16th Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)

16^th Annual Status of Education Report was released by PRATHAM foundation. ASER 2021 was conducted in 25 states and 3 Union Territories. It reached a total of 76,706 households and 75,234 children in the age group of 5-16 years, as well as teachers or head teachers from 7,299 government schools offering primary grades. For the first time, it was prepared through phone survey.

Key Findings

• School Enrollment Patterns: At all India level, there has been a shift from private to government schools. Enrollment in private schools has declined for the age group of 6-14 years, from 32.5% in 2018 to 24.4% in 2021. Among older children (15-16 years), there has been a decline in proportion of out of school children. Boys are still more likely to be enrolled in private schools than girls.
• Access to Smartphones: Smartphone ownership has almost doubled since 2018. Availability of smartphones has increased from 36.5% in 2018 to 67.6% in 2021. However, more children in private schools have a smartphone at home (79%) as opposed to government school going children (63.7%).
• Learning Support at Homes: The proportion of enrolled children who received learning support at home has decreased from three quarters of all enrolled children in 2020 to two thirds in 2021, with the sharpest drops visible among children in higher grades.
• Access to Learning Material: Almost all enrolled children have textbooks for their current grade (91.9%). This proportion has increased over the last year, for children enrolled in both government and private schools.