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Report Cards
State of Elementary Education in Rural North East India as per ASER 2013
The recently released provisional 9th Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) 2013 
highlights that though there has been a rise in enrolment level over the years and also that there have been marked improvements in school infrastructure in recent times, the almost stagnant and falling levels of learning outcomes in children is a cause for concern. The Report focuses on two major issues – the dramatic shift to private school enrolment in rural areas and the crisis of learning and stresses on the urgent need to address these issues. Another worrying trend that the Report talks about is the widening gap in learning levels between children studying in Government and private schools.
ASER is the largest annual household survey of children in rural India that focuses on the status of schooling and basic learning. Facilitated by Pratham (a leading NGO in the field of education), in each rural district ASER is conducted by local organizations and institutions. ASER 2013 reached 550 districts and close to 16,000 villages, 3.3 lakh households and 6 lakh children in the age group 3-16.
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Literacy Rate (%) of North Eastern States |
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| State | 2001 Census | 2011 Census | Increase |
| Assam | 63.25 | 73.2 | 9.95 % |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 54.34 | 67.0 | 12.66 % |
| Manipur | 63.74 | 79.8 | 16.06 % |
| Meghalaya | 62.56 | 75.5 | 12.94 % |
| Mizoram | 88.80 | 91.6 | 2.80 % |
| Nagaland | 76.88 | 82.9 | 6.02 % |
| Sikkim | 68.81 | 82.2 | 13.39 % |
| Tripura | 73.19 | 87.8 | 14.61 % |
| All India | 64.84 | 74.04 | 9.24 % |
Every year, ASER finds out whether children in rural India go to school, whether they can read simple text and whether they can do basic arithmetic. In 2005, 2007, and every year since 2009, ASER has also included a visit to one Government school in each sampled village. Since the implementation of the RTE (Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education) Act in 2010, school visits in ASER have included indicators of compliance with those norms and standards specified in the RTE Act that are easy to measure. In 2013, ASER visited 14,724 Government schools across the country.
In the backdrop of the national scenario, an analysis of the Report with specific reference to the seven North Eastern States will help present a comparative picture of the region – its strengths and weaknesses and the areas where States need to get their act in order. Unfortunately, the only State that does not figure in this year’s Report is Arunachal Pradesh. An analysis of literacy rates of the States would also perhaps help in understanding the educational status of the region.
Assam and Arunachal Pradesh are below the national literacy rate while Mizoram and Tripura are among the most literate States in the country. According to a recent study commissioned by the Tripura Government and done by the Indian Statistical Institute, Tripura has surpassed Kerala as the most literate State and its current literacy rate stands at 94.56 percent, a little ahead of Kerela’s 93.91 percent. At the other end of the literacy spectrum, among 28 States, Arunachal Pradesh is almost rock bottom at the 27th position while Assam and Meghalaya are ranked 19th and 17th respectively. Bihar (63.8 %) has the lowest literacy rate in the country.
The phenomenal rise of Tripura in terms of literacy rate in the last couple of years is a testament of the zeal the State has towards cent percent literacy and stands as a challenge to other States in the region to emulate. States which lag behind can take the cue from Tripura and learn from its experiences.
