English oral skills of Std III Maharashtra students trump national average

PUNE: Students from government schools in Maharashtra have done well in English oral language comprehension, decoding letters, and non-words among the five parameters of a foundational learning study initiated by the Union ministry of education.

In other parameters like phonological awareness or picture matching, the students matched the national average. The survey was conducted in March 2022 by National Centre for Education Research and Training (NCERT) and the report was released on Tuesday.

The study identifies learning needs in children in Std III, and also the gaps with their probable reasons and initiates various strategies to overcome these setbacks.
The National Education Policy 2020 says the ability to read and write and perform basic operations with numbers is a necessary foundation and an indispensable prerequisite for all schooling and lifelong learning.
Union minister of education Dharmendra Pradhan, while releasing the results of the study, said, "This exercise aims to set up benchmarks for reading with comprehension in 20 Indian languages. The study will provide reliable and valid data about Std III students to know what they are able to do in foundational literacy and numeracy and the extent of learning outcomes being achieved."
English oral skills of Std III Maha pupils better than India's average
In Maharashtra, the study was conducted in 578 government schools, 1,091 teachers and 5,300 students, and literacy and numeracy reading was conducted across seven languages. Students were given the task to identify the initial final sounds in 12-grade level words, read aloud 100 individual letters and syllables, five different texts, and short stories, and answer questions related to retrieval and inferences.
About 88% of surveyed students in Maharashtra could listen and comprehend four to five texts of varying lengths correctly; three per cent more than the national average. In another parameter where students had to read letters correctly and fluently, about 97% of the students in Maharashtra performed well as against 95% in the nation. In decoding of words, 78% of students could accurately read the words as against the national average of 73%.
President of Victorious Kidss Educares Robbin Ghosh said, "Our language teachers work methodically with our students for the improvement of language and reading skills of our students. We delved deeper into various reading programmes and strategies to emanate students' reading levels. These findings help our learners select the appropriate books from our library to boost their reading skills. The various reading strategies employed by teachers nurture avid readers. The team of teachers engages in meaningful conversation reflecting on metamorphosis and their changing roles as transformative educators."