The latest Annual Status for Education Report, 2023 has revealed that more number of girls as compared to boys want to continue with their studies beyond class 12. The reasons behind this is the interest of the girls in studying and their belief that education would enable them to become better homemakers. Girls also said that they liked going to school because it is their only escape from their household duties.
Also, the boys had the authority to take their decision as against girls whose decisions were not in their hands. The boys could drop out of studies if they were not interested in studying further. The girls also noted that most of them were expected to get married at the age of 21 or 22. This allowed them time to study until that age. However, the report also maintained that the education was rarely connected to better preparedness for the job market.
The report is based on ASER 2023 'Beyond Basics' survey that was conducted in 28 districts across 26 states. Around 34,745 youths in the age group 14-18 years were surveyed for the report. One rural district was surveyed in each major state, except for Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, where two rural districts were surveyed.
News agency PTI quoted the report as saying, "In the ASER 2023 survey findings, a larger proportion of boys than girls reported not wanting to study after class 12. During the discussion, girls discussed wanting to study at least to undergraduate level, while boys talked about the likelihood of discontinuing their education after completing their schooling."
"Among girls, shifting social norms with regard to the appropriate age of marriage emerged as a key driver of young women's ability to study further. Most girls talked about how they expected to get married only at the age of 21 or 22, giving them time to continue to study until then," added the report.
What is ASER report?
ASER is a nationwide citizen-led household survey that provides an overview of the status of children's schooling and learning in rural India. The 'basic' ASER survey was first implemented in 2005 and is conducted annually until 2014. Since, 2014, it switched to an alternate-year cycle in 2016.
The 'basic' ASER collects information about the enrolment in preschool and school for children in the age group of three to 16 and assesses children aged five to 16 one-on-one to understand their foundational reading and arithmetic abilities. Gradullay ASER dives deeper into different aspects of children's schooling and learning in rural India.