National Achievement Survey: India Sees Drop in Learning Outcomes in 3 Years

The survey had a sample size of 34 lakh students across Grade 3, 5, 8, and 10 of students in government and private schools.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint) 

The National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021, which is conducted to understand learning achievements of students, revealed that there has been a drop in learning outcomes in the last few years.

The survey, which is conducted every three years by the government of India, was last conducted in 2017. The survey had a sample size of 34 lakh students across Grade 3, 5, 8 and 10 of students in government and private schools. The last survey was held in 2017.

Dharmendra Pradhan, education minister, said, “the findings of the survey are crucial for understanding the achievement of student’s learning outcomes and attainment of grade level competencies. Further, the data collected through this achievement survey will help understand the impact of multi-faceted learning approach adopted during the pandemic and its effectiveness on children particularly from socio-economic backgrounds."

The survey focused on competency-based assessment of students. It was conducted in Language, Mathematics and Environmental Sciences (EVS) for Classes 3 and 5. Meanwhile, Class 8 was tested on Language, Mathematics, Sciences and Social Sciences. Class 10s were tested on five subjects.

34 lakh students from approximately 1.8 lakh schools were assessed. The students were from 720 districts from both rural and urban areas.

Impact of Pandemic on Students

In order to gauge the impct of the pandemic on students, a pre-questionnaire was conducted, where they were asked questions about online learning.

Students were asked questions about their perception of online learning. Of the student that were part of the survey, only 45 percent found online learning joyful. 38 percent of students had difficulties in learning.

24 percent students said that they did not have devices at home during the pandemic and 80 percent said that they learn better in school with the help of their peers.

Learning at home during the pandemic. 

(Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint) 

Drop in Average Performance of Students Across Grades

According to a report by The Indian Express, there was a drop in percentage points across Class 3, Class 5, and Class 8. The test was conducted across grades and subjects. A dip was observed in almost all subjects.

The average performance for students across grades (out of 500) stood at 311 for language, 266 for mathematics, and 295 for EVS.

Class 10, which was tested on five subjects, saw an average performance (out of 500) of 260 in modern Indian languages, 220 in mathematics, 206 in Science, 231 in social sciences, and 277 in English.

Drop in performance among Class 3 students. 

(Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint) 

Drop in performance among Class 5 students. 

(Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint) 

Drop in performance among Class 8 students. 

(Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint) 

How Was the Survey Conducted?

The Ministry of Education said in a statement, "The achievement tests along with the questionnaires, ie, pupil questionnaire, teacher questionnaire, and school questionnaire were developed and translated in 22 different languages by NCERT. This nation-wide survey was administered by the CBSE in one single day at the same time. The survey was managed through the technology platform designed and developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC).”

Saurabh Chopra, project director, Government Projects at Central Square Foundation which had supported NCERT in the process said that the survey is held every three years in order to understand learning gaps, based on which states come up with solutions to plug the gaps. “Normally, once the survey is out, workshops are held at all levels to understand the gaps. Then every district and state make their own plans to combat these problems,” he added.

About the results, he said, “as expected there was a drop in learning outcomes, due to the pandemic. It was challenging to conduct the survey in the midst of COVID.”