IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/injoed/v111y2024ics0738059324001792.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Extending ASER as an assessment tool throughout South Asia

Author

Listed:
  • Richards, John

Abstract

Since 2006, Pratham, an Indian NGO, has conducted large-scale biannual surveys in all Indian states, in basic reading and arithmetic – surveys known by the acronym "ASER" (Annual Status of Education Report, Rural). The article endorses large-scale international assessments (such as PISA and ASER) as necessary tools for evaluating school systems at national level in the case of centralized systems and, in countries with decentralized systems, for evaluating sub-national systems. In India, both the central government in Delhi and state-level governments exercise substantial education jurisdiction. Delhi's 2010–12 decisions to incentivize enrolment without reference to quality disproportionately impacted above-median states. Delhi's decision to close all schools for nearly two years during pandemic (2020–22) again disproportionately impacted outcomes in above-median states. Similar impacts arose for arithmetic. By the 2018 survey (pre-COVID), ranking states by grade 5 ability to read at a basic level, nearly three-fifths of students in top-quintile states could read; in bottom-quintile states, at best one third students could read. In 2022 (post-COVID), the national average of rural students able to achieve ASER basic reading and do arithmetic are below ASER 2010 results.

Suggested Citation

  • Richards, John, 2024. "Extending ASER as an assessment tool throughout South Asia," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:injoed:v:111:y:2024:i:c:s0738059324001792
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2024.103152
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738059324001792
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2024.103152?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pritchett, Lant, 2024. "Investing in Human Capital in Africa: A framework for research," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    2. Pritchett, Lant, 2024. "Investing in human capital in Africa: a framework for research," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 123655, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Burnett, Nicholas, 2024. "Reforming international education organizations: Reflections on Elfert & Ydesen’s pioneering new book," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      More about this item

      Statistics

      Access and download statistics

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:injoed:v:111:y:2024:i:c:s0738059324001792. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/international-journal-of-educational-development .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.