New Delhi: Thirty four percent of 3rd grade students in India “exceeded the global proficiency level” in the English language.
In Math, 10 percent students were in the category, the highest being from Bihar. Meanwhile 11 percent students nationwide, lacked basic Maths skills, found a survey conducted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
The percentage for Hindi was 25 percent in grade 3, the report revealed.
According to the NCERT, this would mean that these students have developed superior knowledge and skill and can complete complex tasks.
The council revealed these findings in a survey titled “Foundational Learning Study 2022” released Tuesday. The study was conducted on nearly 86,000 grade 3 students in 10,000 schools, including private and public institutions.
The study’s goal was to understand the basic learning levels of Class 3 students in language and numeracy and to devise interventions accordingly.
The survey was organised under the Ministry of Education’s NIPUN Bharat scheme that wants all Class 3 children to have basic literacy and numeracy skills by 2026-27.
Other findings
For the survey, literacy (language) skills were tested in 20 languages which are used as the medium of instruction in various states and Union Territories. These were Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, English, Garo, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Khasi, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Mizo, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.
The sample size of students was state and language specific. For example, students tested for Bengali were from West Bengal, or those tested for Malayalam were from Kerala.
However, the English language skills were checked in all states and UTs. Hindi was tested in 18 states and UTs including in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Assam.
In English, 34 percent exceeded global expectations, while 15 percent “lacked the most basic knowledge of the language”. For Hindi, 21 percent lacked basic knowledge while 25 percent students excelled at it.
Among all regional languages, Punjabi emerged the most understood language by children in Class 3. The survey revealed that among students in Punjab – 47 percent exceeded global expectations, which meant they could read, write and communicate in the language very well.
For other regional languages, the results were not as good as Punjabi. Most students could either meet global expectations – which meant they could do most basic level tasks in the language — or partially meet it, which meant they were not able to fulfil the task completely.
In Bengali for example, 24 percent of students exceeded the global expectancy and 43 percent partially pulled it off. For the Malayalam language, only 16 percent students exceeded global proficiency while 39 percent partially accomplished it.
Numeracy skills
In Math, only 10 percent of students in the entire country could “exceed expectations”, while most students were in the average-performing criteria. The report said 42 percent of students “met the global minimum standard” or they were able to do basic Math. Thirty-seven percent were partially proficient in the subject, which meant they only completed half the task while 11 percent of students lacked the basic knowledge of Math.
Bihar has the highest percentage of children who excelled in Math. Eighteen percent of students in the state were in the “exceed expectations” category. West Bengal closely followed Bihar with 16 percent in that bracket.
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