NEW DELHI: NCERT officials have observed that students in States other than Delhi are more focused on their studies at the Class VIII level than their peers in the national capital.
“Students outside may not be as strong in other subjects but when it comes to maths and science, they certainly have an edge over Delhi students given their emphasis on strengthening their fundamentals,” said an NCERT official.
The mismatch in the syllabi of the various stages from primary classes to middle school, and from high school to senior secondary was also attributed to the poor show by the Delhi students. The study also covered the factors at children’s homes in analysing the students’ performance. It said only 5 per cent of the parents of Class VIII students hold a degree while 20 per cent of the parents were illiterate. It also said that 21 per cent of the homes of Class VIII students have no books at all while 60 per cent of the homes have between 1-10 books. Only 10 per cent of the homes have more than 25 books.
The study reveals that students coming from a larger family had a lower-than-average performance. Students with only one sibling outperform those who have two or more brothers and sisters. Similarly, the results suggest that the higher the parents’ education, the more likely a student is to do well. Similarly, if the language spoken at home is the same as the language of instruction, then it has a positive impact on the achievements.
It reveals that government-aided schools have lower performance, even when the key factors such as the socio-economic status of parents, location etc are taken into account. Schools with pucca buildings tend to do better. Co-ed schools do better than single-sex schools and students who go to schools which have a six-day week do better than those which have a five-day week. Students at schools which have more than 180 working days a year tend to achieve more.