11th Apr 2017 11:04:PM Editorials
Eastern Sentinel Arunachal News

 

 

While more than 96 per cent of the children in the 6-14 age group are attending school, there are still some worrying signs as reading and mathematical abilities are still not up to the mark. According to the 10th Annual Status of Education Report (ASER 2014), the situation with basic reading continues to be extremely disheartening in India.

The report states that only a fourth of all children studying in class 3 can read a class 2 text fluently. Even in class 5 only 50% of the students are able to read class 2 text. Matters get even bleak in rural areas.

 

Literacy is the foundation of school education but in our country the term ‘literacy' is used almost exclusively in the context of adults. This is not surprising, given the embarrassingly large share of India in the global count of adults who can neither read nor write. Why India's share has not dwindled significantly is partly related to the fact that the years spent by children in primary schools do not necessarily make them literate. Many who acquire a tenuous grip on literacy during those years fail to retain it in the absence of opportunities to read, compounded by elimination from school before completing the upper primary classes. Even in the case of those who acquire lasting literacy, schooling fails to impart the urge to read as a matter of habit. Those who learn to perceive reading as a means to expand knowledge and awareness are a minority.

Sensational surveys of children's poor performance in reading tests throw little light on the deeper problems that the teaching of reading suffers from. If these problems are not addressed in an institutionalised manner, the newly enacted law on the right to education will remain ineffective.

 

Today the entire state is worried about the quality of its students; it is more or less a lost cause as foundation itself is shaky. In an anti-clockwise direction, focus is more on higher education instead of building strong foundations. How do we expect our high schoolers or collegians to perform when their educational understanding has been compromised in their growing period?

 


Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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