, but it’s a message that needs to be reiterated. And perhaps because of the new education policy and the fact that after Covid, everybody’s mentality is slightly different, it is worth reinforcing.
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About ASER:
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Editorial 2: A list of things to be done by Council of minister headed by Prime minister
Recent Context:
- Prime minister is head of the council of minister and its play an significant role in the Parliamentary form of democracy.
- COM ensures its accountability and responsivity toward Lok Sabha through debate and discussion in Lok Sabha and Rajysasbha and over all to the people during the election.
- Along with other business in the house such as discussion, debates, committee dispensations, and other mechanisms that Parliament enables the citizens of the country, through their representatives, to participate in decision-making and hold the government to accountable for their taken initiative.
Certain areas of concern raised by opposition party to Council of Minister, COM headed by Prime Minister:
1. Enduring the accountability to people by addressing regular press conferences:
- COM headed by PM has not held a press conference since assuming office in 2014. The practice of holding structured press conferences in the conference hall of Vigyan Bhawan (later held in the New Media Centre, Delhi) dates back to Jawaharlal Nehru in the mid-1950s.
- Subsequently, this established mode of communication was adopted by many prime ministers. Our current PM prefers one-way communication like his radio address and Man ki bat etc.
- Therefore, PM should held public conference in regular interval which people can directly interact the head of government to ensure its accountability. It will also reflect a better picture of vibrant democracy and more toward the vision of democracy.
2. Realising the vision of SMART cities:
- SMART city project was started by government in June 2015, the initial deadline of 2020 has been pushed back to June 2023.
- Work orders have been issued for 7,738 projects out of which only about two-thirds have been completed. 63 per cent of the amount allocated by the Union government has been utilised till now.
- An incompletion of work despite extending the deadline, reflects there is lack of efficiency in programme implementation and evaluation of the escheme which need to addressed while mentioning the reasons for its delay and also need to address these issues in dedicated time framework.
3.Addressing the issue of fiscal federalism:
- The divisible pool of central taxes as set by the 15th Finance Commission is 41 per cent.
- However, in 2022-23, the states’ share in central taxes is estimated to be just 30 per cent.
- The revenue collected from GST, as a percentage of GDP continues to be lower than revenue collected through taxes subsumed in GST.
- Revenue collected from GST was 5.88 per cent of GDP in 2021-22, while the revenues from taxes subsumed under GST was 6.68 per cent of GDP in 2016-17.
- States have suffered as the revenue growth rate of many of them was higher in the pre-GST regime.
- Therefore Central government need to address the issue of fiscal federalism by reducing cess and surcharge and timely transferring of GST compensation portion to concern state government.
4. Doubling the farmer income:
- In 2016, PM government promised that the income of farmers would be doubled by 2022.
- In a reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, the agriculture minister stated that much progress has been made on the promise while citing a book that compiles “success stories of 75,000 farmers [….] who have increased their income more than two times”
- the committee that recommended strategies for doubling farmers’ income estimated monthly income of farmers in 2015-16 to be Rs 8,059. As per the Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households, monthly income of households was Rs 10,218 in 2018-19, an increase of around 27 per cent. After accounting for inflation, and the increased cost of cultivation, this increase is insignificant.
- Agriculture play an significant role in India economy. It contributes nearly 50% employment. Therefore, increasing the income in such no of people will help in reducing poverty and better employment opportunity and economic growth.
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Role of the opposition in democracy?
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Conclusion: In a parliamentary form of government the opposition plays a significant role in upholding the ideals of constitutional which are enshrined in the Preamble. Therefore, a strong opposition strengthen the ethos and principle of vibrant democracy and make the ruling government accountable.