Morung Express News
Dimapur | January 28
The ASER 2024 survey highlighted a notable learning recovery in arithmetic skills for students in Nagaland, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. While foundational numeracy has improved, reading levels continue to show signs of struggle, particularly in primary grades.
Since the pandemic, there has been a clear recovery in arithmetic skills among students in rural Nagaland. The survey data indicated a positive trend in the performance of children in Std III and Std V in arithmetic, with Std III children showing a 3.7 percentage point improvement in 2024 compared to 2022.
Std III students enrolled in government schools in rural Nagaland demonstrated significant progress in foundational numeracy. Arithmetic levels in government schools rose by 3.7 percentage points since 2022, making a notable recovery from the learning losses experienced during the pandemic.
In particular, there was a marked improvement in the ability to perform subtraction tasks, with children in Nagaland outperforming many other states in the Northeast and even All-India averages.
Reading levels drop
While arithmetic levels saw recovery, reading levels showed a different trend. For Std III and Std V students in rural Nagaland, basic reading skills have either stagnated or declined since 2022, especially in comparison to previous years. Std III students saw a decrease in reading proficiency, with fewer children able to read at Std II level.
The drop in reading was more prominent in private schools, while government school students showed relatively better retention in reading levels. Despite the recovery in arithmetic, reading remains a challenge for many children, particularly in rural Nagaland.
Std V students also faced stagnant reading levels between 2018 and 2024, with government school children in Nagaland performing lower than the North Eastern region and All-India averages in basic reading tasks.
Impact of COVID-19 on learning
The pandemic continues to cast a shadow over learning outcomes, particularly for reading. While arithmetic recovery has been observed, many students are still struggling to catch up on foundational literacy, which had been severely impacted by school closures and limited access to learning during COVID-19.
