ZP schools’ ranking improves: Survey

By Sukhada Khandge

Nationwide ASER pegs Pune district in top three of the state, with top points under the ‘reading’ parameter

As a detailed report of the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) was out on Tuesday, it became clear that Pune district has improved its rank when it comes to education in its government schools.

The report revealed that till last year, the ranking of Pune district would always come near 20 — but after they launched a project to improve educational standards, in many parameters, Pune district has received a rank in the first three of the list.

ASER is a nationwide report that concentrates on the quality of education of states and districts. From reading and writing to mathematical abilities, it also emphasises on the overall infrastructure of government-run schools.

While sharing information about this development, Suraj Mandhare, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Pune zilla parishad (ZP), said, “It was disheartening to see that while Pune is known as an education hub in the country, of the other 35 districts in the state, it always ranked near the 20th spot. We took various steps to improve the quality of education and also took some action to maintain the same.”

As per the new report, Classes III to V in the reading section across Pune district received second rank in the whole of Maharashtra. Under another category — Marathi reading — Classes VI to VIII bagged first position. In the mathematics (addition and subtraction) parameters, Pune students in Classes III to V and Classes VI to VIII received third rank.

The survey, conducted by educational organisation Pratham, is done nationwide by various organisations. In Maharashtra, the same survey was conducted by 14 social organisations, wherein students of 14 universities and colleges were involved on-ground.

State education minister Vinod Tawde said, “It has been observed that students and parents prefer ZP schools to private ones. This proves that the standard of education in government schools has improved and teachers in these schools are also taking efforts to educate students effectively.”

The report also revealed that in Maharashtra, student enrolment in the age group of 6-14 has increased to 99.2 per cent, while it was98.5 per cent last year. In India, while 13.5 per cent girl students in the age group of 15-16 drop out, the number in this state is 5.1 per cent. Also, in many categories, it was seen that the reading ratio among ZP school students is better compared to those from private schools.