| School Enrolment, Tuition and Learning Levels | ||||||||
| State | Out of School | Private School | Tuition |
Standard III-V: Learning Levels |
Standard VI-VIII: Learning Levels | |||
| % Children (6-14) out of school | % Children (6-14) in private school | % Children (6-14) who attend paid additional tution classes | Average tution expenditure/month(Age 6-14) | % Children (Std III-V) who CAN READ Std I level text or more | % Children (Std III-V) who CAN DO SUBTRACTION or more | % Children (Std VI-VIII) who CAN READ Std II level text | % Children (Std VI-VIII) who CAN DO DIVISION | |
| Assam | 3.8 | 17.1 | 17.7 | 315 | 46.4 | 30.1 | 52.6 | 19.0 |
| Manipur | 1.5 | 70.5 | 38.9 | 345 | 78.7 | 67.2 | 83.1 | 62.6 |
| Meghalaya | 4.1 | 45.3 | 13.3 | 240 | 80.0 | 46.9 | 78.0 | 29.5 |
| Mizoram | 0.4 | 32.4 | 3.7 | 305 | 80.2 | 77.8 | 82.5 | 72.3 |
| Nagaland | 1.2 | 39.4 | 16.7 | 256 | 75.8 | 57.0 | 72.6 | 43.7 |
| Sikkim | 1.3 | 23.1 | 30.6 | 360 | 75.2 | 72.3 | 77.4 | 63.3 |
| Tripura | 1.1 | 6.7 | 65.8 | 309 | 53.6 | 41.6 | 55.3 | 28.2 |
| All India | 3.3 | 29.0 | 24.1 | 169 | 54.8 | 39.7 | 65.7 | 38.9 |
ASER – the North East Scenario (State of Learning)
ASER 2013 focuses on five key areas – enrolment, tuition, reading ability, basic arithmetic skills and compliance to selected Right to Education parameters, indicators and norms.
Enrolment - In the age group of 6 – 14, at the national level, only 3.3 percent of children seem to be not attending schools. This figure includes 
children who have dropped out and those who have never been to school.. Almost 4.1 percent and 3.8 percent of children in Meghalaya and Assam are out of school children. These figures are higher than the national average. According to the Report, Kerala and Mizoram rank number 1 and 2 respectively in school enrolment while Rajasthan with 5.8 percent and Uttar Pradesh with 5.1 percent have the lowest enrolment in schools.
An interesting fact that comes to light in the Report is the quickening pace of enrolment in private schools in rural India. When ASER started in 2006, roughly 17 percent of the students surveyed attended private schools but in 2013 almost 29 percent of students in rural areas were attending private schools. In private school enrolment, the North Eastern region shows a very surprising trend; Manipur with 70.5 percent has the highest number of children studying in private schools while Tripura with 6.7 percent has the lowest number of children studying in private schools. Kerela, the most literate State has 68.6 percent of its children studying in private schools.
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ASER 2013: Reading tasks All children were assessed using a simple reading tool. The reading test has 4 categories: % Letters: Set of commonly used letters. % Words: Common familiar words with 2 letters and 1or 2 matras. % Level 1 (Std 1) text: Set of 4 simple linked sentences, each having no more than 4-5 words. These words or their equivalent are in the Std 1 textbook of the states. % Level 2 (Std 2) text: Short story with 7-10 sentences. Sentence construction is straightforward, words are common and the context is familiar to children. These words (or their equivalent) are in the Std 2 textbook of the states. |
- Here is it worth bringing to light the fact that in many States, so called private schools do receive some form of assistance, so the question is – are such schools categorized as private? For example, in Mizoram private schools are of five categories – fully private schools which do not receive any form of financial assistance from the Government and private schools which receive some form of financial assistance are further categorized as private deficit schools, private aided schools, private lumpsum schools and private adhoc schools.
Tuition - Nationally, 24.1 percent of students in classes I to VIII take paid private tuitions and the average tuition expenditure per month for a student works out to Rs. 169. This figure for Tripura is 65 percent (the second highest in the country) while Mizoram with less than 4 percent attending paid private tuitions is the second lowest State in this regard.
It is evident from the Report that even within the North Eastern region, there is a lot of variation in terms of enrollment and provision of inputs. For example in Manipur more than three-fifths of children attend private schools and the percentage of children (both from private and government schools) taking paid tuitions is high and increasing over the years. On the other hand we have states like Mizoram and Tripura where there are extremely successful systems put in place as far as putting children in the schooling net is concerned. Having achieved so much on this front, the main question that needs to be asked is “are our children learning”?
