Only 55% of class 3 students can arrange numbers up to 99, and just 53% of class 6 students know multiplication tables up to 10, the PARAKH survey finds.
A nationwide student assessment has revealed critical learning gaps among schoolchildren, particularly in mathematics, across several grades and school types.
The findings come from the PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024, conducted by the Ministry of Education (MoE), which assessed over 21 lakh students from Classes 3, 6, and 9 across 74,229 schools in 781 districts.
According to the report, only 55% of Class 3 students can arrange numbers up to 99 in ascending or descending order, while just 58% can perform basic two-digit addition and subtraction.
In Class 6, only 53% of students know multiplication tables up to 10 and can apply the four fundamental operations to solve real-life problems.
The assessment was carried out on Dec 4 last year and included 2,115,022 students from both public and private schools across 36 states and Union Territories.
A total of 115,022 children were tested, and 270,424 teachers and school leaders also participated through questionnaires.
Class 6 students performed the weakest in mathematics, scoring an average of 46% nationally.
Language scores averaged 57%, while “The World Around Us,” a subject covering environment and society, saw a national average of 49%.
Ministry officials pointed out that scores below 50% reflect serious learning deficiencies.
"These learning gaps indicate that educators must conduct focused interventions to strengthen students' skills, refine instructional strategies, and provide additional learning support. Addressing these areas effectively will help improve overall student learning outcomes in the nation," an official said.
Among Class 3 students, those enrolled in central government schools showed the lowest performance in mathematics.
For Class 6, government-aided and state government schools struggled the most, particularly in the same subject.
At the Class 9 level, students from central government schools outperformed their peers across all subjects, especially in language.
Private schools trailed in science and social science but fell behind significantly in mathematics. State government and government-aided schools showed similar trends, with mathematics continuing to be the weakest subject.
The survey also highlighted a notable rural-urban gap. In Class 3, rural students performed better in both mathematics and language.
However, students in urban areas outperformed rural peers in Classes 6 and 9 across all subjects.
“Moving beyond the assessment itself, the next phase of this initiative is focused on enabling systemic action. To facilitate this, a comprehensive multi-level strategy has been planned to translate the findings of the PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 into meaningful actions,” School Education Secretary Sanjay Kumar said in the report.
“This includes a phased dissemination of data through workshops at the national, regional, state, and district levels. These workshops will focus not only on understanding the survey results but also on preparing district-specific roadmaps, where roles and responsibilities are clearly defined,” he added.
PARAKH, formerly known as the National Achievement Survey (NAS), is responsible for creating assessment frameworks for all school boards in India to reduce score disparities across different state systems. The NAS, typically held every three years, last took place in 2021.
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