25% youngsters cannot read Class-2 level text fluently in their regional languages: ASER report

New Delhi: According to the latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) survey released on Wednesday, nearly a quarter of teens in the age group 14-18 years cannot read a grade 2nd level text fluently in their regional languages, and at least 42.7% cannot read sentences in English.

Overall 86.8% of 14-18-year-olds are enrolled in either school or college while the enrollment percentage drops with age. For instance, the proportion of youth who are currently not enrolled in school or college rises with age from 3.9% of 14-year-olds to 10.9% of 16-year-olds and 32.6% of 18-year-olds, the report highlighted, the report further reads.

The report, led by Pratham Foundation, an education-focussed non-profit, puts the spotlight on youth aged 14 to 18 years in rural India by surveying 34,745 youth enrolled in both government and private institutes in 28 districts across 26 states.

While talking about calculation, the report underlined that while nearly 85% of the surveyed youth can measure length using a scale when the starting point is 0 cm, the proportion drops sharply to 39% when the starting point is moved.

ASER also recorded the course stream of students enrolled in grades 11 and 12 and in college. In class 11 and 12, 54% are enrolled in arts and humanities, 9.3% in commerce and 33.7% in science. Analysing the gender aspect of the steam divide, the report stated that female students are less likely to be enrolled in the STEM stream (28.1%) than males (36.3%).