ITANAGAR, March 14 � Arunachal Pradesh is close to realising universal enrolment with the percentage of children in the age group of 6-14 enrolled in school at 95 per cent or above, five years in a row, according to a survey report.
The percentage of children out of school in the age group of 6-14 years recorded in 2014 in the State is the lowest ever at 2.1 per cent, Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) facilitated by Pratham, recently released in New Delhi, said. ASER is the largest annual household survey of children in rural India that focuses on the status of schooling and basic learning.
Although enrolment levels are very high for the age group covered by Right to Education Act (6 to 14 years), the proportion of 15 to 16 year olds not enrolled in school is on the higher side, with 8 per cent of boys and 7.5 per cent girls in the same age group, currently out of school. But it is comparatively lower than the national average of 15. 9 per cent for boys and 17. 3 per cent for girls in this age group, the report said.
The proportion of children enrolled in private schools in the State has increased from 2010. Last year, 24.5 per cent of 6-14 year old children in rural Arunachal were found to be enrolled in private schools. This is a big jump from 16.7 per cent in 2010.
Compared to the neighbouring States of Manipur and Meghalaya, the private school enrolment rates in the elementary stage in the State are low, but the figure is increasing every year.
ASER 2014 reached nine districts and 229 villages including 4,928 households and about 9,086 children in the age group of 3-16 years in the State to conduct the survey.
According to the report, the situation with basic reading continues to be extremely disheartening in Arunachal.
In 2014, only 29.6 per cent of standard III children could read a class I text fluently and only 44.4 per cent of class V could read a class II level text.
Even in class VIII, only 73 per cent children can read class II level text.
Basic arithmetic continues to be dismal in Arunachal as in other parts of country, but the State�s children seem to be marginally better than the national average. ASER 2014 recorded only 36.9 per cent class III children in the State could solve a simple two digit carry forward subtraction as compared to the national average of 25.4 per cent.
Similarly, 35.8 per cent children in class V could compute a 3 by 1 digit division in the State against the national average of 26.1 per cent in the same grade.
The survey recorded 52.3 per cent children in the State of class V could read an English sentence and out of them 76.7 per cent could understand the sentence; in comparison only 24 per cent children in class V, nationally, could read an English sentence and of them only 62.2 per cent could comprehend an English sentence. � PTI
