Bangalore gets graduates from across the nation and the world --the situation is perhaps similar to economically vibrant New York City's where the school system is dysfunctional like in Karnataka.
Umesh --- Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > This in the land of Bangalore? > > cm > > > > > > The A,B,C Abyss > > Karnataka's primary school education has bottomed > out > > SUGATA SRINIVASARAJU > K For Can't > * Karnataka ranks below Bimaru states on learning > index > * Ranks fourth from bottom in reading abilities, > and is > at the bottom in math skills > * 52.9% kids in 7-10 age group can't read a simple > paragraph > * The problem is common to government/private > schools > Following the International Literacy Day jamboree on > September 8, the > coalition government here has been taking out huge > ads trumpeting its > achievements in the area of primary and secondary > education. If the > propaganda machine is to be believed, the JD(S)-BJP > coalition has > released Rs 5,103 crore for the education sector. > > The funding and intentions seem impressive. But data > thrown up in the > latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) > India for rural > Karnataka tells a rather different, grim story. A > survey covering > 15,628 children in 540 villages and 534 schools > across the state's 27 > districts found that 52.9 per cent of the children > in the 7-10 age > group can't read even a simple small paragraph > (Level 1) and 72.5 per > cent cannot read a story (Level 2). And 59.7 per > cent cannot solve > numerical sums of subtraction and 90.6 per cent > cannot do simple > division. > > While the all-India statistics spelled out in the > ASER India report > is itself worrisome, the Karnataka data is shocking. > The report is a > coordinated effort of Pratham Resource Centre with > hundreds of ngos > working in the education sector across the nation. > In Karnataka, the > survey was supported by 18 organisations, including > the Azim Premji > Foundation. > > According to the report, Karnataka ranks much below > even 'Bimaru' > states like Bihar and Chhattisgarh on the learning > index. Bihar fares > badly when it comes to school infrastructure, > out-of-school-children > percentage and access to learning material, but its > children manage > to top the nation's list when it comes to learning > abilities. This > when out-of-school-children percentage was highest > in the country at > 13.5 per cent, while Karnataka's was just 1.9 per > cent. Only about > 52.4 per cent had access to textbooks in the eastern > state's primary > schools, but in Karnataka nearly 90 per cent had > access. Yet, when it > came to learning skills, Bihar's children came in > fifth in the > country for reading skills and third for their > arithmetic skills. > Karnataka occupied fourth place from the bottom when > it came to > reading and took the last place in the country when > it came to > arithmetic skills! > > "The huge surprise is that the situation in > Karnataka, TN and Gujarat > is far worse than Bihar and Chhattisgarh.... The > situation with > respect to mathematics is also alarming. IT hub > Karnataka needs to > seriously think about the way mathematics is taught > in > schools-government as well as private...," says the > report. > > The ASER data makes the feelgood nature of the state > propaganda on > school education seem a bit bizarre. The government > has declared its > intention to achieve 85 per cent literacy in the > state by 2007. But > what about the quality of education imparted? If > schoolkids at > primary level are not picking up basic reading or > math skills, what > hope for the future when the syllabus gets tougher? > > So is all the money the government is spending going > down the drain? > Bhamy Shenoy, trustee of Pratham (Mysore) who helped > put the ASER > report together, isn't optimistic: "This data > would've made headlines > in any civilised country. Surprisingly, there is > neither a mention > nor a statement by our state leadership." Karnataka > education > minister Basavaraj Horatti, busy attending literacy > rallies in rural > areas, was unavailable for comment. > > _______________________________________________ > assam mailing list > [email protected] > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > Umesh Sharma 5121 Lackawanna ST College Park, MD 20740 USA Current temp. address: 5649 Yalta Place , Vancouver, Canada 1-202-215-4328 [Cell Phone] Canada # (607) 221-9433 Ed.M. - International Education Policy Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Class of 2005 weblog: http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/ ___________________________________________________________ All new Yahoo! Mail "The new Interface is stunning in its simplicity and ease of use." - PC Magazine http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
