The closure of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the ability of rural schoolchildren to divide three-digit numbers and read a paragraph in their regional language. The latest data for 2024, published in the Annual Status of Education Report (Rural), broadly indicates that rural schoolchildren have largely recovered from the learning loss experienced during the pandemic. However, the recovery appears uneven when the data are analysed in detail.
To understand the learning losses during the pandemic as well as the post-pandemic recovery, the story used data for Class 5 children from the report. First, while children showed significant improvement in their arithmetic abilities, their progress in reading ability has been less pronounced.
Second, government schoolchildren showed strong recovery in reading abilities, with the share of those who can read a paragraph in their regional language reaching pre-pandemic levels. While private schoolchildren have made some progress from the pandemic-induced decline, the share who could read a paragraph in their regional language remained well below pre-pandemic standards.
Chart 1 shows the share of rural schoolchildren in Class 5 who could read a Class 2-level text (a paragraph) in their regional language. The share of government school students who could read the text dropped from 44.2% in 2018 to 38.5% in 2022 and improved to 44.8% in 2024 — a 6.3 percentage point recovery. For private school students, it dropped from 65.1% in 2018 to 56.8% in 2022 and improved to 59.3% in 2024 — only a 2.5-point recovery.
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Third, the proportion of children who were able to perform basic arithmetic operations exceeded pre-pandemic levels among both government and private schools, as per the 2024 data. However, the recovery was stronger among government schoolchildren compared to their private counterparts.
Chart 2 shows the share of rural schoolchildren in Class 5 who could divide three-digit numbers. The share of government school students who could do this declined from 22.7% in 2018 to 21.6% in 2022 and improved to 26.5% in 2024 — a 4.9-point recovery. The share of private school students who could do the same dropped from 39.8% in 2018 to 38.7% in 2022 and improved to 41.8% in 2024 — only a 3.1-point recovery.
Fourth, not all States followed the national trend. There were many patterns and variations in State-level data. Table 3 shows the State-wise share of rural schoolchildren in Class 5 who could read a Class 2-level text (a paragraph) in their regional language in 2018, 2022, and 2024. Table 4 shows the same for those who could divide three-digit numbers.
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In Table 3, States/Union Territories such as Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Tamil Nadu conformed to the national trend. In Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, the share of government schoolchildren who could read did not recover from the pandemic lows.
In Bihar, the reading ability of private schoolchildren did not recover. In Chhattisgarh, there was no recovery among government schoolchildren or among private ones.
Table 4, States such as Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh conformed to the national trend. In Kerala, the share of those who could divide three-digit numbers did not recover from the lows recorded during the pandemic in both private and public schools. In fact, in 2024, the share worsened further in Kerala.
Also read:ASER study shows post-COVID recovery, but many students still lag in reading, arithmetic
Published - February 04, 2025 07:00 am IST
