J S Group Of Education And Skill Development Trust Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Aliquam quam elit, mollis at odio gravida, ultrices pulvinar justo. Vivamus eleifend mollis dolor, et ornare turpis vehicula in. Pellentesque auctor ac enim sit amet euismod. Ut eu accumsan nunc. Nam ultrices, orci a volutpat molestie, ipsum magna posuere ex, vel lobortis dolor purus tristique purus. Integer arcu libero, feugiat non eros vel, aliquet sodales justo. Aliquam lobortis efficitur velit, vel tempor dui iaculis non. Mauris non ullamcorper leo. Nulla consectetur arcu eget condimentum auctor. Aliquam sagittis dictum augue. Duis fringilla nec augue eu laoreet.
We are the champions

J S Group Of Education And Skill Development Trust Over ten years of data from the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) point to three key facts:
First, at every grade level, basic learning levels are unacceptably low. The All India figures from ASER 2018 suggest that only about half of all children enrolled in Std V can read at least at Std II level. A similar proportion of children are able to do a two-digit subtraction problem (with borrowing) correctly. This suggests that at least half of all children in Std V in India need immediate support.
J S Group Of Education And Skill Development Trust Second, data from recent years shows small increases especially in lower grades, but much higher improvements are needed to bring children to up to the level of grade level expectations.
Third, learning trajectories over time are flat. This suggests that if children do not acquire foundational skills in the primary school years, it is unlikely that they will pick them up later.

Here is a table from ASER 2018 that shows reading levels for Std III to V. Not only do we see a large proportion of children at low levels of reading, but the variation in each grade is wide. For example: In Std V, while 50% of all children can read Std II level text (or even higher), the rest are not yet at Std II level. Close to 18% children are only able to recognize letters or yet to acquire that skill. 13% can read simple words but not sentences and another 19% are just about reading text at Std I level. This situation presents a huge challenge to any teacher. What should a teacher teach? And to whom? In a typical Indian classroom, the Std V teacher teaches from the Std V textbook and thus only the “top of the class” benefits from her teaching.
ASER 2018: % Children in primary school who can read at different levels
All India all rural districts:
Representative sample of all children from household survey
% Children in govt schools in Std III who can at least do subtraction: Selected States ASER 2018
J S Group Of Education And Skill Development Trust The ASER 2018 graph on the left shows the proportion of Std III children enrolled in government schools who can at least do a numerical two digit subtraction problem with borrowing. (This kind of problem is usually found in Std II math textbooks in states). The All India figure indicates that approximately 21% of children can do this task correctly. However there is wide variation across the country with stats like Kerala, Himachal Pradesh or Punjab where more than 40% children can do this correctly to states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh where this figure is lower than 15%. If we consider these levels as a proxy for the proportion of children who are at grade level in Std III, we can see that a substantial jump is required to help children get close to grade level expectations.

Over the last fifteen years, Pratham has evolved a solution called Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) which enables children to acquire foundational skills, like reading and arithmetic quickly. Regardless of age or grade, teaching starts at the level of the child. This is what is meant by “Teaching at the Right level”. The TaRL method developed by Pratham was originally designed keeping in mind children who have already reached Std. III, IV or V but still have not acquired basic skills. The focus is on helping children with basic reading, understanding, expressing themselves as well as arithmetic skills. These are foundational building blocks that help a child to move forward. Studies have shown that once acquired these capabilities endure over time. TaRL is an effective and low-cost strategy that helps children to “catch up” in a short period of time. Children, who are 7 or 8 and older and have been in school for a few years, can “pick up” quickly.

To be effective, the “Teaching at the Right Level” approach needs to be embedded in a larger eco-system whose elements are aligned to support and ensure learning for all children. Here are the main features of the school system that need to be changed to ensure that learning for all is possible.
Today Pratham’s “TaRL” approach is implemented in two ways – directly by Pratham instructors through “Learning Camps” or as part of a Pratham-government partnership programs where government teachers implement TaRL as part of the school day. In the direct model, Pratham instructors run “Learning Camps”, 30-50 days of instruction (3 to 5 camps of 10 days each), for about 3 hours a day. In the partnership model, government teachers use this approach over a longer period in the school year (four to six months) with dedicated time for 1-2 hours a day.


Here is an example of learning improvement seen in the 2017-18 Pratham-Goverment of Karnataka Partnership Program for Std. IV & V:


In the 2018-19 school year, Pratham is partnering with several state governments to help children acquire foundational skills. These states include Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir and in some districts for Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand and West Bengal.