The test was conducted under ‘Padho Punjab, Padhao Punjab’ project. (Express Archive)
A state education department report on the ‘baseline test’ conducted to judge the actual learning level of Class 1 to 5 students from government primary schools has revealed that a staggering 70.15 per cent failed the basic test in English, mathematics and Punjabi. This internal report for the state was compiled based on the ‘baseline test’ conducted in 12,977 government primary schools in phases between August and September last year.
According to the report, 85 per cent Class 1 students failed to successfully write the entire English alphabet, and 80 per cent among them failed to recognise numbers 1 to 20, while 82 per cent failed to write the Punjabi alphabet.
The ‘baseline test’ was designed to test students in ‘minimum and basic’ syllabus in three subjects — English, Punjabi and maths. The questions were formulated using syllabus for lower classes. While Class I students were tested for basic alphabet recall, number recognition meant for pre-primary students, Class 5 students were tested for Class 3 and 4 syllabus.
The basic test report will be followed by an ‘endline’ report — based on result of final examinations in March — to see if there has been any improvement after ‘corrective measures’ being initiated. The test was conducted under ‘Padho Punjab, Padhao Punjab’ project, and it tested 8,97,433 students, including 1.62 lakh from Class 1, 1.75 lakh from Class 2, 1.83 lakh from Class 3, 1.88 lakh from Class 4 and 1.87 lakh from Class 5.
According to the report, only 29.85 per cent students cleared the overall test in three subjects. Class 1 has shown the poorest results with just 18.08 per cent passing it, followed by 27.18 per cent from Class 2, 31.37 per cent from Class 3, 31.81 per cent from Class 4 and 29.85 per cent from Class 5.
In the subject-wise result, English again has the poorest result with 78.43 per cent students failing. In maths and Punjabi, more than 65 per cent children failed. Only 32.40 per cent cleared the maths test and 35.58 per cent cleared the Punjabi test. Education department officials said corrective measures were being planned. “The endline results will be compiled after final exams in March. We have appointed district-level mentors in each subject. Also, English medium is being introduced in selected schools,” said an official.