The performance of students in classes 3 and 5 was better than of those in classes 8 and 10, in Karnataka, according to the National Achievement Survey-2021, which was released recently.
NAS was conducted in November 2021 in 720 districts across the nation for learning achievement of students in class 3, 5, 8, and 10 in State government, aided, private unaided, and Central Government schools, assessing learning levels in language, mathematics and environmental studies for class 3 and 5 students, language, mathematics, science and social science for class 8 and Modern Indian Language, mathematics, science, social science and English for class 10 students.
The performance of class 3 students in Karnataka was equivalent to the national average score, with the State average being 323 out of 500 in language, 306 in maths, and 307 in environmental studies.
In class 5, students performed better than the national average - scoring 312 against the national average of 309. In mathematics, Karnataka students scored the equivalent of the national score of 284. However, in environmental science, their performance was below the national average, at 278 against 283.
In class 8, students’ performance in language, mathematics, and science was below average overall. They scored better than the national average only in Social Science - 256 against the national average of 255. In others, they scored 297 in language (national average 302), 251 in maths (national average 255) and 248 in science (national average 250).
In class 10, students achieved 242 in modern Indian languages, against the national average of 260, in maths the performance is very poor. In science average, social science and English is above the overall achievement.
School location-wise, Karnataka students’ performance was better in mathematics in rural and urban areas, and poor in science and English in class 10.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister B.C. Nagesh said since two years, there was no physical classes for school students and it impacted their education. “Informal classes like online and other digital forms of the classes were not effective in the learning system. The Karnataka government is seriously considering the learning losses and already implementing the “Kalika Chetarike” programme for all the students,” he said.
Reacting to the survey results, education expert V.P. Niranjanaradhya told The Hindu, “COVID-19 has affected the education sector since two years and the main victims are school children. Due to the lockdown, students were left out of the formal learning system and it led to learning losses. The NAS report clearly shows the learning loss of Karnataka students particularly in maths and science. Kalika Chetarike is not enough to fill the learning gap. The government should make an action plan for the future of the school students.”
