BHUBANESWAR: Sambalpur is one of the 10 low performing districts in the country when it comes to educating the primary graders in both government and private schools.This has been revealed by the Ministry of Education in its Foundational Learning Study Report-2022 which recently released a list of 10 low performing districts in India. The study where Class 3 students were interviewed one-to-one earlier this year was carried out by both the Education Ministry and National Council of Education Research and Training.
Sambalpur has 1,352 schools with grade-3 and 5,826 teachers in primary grades. There are total 16,475 students enrolled in grade-3 in the district. Of them, 950 students of 111 schools and 256 teachers were covered to evaluate their numeracy, literacy and language (Odia and English) skills.
Language assessment revealed that 20 per cent (pc) of students cannot correctly read Odia words and complete the most basic grade-level tasks in the language. Although, 87 pc of the students were well aware of English words and could read and comprehend sentences correctly within a minute’s time.
As to reports, in 32 English-medium schools with 306 students in the district, there were 81 teachers in the subject. Similarly, in 79 Odia-medium schools, 175 Odia teachers are there to teach 644 students.
The skills deteriorate as far as numeracy is concerned.
The study revealed that only 40 per cent of students surveyed had developed sufficient knowledge and skill and could complete the most basic grade-level tasks. While 15 pc of them lacked the most basic knowledge, 27 pc had limited skills. Only 18 pc could perform complex numeracy tasks.
When it comes to solving complex grade-level tasks in numeracy, 18 pc students could do so. Similarly, when it comes to addition and subtraction, only 55 pc could identify the application of addition in real life situations and say the correct answers. The percentage was only 44 as far as subtraction is concerned.
The other districts in the list are Diu, Adilabad (Telangana), Alirajpur (Madhya Pradesh), Changlang (Arunachal Pradesh), Dhamtari (Chhattisgarh), Muktsar (Punjab), Shamli (Uttar Pradesh), Tiruchirapali (Tamil Nadu) and Yavatmal (Maharashtra).
LEARNING GRAPH
Survey involved 950 grade-3 students of 111 schools and 256 teachers
Language skills: 20 pc cannot correctly read Odia words, 87 pc well aware of English words and could comprehend sentences
Numeracy skills: 40 pc able to do basic grade-level tasks, 15 pc lacked basic knowledge, 27 pc had limited skills, 18 pc could solve complex tasks