Telangana: 75% of Class IX students can’t crack simple percentage problem
Telangana fares poorly in National Achievement Survey- The Parakh Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 report released by the Central government also reveals that a staggering 69 per cent of Class IX students failed could not understand sets of numbers, such as whole numbers, fractions, integers, rational and real
Hyderabad: The Telangana government’s initiatives of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, and Learning Improvement Programmes in Telangana to improve basic competencies and learning levels among school students appear to have fallen flat.
The Parakh Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 report, formerly National Achievement Survey (NAS), released by the Central government, showed alarming learning gaps, raising questions and concerns over the effectiveness of such interventions.
A staggering 75 per cent of the Class IX students failed to understand and apply the fundamental concept of percentage for cracking a simple problem, while 69 per cent from the same standard could not understand sets of numbers, such as whole numbers, fractions, integers, rational and real numbers.
Worrying trends in mathematics were also visible even in lower grades, as 54 per cent of Class VI students failed to recognise, describe, or extend simple number patterns.
As for mathematics competency levels of Class III students, 52 per cent failed to arrange numbers up to 99 in ascending and descending order and 49 per cent could not perform simple addition and subtraction of two-digit numbers.
The survey revealed that 69 per cent of Class IX students were unable to explain key natural phenomena, such as climate, weather, ocean cycles, soil formation, and river flow. Language skills were no better as 46 per cent of Class IX students were unable to identify main points and summarise information.
Overall, Telangana Class IX students’ competency levels in mathematics (36 per cent), Science (39 per cent), and Social Science (38 per cent) was below the national average – mathematics (37 per cent), science and social science (40 per cent). But the performance of State students in language was at par with the national average of 54 per cent.
In terms of language skills among Class VI students, 48 per cent failed to apply comprehension strategies to understand different texts. Another 42 per cent could not understand the main idea and draw essential conclusions from the material provided to them during the survey.
As for overall competency levels, in language (53 per cent), mathematics (44 per cent), and the world around us (44), the average performance of Class VI students in Telangana has been recorded lower than the national average by four, two and five percent, respectively.
Telangana’s report card
Total students participated in Class III: 23,655; Class VI: 24,330; Class IX: 30,479; Middle Stage Competencies (Class IX).
Language: 54 per cent, National average: 54 per cent
Mathematics: 36 per cent National average: 37 per cent
Science: 39 per cent National average: 40 per cent
Social Science: 38 per cent, National Average: 40 per cent- 75 per cent failed to understand and apply the fundamental concept of percentage for cracking a simple problem- 46 per cent could not identify main points and summaries after carefully listening or reading the text from news articles, reports or editorials
Preparatory Stage Competencies (Class VI)
Language: 53 per cent, National average: 57 per cent
Mathematics: 44 per cent, National average: 46 per cent
The World Around Us: 44 per cent, National average: 49 per cent- 54 per cent failed to recognise, describe, or extend simple number patterns- 46 per cent failed to understand main ideas and draw essential conclusions from the language material read
Foundational Stage Competencies (Class III)
Language: 58 per cent, National average: 64 per cent
Mathematics: 54 per cent, National average: 60 per cent – 52 per cent cannot arrange numbers up to 99 in ascending and descending order- 49 per cent cannot perform addition and subtraction of two-digit numbers fluently- 56 per cent cannot unable to perform simple transactions using money up to Rs 100
