ASER Pakistan Report 2021-22 for the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) was launched in Peshawar on Tuesday.
The survey for ASER Pakistan, a flagship program of Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA), was conducted in 32 rural districts of KP during September-November 2021.
The volunteers from partner organizations and National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) assessed 52,948 children (59% males, 41% females) aged 3-16 years in 18,592 households, 937 villages, and 901 government schools and 463 private schools, throughout the province. Out of these, 45,916 children aged 5-16 years were tested for language and arithmetic competencies.
Enrolment: Proportion of out-of-school children has increased when compared to 2019. In 2021, 27% of children were reported to be out-of-school which has increased when compared to 2019 (9%). 14% children have never been enrolled in a school and 13% have dropped out of school for various reasons. 73% of all school-aged children within the age bracket of 6-16 years were enrolled in schools.
Amongst these, 80% (77% in 2019) of children were enrolled in government schools whereas 20% (23% in 2019) of children were going to non-state institutions (19% private schools, 1% Madrassah, 0% others). Amongst the enrolled students in government schools, 64% were boys and 36% were girls whereas in private schools 63% enrolled children were boys and 37% were girls.
Early Childhood Education (ECE) has been historically tracked by ASER Pakistan. 30% of all school-aged children within the age bracket of 3-5 years were enrolled in schools in KP as compared to 35% in 2019. 70% children of age 3-5 are currently not enrolled in any early childhood program/schooling, although ECE is critical for foundational learning readiness in literacy and numeracy, but remains largely ignored as a holistic sub-sector addressing the physical, socio-emotional and cognitive domains.
ASER is a citizen led learning accountability movement. Learning levels of children both in school of all types and out of school, are assessed at their homes through grade 2 language and arithmetic tools. The same approach is used for all children between the ages of 5 to 16.
Learning levels: According to ASER KP report 2021-22, learning levels of children in class 5 and class 3 have declined in all three competencies. 50% of class 5 children could read a class 2 level story in Urdu/Pashto compared to 55% in 2019. 15% of class 3 children could read story in Urdu/Pashto as compared to 19% in 2019.
English learning levels (in class 5 and class 3) have declined as 54% class 5 children could read sentences (class 2 level) compared to 60% in 2019 while only 15% class 3 children could read class 2 level sentences as compared to 21% in 2019.
Similarly, arithmetic learning levels (in class 5 and class 3) have also declined with 50% class 5 children being able to do two digit division as compared to 53% in 2019 and 11% children enrolled in class 3 could do two digit division as compared to 16% in 2019. Children enrolled in private schools are performing better compared to their government counterparts and boys outperform girls in literacy and numeracy skills. Foundational learning trailing from grade 3 remains compromised in grade 5 and even in grade 8.
Private tuitions: The ASER KP rural survey 2021-22 highlights that children across all classes take private tuition; however, the percentage of students taking tuition varies at different class-level. For example, in government schools, 13% children enrolled in class 1 take private tuition whereas 21% children in class 10 take tuition.
Learning support responses during COVID-19 by children (5-16 years): The children were asked about learning support during COVID-19. From a high of 70% support availed from family members, 45% was taken from PTV TeleSchool sessions, 41% had access to smart phones, 37% with access to computer, 21% digital learning resources, , 20% to paid tuition and 8% accessed radio programs for learning support.
Multi-grade declines in govt schools: ASER 2021 National rural findings reveal 26% of government and 13% of private schools impart multi-grade teaching at grade 2 level; whilst in grade 8, 3% of surveyed government schools and 14% of surveyed private schools had class 8 sitting with other classes.
School facilities: The ASER report further highlights school functioning across every district in KP. Overall teacher attendance in both government and private schools was 92% on the day of the survey. Whilst private school teachers were reported to have better qualifications at graduate levels (33%) compared to 16% in government schools. Moreover, 22% have completed M.Ed in government schools compared to 38% in private schools. 91% government primary schools had boundary-walls as compared to 13% private primary schools; for functional toilets, the facility was available in 92% public and 20% private primary schools; safe and conducive environments do affect learning positively across public and private schools. 6% of surveyed government primary schools had computer labs and 4% had internet facilities while 100% of surveyed private primary schools had computer labs and 92% had internet facilities.
Health and disability: ASER 2021 school level survey, included a “Health and Disability” section; head teachers/teachers were asked questions pertaining to Children with Disabilities (CWDs) and appropriate facilities in their respective schools. At the provincial level, 0% of the surveyed government primary schools were reported to be having children with disabilities while 45% of the surveyed private primary schools reported the same.
Technology: ASER 2021 also included a wide range of questions from the households on technological access. 80% of households have mobile phones and 68% have smart phones. Amongst mobile users, 89% use WhatsApp services, whilst 66% use SMS facility. 20% have internet connection and 16% have computer/laptops. 55% households have TV and 20% have radio.
COVID-19 impact on income and well-being: 16% households stated that their earnings during Covid were affected by more than 50%. 29% of the households stated that their psychological well-being was substantially affected during Covid. Access to social safety nets: 17% of the households stated that they have received support from social safety nets (Ehsaas, BISP, PSPA, Akhuwat etc.)
