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Education News

KARNATAKA
at the BJP government’s behest,” of class V children can’t read class II
tweeted Tamil Nadu chief minister Slipping advantage texts.
M.K. Stalin. Learning outcomes in basic
The draft guidelines also contain arithmetic in the state, which bills
another controversial provision — he 14th Annual Status of itself the Silicon Valley of India, are
selection of eminent non-academics, Education Report (ASER) also dismaying. ASER 2024 indi-
industry leaders, bureaucrats, and T2024 published by the highly- cates that 77.1 percent (against the
public-sector officials to serve as Vice respected Pratham Education Foun- national average of 66.3 percent)
Chancellors of universities. Tradi- dation and released on January 28 of rural class III children cannot do
tionally, university VCs have been in New Delhi, has bad tidings for the simple subtraction sums and 79.1
senior academics with 10 years-plus southern state of Karnataka (pop.69 percent of class V children cannot
teaching and/or research experience. million). do simple division sums (cf. 69.3
With none of India’s universities This annual survey of primary percent nationally). Shocking but
significantly progressing in respected education assesses the learning true, the notoriously educationally
global ranking league tables, official outcomes of three-16-year-old rural and industrially backward states of
thinking is that induction of organ- children in basic reading and arith- Uttar Pradesh (class V can’t do divi-
isation builders and corporate lead- metic in 26 states and two Union sion: 68.2 percent) and Bihar (67.5
ers into higher education institutions territories. Although ASER 2024 percent) have outperformed Karna-
whose soft underside is perceived to reports marginally improved reading taka whose administrative capital
be poor institutional management, and arithmetic levels nationally, Kar- Bengaluru is the country’s #1 hub of
will prove a game changer. nataka, which prides itself on hosting digital start-ups and unicorns.
nevitably, academics demur. ASER 2024 also re-
I“Innovation, inclusiveness, com- veals that while several
munity engagement, and institution- states such as West
building all have their place, but a Bengal, Uttar Pradesh
university must be headed by an aca- and Himachal Pradesh
demic,” says Dr. Brajesh Kumar show substantial im-
Tiwari, associate professor at the provements in reading
Atal Bihar Vajpayee School of Man- and arithmetic learn-
agement and Entrepreneurship at ing levels surpassing
JNU, who writes on higher education pre-pandemic (2018)
policy. “Like a professor can’t step levels, Karnataka’s
into the shoes of a CEO, similarly, an remedial education re-
industry leader or bureaucrat can’t cord is dismal. In 2018,
do justice to running an academic 80.7 percent of class III
institution,” he says. children couldn’t read
“These reforms of far-reaching class II texts; in 2024,
consequence require wider and Karnataka primary school children: study in contrast 84.1 percent cannot.
deeper debate in Parliament, aca- Well-informed
demia and society. Lumping them some of India’s top-ranked private academics in this peninsular state
under hasty draft guidelines with a schools and colleges, presents a believe a causative factor behind this
30-day feedback window is not the study in contrast. phenomenon is deteriorating school
way to introduce such deep reforms According to ASER 2024, in this infrastructure in rural Karnataka.
which have wide implications for the southern state, 84.1 percent (cf. the ASER 2024 reports that 27.7 percent
future of higher education in India. national average of 72.9) of rural of schools in the state don’t provide
Even though some of the proposed class III students cannot read class drinking water, 6.5 percent lack
reforms have merit, they need to II level textbooks and 66 percent of girls toilets, 10.5 percent don’t have
be thoroughly debated before being class V students cannot read class libraries, and ironically for India’s
implemented,” says a professor of II texts (cf. 51.2 percent nationally). most IT-savvy state, 64.2 percent of
education in a top-ranked Delhi Shockingly, the learning outcomes of schools are without a single com-
undergrad college, speaking on con- primary/elementary school children puter.
dition of anonymity. in rural Karnataka are worse than Comments Prof. A.S. Seeth-
But evidently Mamadala Jagdish of primary children in educationally aramu, former professor of educa-
Kumar is an academic in a hurry. backward Chhattisgarh where 75.1 tion, Institute of Social & Economic
Autar Nehru (Delhi) percent of class III and 45.6 percent Change, Bengaluru: “ASER 2024 is a

16 EDUCATIONWORLD FEBRUARY 2025