Learning levels are yet to bounce back to pre-Covid levels in the primary stage, with students in Class 3 still not having caught up with the performance recorded in 2017, the Centre’s latest school education assessment released Monday shows.
Class 3 students assessed in language and Mathematics fared better compared to 2021, when learning levels were captured in the wake of the pandemic and the resultant disruptions in education, but their scores remained lower than the pre-Covid level in 2017.
The PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan, which was called the National Achievement Survey (NAS) in previous iterations, assessed 21.15 lakh students in Classes 3, 6, and 9 across 74,229 schools in December 2024.
However, scores of only Class 3 can be compared with 2017 and 2021 since it is the only common class in all three rounds of assessment. The 2017 NAS was held for Classes 3, 5 and 8, while the 2021 NAS was for Classes 3, 5, 8, and 10.
The 2024 survey was aligned with the stages of the National Education Policy 2020, under which Class 3 marks the end of the foundational stage of school education, Class 6 the end of the preparatory stage, and Class 9 the end of the middle stage.
According to its findings, Class 3 students recorded an average national score of 64% in language in 2024 — a two-percentage-point increase from 62% in 2021, but lower than the 2017 score of 66.7%. Similarly, in Maths, the national average score in 2024 was 60% — above the 57% recorded in 2021, but below 63% scored in 2017.
In terms of the language competencies they were assessed on, Class 3 students scored the lowest (60%) in reading short stories and comprehending their meaning, while they fared best (67%) in knowing and using words to carry out day-to-day interactions.
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In Maths, Class 3 students fared poorly in geometric shapes and simple money transactions, scoring an average of 50% in both. They performed best (69%) in identifying simple patterns, shapes and numbers.
In Classes 6 and 9, the national average score is less than 50% in all subjects they were assessed in, except for language.
A senior official in the Education Ministry said Classes 6 and 9 did not perform as well as expected and attributed it to students losing nearly two years to the pandemic.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
