The Annual status of Education Report ( ASER ) released by NGO Pratham indicates that there
has been a modest recovery in foundational literacy and numeracy among school students after prolong
decline in learning losses during the COVID-19 pandemic . The report shows that there is not only a full
recovery from the pandemic induced learning loss , but the learning levels are higher in the primary
grades . The percentage of class 3 students who can perform at least subtraction at the basic arithmetic
level was 33.7 % in 2024 which is higher from 25.9 % in 2022 ( pandemic rate ) and 28.2 % in 2018 which
is the pre pandemic rate . The percentage of class 5 students who can read a text at the class 2 level
was 44.8% in 2024 which is higher than that of 2022 rate which stood at 38.5% and the 2018 rate was
nearly matching to 44.2 % . The average student attendance rose periodically from 72.4% in 2018 to 73
% in 2022 and to 75.9 % in 2024 . Mean while periodically there has been a slight increase in average
teacher attendance from 85.1% in 2018 , 86.8 % in 2022 and 87.5 % in 2024 .
The ASER is an citizen centric survey which aims at providing trust worthy estimates of children’s
schooling and learning levels in rural India , It has been conducted every year since 2005 . It assesses
enrollment of children in the age group of 3-16 and schooling and learning levels in rural India . It is a
household – based survey rather than school based survey . The report is so reliable that Government
of India takes insights from this and the PIB ( Press Information Bureau ) also publishes some of its data
on behalf of the Government of India .
| Year | Percentage of Class 3 students performing basic subtraction | Percentage of Class 5 students who can read text at class 2 level | Percentage of average student attendance | Percentage of average student attendance |
| 2018 | 28.2 | 44.2 | 72.4 | 85.1 |
| 2022 | 25.9 | 38.5 | 73 | 86.8 |
| 2024 | 33.7 | 44.8 | 75.9 | 87.5 |
