As the Union government encourages teaching in regional/ Indian languages, the ASER 2023 report reveals that about 25 per cent of youth in the age group of 14-18 still cannot read a Class 2 level text fluently in their regional language.

Across enrollment categories, females (76 per cent) do better than males (70.9 per cent) in reading a Class 2 level text in their regional language. In contrast, males do better than their female counterparts in arithmetic and English reading.

A little over half can read sentences in English (57.3 per cent). Of those who can read sentences in English, almost three quarters can tell their meanings (73.5 per cent).

Last year’s report showed that the children’s ability to read simple English sentences had stayed more or less at the 2016 level for children in class 5 — from 24.7 per cent in 2016 to 24.5 per cent in 2022. In Class 8, the share has dropped from 47.1 per cent to 46.7 per cent.

In mathematics, more than half the surveyed students struggled with division (3-digit by 1-digit) problems. Only 43.3 per cent of 14-18-year-olds can do such problems correctly — the skill which is usually expected from a Class 3-4 student. Also, more than half struggle with division (3-digit by 1-digit) problems. Only 43.3 per cent of 14-18-year-olds are able to do such problems correctly– this skill is usually expected in Class 3-4.

The survey also found out that nearly 85 per cent of surveyed youth can measure length using a scale when the starting point is 0 cm. However, this proportion drops sharply to 39 per cent when the starting point is moved. Overall, close to 50 per cent youth can do other common calculations such as calculating time, adding weights and applying the unitary method. It also showed that males do better than females across all everyday calculations.