Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) 2021

The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) is a nationwide household survey on children’s education and learning outcomes conducted across rural India. Children aged 3-16 years are surveyed based on pre-school and school enrolment, and those between the age of 5-16 years are assessed individually on reading and basic arithmetic skills. While the survey has been conducted yearly since 2005, ASER has been following an alternate year cycle since 2016 – the main report is released every two years with the intervening years dedicated to specific topics of interest.ASER 2021 studies the impact of schools reopening after the Covid-19 lockdown on children’s enrolment, dropout patterns and the quality of learning. It also discusses the challenges faced in reopening schools and resuming offline studies. In states where schools were yet to reopen, it examines the progress made in remote teaching and learning processes.The sample-based study was coordinated by Mumbai-based non-governmental organisation Pratham, and carried out by volunteers from NGOs, colleges, universities, district-level educational institutes and teacher training institutes, among other entities. The survey was conducted in September-October 2021 through telephonic interviews and covered 581 districts and 17,184 villages in 25 states and three union territories. A total of 76,706 households and 7,299 schools were examined. The report was published on November 17, 2021. This 91-page report is divided into ten chapters: ASER 2021 Partners and Supporters (chapter 1); Special Thanks (chapter 2); An Overview of ASER 2021 (chapter 3); Commentary (chapter 4); About ASER 2021 (chapter 5); Household Survey Major Findings (chapter 6); Household Survey: Additional Tables (chapter 7); School Reopening Status during Survey (chapter 8); School Survey: Major Findings (chapter 9); and Process Documents (chapter 10).