Survey: Children in primary classes falling behind grade

The survey reinstates research that school students worldwide have suffered  in nearly two years of the  pandemic as classes shifted online. In India, the issue appears to be acute, not just over education quality but also due to varied access of digital devices within families.

The study, released on Thursday, was carried out by the National Independent Schools Alliance, a federation of budget private schools’ association. It included students of classes 3, 5 and 8 in urban, rural and semi-urban private schools across 17 Indian states and UTs.

Students were tested in the survey on three categories — reading, writing and understanding in their mother tongue; reading, writing and understanding in English; and mathematics.

The highest percentages of children were found to be falling behind their grade level in writing and understanding English. However, students of classes 3 and 5 performed the lowest in all three areas of study, which was carried out over September and October this year.

As part of its recommendations, the study said, “Word identification, proper pronunciation, correct spelling, reading dynamics, writing accuracy, building comprehension abilities ad fluency and creativity in expression should be made integral to curriculum planning and delivery… Poverty of language skills in the formative and primary years of learning will have deleterious effects on overall learning in children.”

In writing English, 33 per cent of Class 3 children surveyed were found to be behind their class level and 5 per cent were “far below class level” (unable to fulfil abilities expected of students in grades lower than theirs), the study said. In Mathematics, 29 per cent of Class 3 students, 28 per cent of Class 5 students and 23 per cent of Class 8 students were found to be below-class level.

In writing in their mother tongue, 31 per cent of Class 3, 25 per cent of Class 5, and 21 per cent of Class 8 students were below-class level. Similarly, 6 per cent of Class 3, 8 per cent of Class 5 and 4 per cent of Class 8 students were “far below” class level.