THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER 2023: Beyond Basics) pointed out huge learning gaps among rural teens aged 14 to 18 years in the country, its findings brought cheer to Kerala as the state’s teens excelled in many of the surveys’ key parameters.
ASER 2023, conducted by NGO Pratham, had surveyed teens in 28 districts across 26 states of which Ernakulam was the district chosen in Kerala. Notably, the state topped the all-India chart in terms of teens who could read sentences in English, with 95% of those surveyed being able to accomplish the task. The national average in this category stood at 57%.
While the survey found that about 25 per cent of the teens across the country in the 14-18 age group still could not read a class-II level text fluently in their regional language, only 14% of students in Kerala figured in that category. In terms of mathematical ability too, the state fared well, as 57% of the surveyed were able to carry out tasks such as division, while the national average was 43%.
While over 73% of the surveyed teens in Kerala were able to do budget management tasks, about 43% could apply a discount, but only about 23% could calculate repayment. This was 61%, 37% and 11% respectively at the national level.
Around 99.5% of the state’s teens surveyed said they had a smartphone at home while the national average was 89%. The state also had the highest number of teens (90.3%) who could bring a smartphone for the survey to carry out the digital tasks prescribed, compared to 67.1% nationally.
Teens in the state specifically excelled in carrying out various digital tasks using smartphones. The state’s teen topped the all-India chart for tasks such as finding a specific video on YouTube and sharing it with a friend, with over 90% of them doing it with ease.
More than 93% of Kerala’s teens in the 14-18 age group were enrolled in schools or colleges and the state figured in the top three places in this category. However, only 3.2% of the teens surveyed in the state were enrolled in vocational training, while the national average was 5.6%. The survey also found that only 4% of the teens in the state worked for 15 or more days (excluding household work), compared to 34% nationally.
Work aspirations
Nursing was the most preferred vocation for girls (33.4%) in the state while boys (35.5%) opted for the ‘other’ category that did not include any of the conventional job preferences. Interestingly, 21.2% boys and 13.1% girls in the state who were surveyed gave the ‘don’t know’ response when asked about their work aspirations.
KEY FINDINGS
Reading at least sentences in English
Kerala: 95% | All India: 57.3%
Read a Class II-level text fluently
Kerala: 85.8% | All-India: 73.6%
Have smartphone at home
Kerala: 99.5% | All-India: 89%
Carry out at least division
Kerala: 56.9% | All-India: 43.3%
Enrolment in school or college
Kerala: 93.4% | All-India: 86.8%