While the percentage of children (classes III to V) who can read class I level text or more is 54.8 percent at the national level; Mizoram with 80.2,
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ASER 2013: Reading tasks All children were assessed using a simple reading tool. The arithmetic test has 4 categories: % Number recognition 1 to 9: Randomly chosen numbers between 1 to 9. % Number recognition 10 to 99: Randomly chosen numbers between 10 to 99. % Subtraction: 2 digit numerical problems with borrowing. % Division: 3 digit by 1 digit numerical problems. |
Meghalaya with 80.0 and Manipur with 78.7 percent respectively are the highest three rankers mong 26 States and one Union Territory covered in the survey, even ahead of Kerela. Assam with 46.4 percent figures among the bottom five at the national scenario.
The percentage of children (class VI to VII) who can read class II level text or more at the national level is 65.7 percent; Manipur with this figure at 83.1 and Mizoram with this figure at 82.5 are the third and fourth highest achievers in the national picture while Assam with 52.5 percent and Tripura with 55.3 are amongst the bottom five; the national figure in this case is 39.7 percent.
Among all the States surveyed, three North Eastern States – Mizoram with 77.8 percent, Sikkim with 72.3 percent and Manipur with 67.2 percent are again the top three achievers as far as basic math is concerned (those who can do a 2 digit borrowing subtraction) by class III to V children. This figure at the national level is 38.9 percent. Interestingly, these same three States are the top three rankers in the learning level of children (class VI to VIII) who can do division while Assam in this particular learning level with just 19.0 percent fares the worst; the national figure in this case is 38.9 percent.
Performance of schools with respect to selected RTE indicators – North East Scenario (State of Schools)
| State | Number of schools visited | PTR & CTR | ||||||||||
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | % of Schools complying with | ||||||||
| Pupil-Teacher RatioClassroom-teacher ratio | ||||||||||||
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | |||||
| Assam | 519 | 510 | 492 | 559 | 33.6 | 29.0 | 35.2 | 31.3 | 67.7 | 64.9 | 64.4 | 66.1 |
| Manipur | 125 | 133 | 186 | 189 | 74.3 | 88.1 | 85.8 | 91.0 | 62.5 | 41.4 | 41.5 | 34.8 |
| Meghalaya | 110 | 85 | 129 | 114 | 54.3 | 51.4 | 65.1 | 50.0 | 84.2 | 62.9 | 72.7 | 84.3 |
| Mizoram | 174 | 148 | 199 | 212 | 89.1 | 75.2 | 86.5 | 69.2 | 57.6 | 94.8 | 75.9 | 85.0 |
| Nagaland | 223 | 217 | 272 | 255 | 91.9 | 85.5 | 93.0 | 92.3 | 78.6 | 61.1 | 63.3 | 59.8 |
| Sikkim | 69 | 38 | 45 | 98 | 93.4 | 85.7 | 95.0 | 92.7 | 61.3 | 68.8 | 62.5 | 59.1 |
| Tripura | 98 | 94 | 102 | 109 | 68.5 | 75.0 | 82.6 | 71.2 | 60.0 | 46.2 | 63.6 | 60.2 |
| All India | 14240 | 14373 | 14662 | 14724 | 38.9 | 40.8 | 42.9 | 45.3 | 76.2 | 74.3 | 73.7 | 73.8 |
The RTE Act besides making education an undeniable fundamental right for children from the ages of 6 to 14 also mandates a series of norms such as Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR), Classroom Teacher Ratio (CTR); minimum infrastructure – building, playground, library, kitchen for Mid Day Meal and basic amenities like toilets and provision of drinking water facilities. The following two tables throw light on the state of schools in North East India with respect to their performance on selected RTE indicators.
Pupil Teacher Ratio and Classroom Teacher Ratio
The RTE Act mandates that there should be one teacher for every thirty children i.e. a Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) of 30:1 and there should be one class room for very teacher i.e. a Classroom Teacher Ratio (CTR) of 1:1 at the primary level (class I to V). According to ASER 2013, Kerala with 97.6 percent of schools complying with the required PTR is the highest achiever on this front. Manipur, Nagaland and Sikkim are the only other three States in the country that have more than 90 percent of schools having the ideal PTR of 30:1. Sikkim with 92.7 percent of schools adhering to the mandated PTR is the second highest achiever in the country.
