A slight increase in Madhya Pradesh’s private schools enrolment from 18.2 per cent in 2012 to 20.3 per cent in 2013, has been recorded in the age group of 6 to 14 years.
This was the outcome of the Annual Status of Education Report, ASER 2013 released in New Delhi on Wednesday by Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia. This is the ninth annual report. In MP, the proportion of all children taking paid private tuition classes has decreased slightly since 2012. The proportion of children in Std. I-V who received paid private tuition has decreased from 8.8 per cent in 2012 to 7.4 per cent in 2013.
ASER is the largest annual household survey of children in rural India that focuses on the status of schooling and basic learning. Facilitated by Pratham, in each rural district ASER is conducted by local organizations, and institutions. ASER 2013 reached 550 districts and close to 16,000 villages, 3.3 lakh households and 6 lakh children in the age group 3-16 years.
Enrolment in the 6-14 age group continues to be very high, with more than 96% of children enrolled in school. The proportion of out of school girls in the 11 to 14 age group is 5.9 per cent. Despite a high enrolment level, attendance on the day of visit in schools in Madhya Pradesh was approximately 60 per cent. This figure is low in comparison to the national average of 71 per cent. Every year, ASER finds out whether children in rural India go to school, whether they can read simple text and whether they can do basic arithmetic.