Hyderabad: Despite the Telangana government’s focus on skill development and international collaborations, the latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2024 has revealed a worrying decline in students’ foundational learning abilities across the state.
According to the report, 82% of students in Classes III to V cannot read even Class II level text, highlighting a serious gap between teaching and actual learning outcomes. Equally concerning is that 51% of students in this category struggle with basic subtraction.
As per a Telangana Today report, the situation worsens in upper primary classes, with 53.6% of students from Classes VI to VIII unable to read at a Class II level. Alarmingly, 65% of students in the same category cannot perform simple division, a fundamental skill expected by the end of primary schooling.
The survey, conducted by Pratham, covered 5,306 households across nine districts. It showed that among Class III students, 7.8% cannot recognise even a single letter, while 26.5% can identify letters but struggle with forming words. Additionally, 41.3% can read words but not full sentences, and only 6.2% can read Class II level text.
A particularly worrying trend is that students in Telangana performed worse than their counterparts in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand. The percentage of Class III students able to read Class II level text has dropped sharply from 19.9% in 2014 to just 6.3% in 2024. Similar declines were observed across Class V and Class VIII levels.
The report also highlights students’ weak numeracy skills. Among Class VIII students, 2.1% cannot recognise numbers between 1 and 9, while 2.6% can identify numbers up to 9 but not beyond 99. Additionally, 19.6% can recognise numbers up to 99 but cannot perform subtraction, and 34.6% can do subtraction but struggle with division, leaving only 41.1% able to perform basic division.
The findings have raised serious concerns about the quality of education in government schools, especially at a time when Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, who also holds the education portfolio, is promoting initiatives like the Young India Skills University and international collaborations for skilling. With learning outcomes deteriorating, experts believe urgent intervention is needed to strengthen foundational education, improve teacher training, and bridge the widening gap between teaching and learning.
The situation in Telangana is reflective of a broader crisis in India’s education system. States with historically high illiteracy rates, such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, continue to struggle with poor learning outcomes. While literacy rates have improved over the decades, foundational skills remain alarmingly weak, making it difficult for students to progress academically and professionally.
Education is the foundation of a nation’s progress, and these statistics serve as a wake-up call. Instead of focusing only on higher education and skilling initiatives, governments must prioritise basic literacy and numeracy, ensure teacher accountability, revamp outdated teaching methods, and implement community-driven programmes to support early education. If immediate corrective measures are not taken, the future of millions of children – and the country itself – will remain in jeopardy.