Gujarat has the highest number of schools having the ideal CTR, more than 90 percent of schools in Gujarat comply with the norms of CTR. Seven States including Mizoram and Meghalaya have more than 80 percent of schools with the ideal CTR.
| State | School Facilities | ||||||
| Percentage of Schools (in 2013) that have: | |||||||
| Office/store/office cum store | Playground | Boundary wall | Kitchen Shed for cooking mid-day meal | Drinking water provision & available | Toilet availabel and useable | Girls toilets available and useable | |
| Assam | 46.5 | 58.5 | 23.0 | 84.0 | 65.6 | 60.9 | 43.0 |
| Manipur | 68.9 | 39.6 | 6.6 | 58.1 | 13.0 | 47.9 | 21.6 |
| Meghalaya | 46.0 | 52.6 | 5.3 | 77.0 | 23.2 | 47.8 | 30.4 |
| Mizoram | 77.9 | 44.8 | 35.2 | 91.9 | 71.8 | 51.7 | 39.0 |
| Nagaland | 91.8 | 47.6 | 37.0 | 87.0 | 24.2 | 63.2 | 36.4 |
| Sikkim | 95.7 | 83.2 | 31.6 | 98.0 | 70.5 | 66.0 | 62.4 |
| Tripura | 94.5 | 79.8 | 24.1 | 99.1 | 54.2 | 50.9 | 42.7 |
| All India | 76.1 | 62.4 | 56.3 | 87.0 | 73.8 | 62.6 | 53.3 |
A perplexing situation is the case of Manipur which seems to have one of the highest numbers of schools with an ideal PTR yet its schools have the poorest CTR. This perhaps may be any isolated case but it goes against the idea that good PTR follows good CTR. This perhaps needs to be dug deeper into.
Statistics give us an idea about something; surveys tell us the trends or indications of that something. While no survey is a hundred percent accurate, nevertheless it presents a general picture of the state of affairs. It is evident from the Report that while some of the North Eastern States (Mizoram, Sikkim and Manipur) are doing extremely well particularly in the learning levels when compared to other States across the country, Assam has very low achievements on these parameters. It may not be wrong to say that the majority of the North Eastern States fare much better than most of the States in the rest of the country. This is something that all States in the region can be proud of. It would definitely help in bettering this picture further if some of the North Eastern States which are lagging behind can find some way of working together with their counterparts in other States within the region. Exchange of ideas and experience; sharing of best practices adopted and discussion of interventional methods to improve learning levels may help bring about qualitative changes.
In this backdrop, it may be worthwhile to appreciate Mizoram – the only State in the region that set up an Education Reforms Commission to examine the state of all levels of education and suggest changes to reform the education set-up. The Commission headed by former Director of NCERT, Dr. A.K. Sharma, an eminent educationist of the country was set up by the Government of Mizoram in 2009; the Commission submitted its Report titled ‘Towards an Enlightened and Inclusive Mizo Society’ in July 2010 along with 116 broad recommendations. It is perhaps this initiative of the State and its progress in education that caught the attention of the National University for Educational Planning & Administration (NUEPA) which has decided to include Mizoram in two forthcoming nationwide studies. Mizoram is the only State from the region that figures in a list of 10 States across the country to be included in these two studies – a study on school leadership as a part of the National Centre for School Leadership and Working Conditions of Teachers.
The following line quoted from the Report in a nutshell sums up the need of the hour, ‘So what are possible ways forward to improve learning levels? Pratham has demonstrated that, even within the public school system, simple interventions that start from the current learning level of the child can build up and deliver learning gains in a short period of time. Because these interventions are simple, they can easily be scaled up. They don’t require hiring more teachers or building more infrastructure in schools. We don’t need more allocations, what we need is more effective use of the allocations we already have.’
