Learning curves

ASER reflects challenges for govt's education programme

The latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), by non-government organisation Pratham, has both encouraging and discouraging news that reflects the gap between people’s expectations and the quality of institutions. The gap afflicts all social infrastructure delivery systems in India. On the one hand, school enrolment went up even during the pandemic when educational institutions were shut. Hearteningly, the enrolment of children in the 6-14 age group rose to a record high of 98.14 per cent. No less significantly, the report shows a jump in the proportion of children enrolled in government schools, up from 65.6 per cent in 2018,