Bangalore: More than half of the students in class 5 in rural India could not read the text taught in class 2 in 2011, reveals the seventh Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) of rural India by the NGO Pratham. The survey gave a detailed picture of the declining reading and math skills among the Indian children.

Eighteen months after Right to Education Act came into effect; ASER visited more than 14,000 government schools to assess progress towards compliance with those norms and standards specified in the act. With the quality of elementary education falling in rural schools in the country, India seems to have a lot to work on, on the educational front.

A shocking finding was that reading levels were estimated to have declined in many states across North India. The proportion of children in class 5 able to read a class 2 level text dropped from 53.7 percent in 2010 to 48.2 percent in 2011. Gujarat, Punjab and Tamil Nadu fared well in 2011 compared to 2010.The positive side was that such declines were not visible in the southern states. Several states in the north-eastern region of India also showed positive change. Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka showed no change in numbers from last year.

The basic arithmetic levels also showed a decline. It was noted that the proportion of class 3 children able to solve a 2 digit subtraction problem with borrowing, dropped from 36.3 percent in 2010 to 29.9 percent in 2011. Among class 5 children, the ability to do similar subtraction problems dropped from 70.9 percent in 2010 to 61.0 percent in 2011. This decline was visible in almost every state. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu were the only states to show improvements from 2010 to 2011. Many states in the north-eastern region of India also showed positive change. No change in arithmetic levels in Gujarat was seen.