ASER Experts Says Government Should Rethink Textbook Contents for Better Learning

The country has various schools where the teachers do not use textbooks to teach the students at a very basic level. The teachers use experimental ways for the learnings space. They try to make the students understand the concepts rather than teaching them through the books. This experiment may be the revolution in the world of education but there are many educationists who believe that the students need textbooks and an improved syllabus for the learnings. The Indian Education System should be stronger and anew syllabus, especially at the state level, will improve the student’s level of learning.

According to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) experts, the elementary school students are not able enough to read the textbooks of class 2. As per the reports generated by ASER, there are only half i.e. 50.3% of all the students of Class 5 who can read texts which are meant for Class 2 students. If the education shortfall would happen in class 1 to class 8 level then resultant the teenagers would be affected always.

ASER provides the details about the primary school children in India’s state-run schools and also reveals the depth of India’s learning crisis.

Also, India is on the top of the list which contains the students of class 2 who cannot perform two-digit subtraction. The country has inherited the British model of education which was based on centralized textbooks. In this way, the situation is getting from bad worse which will affect the future of the country.

The experts are admitting the reason behind this situation and i.e. the lack of quality textbooks. There are many state boards which are not using the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks, especially at the remotely situated schools. The lack of improved syllabus, textbooks and the lack of basic infrastructure in schools are the reason behind this disaster.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is a national level board which follows the NCERT curriculum. It provides in-depth knowledge of the subjects in easier language. The NCERT textbooks offer clarification of the fundamental concepts. The textbooks contain many numbers of practice questions which are helpful in getting the deep knowledge of the concepts.

The Government has also asked the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) to follow the NCERT syllabus. So, from 2019 session, it would be mandatory for CISCE to follow the National Council of Educational Research and Training textbooks and curriculum.

As of now, there are various state boards and CBSE board which are following the same curriculum.