Chennai, May 27 (BPNS)
The National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 has found that the students of Tamil Nadu are below national average in learning outcomes.
The survey was conducted online on November 12, 2021, throughout the country for students of classes 3,5,8, and 10. About 34 lakh students of 1.18 lakh schools in both urban and rural areas of 720 districts in the country participated in the survey. The previous NAS was held in 2017. The nationwide survey was managed by the CBSE in one single day at the same time.
The survey found that the students of Class VIII and X of Tamil Nadu were found lacking in solving problems that one faces in day to day life using rational numbers, locating important historical sites and places on map, identifying construction models using materials from surroundings, explaining the process of making a law.
The study conducted among students of Class III, V, VIII, and X found that the students of the state were lacking in all subjects except for Class X students in English. It is to be noted that the students of the state have fared poorly when compared to the NAS 2017.
Dr. R. Padmanabhan, Director, Socio-Economic Development Foundation, a think tank based out of Madurai while speaking to BPNS said, “ The results of the survey is worrisome and the comparison between 2017 and 2021 finds that children have fared poorly now than in 2017. The effect of the Covid -19 pandemic is showing on the performance of the students, it seems.”
The NAS 2021 report also found that only 2% of students of Class X were proficient in science and only 8% had acquired intended learning outcomes in maths and science.
The study also found that the remaining students were at the basic and below basic levels.
More than 50% of the teachers who participated in the survey complained that they were overloaded with work.
An academic who doesn’t want to be named while speaking to BPNS said, “ The NAS survey results find that the Tamil Nadu government has not focused on outcome-based learning and the pandemic has affected the whole education system in the state. There were no proper monitoring and children were mostly learning painting, drawing, and singing rather than in science and maths classes. There has to be learning with systematic inputs covering all subjects and the lack of such learning is being seen in the survey.”
Another worrying fact that was thrown in the open by the survey was that 26% to 77% of the students studying in Classes III, V, VIII, and X said that they don’t have proper devices to study. One in three students complained that they faced obstacles in learning during the Covid -19 pandemic.
Dr. G. Padmanbhan said, “ The teachers must be monitored properly and they should be fixed responsibilities on the learning outcome of children. The higher officials of the education department must pay regular visits to schools and conduct surprise inspections on the skills of the students, otherwise, the state will go from bad to worse.”
