25% of teens aged 14 to 18 in rural India struggle to read Grade 2 text with fluency: Report

In 2023, India overtook China's population, currently with more than 1.43 billion people in the world. However, being the most populated country in the world, India's education is still very vulnerable. 

Recent reports give a shocking glimpse that 25% of rural teens aged between 14 and 18 cannot proficiently read class or 2nd-grade textbooks in their native language, and at least 42.7% cannot read sentences in English.

The ASER 2023 report, titled "beyond basics" and led by Pratham Foundation, an education-focused non-profit, focuses on youth aged 14 to 18 in rural India by surveying 34,745 youth enrolled in both government and private institutes in 28 districts across 26 states. 

In general, 86.8% of 14–18-year-olds are enrolled in school or college, although this percentage declines with age. For example, the report noted that the percentage of young people who are not currently enrolled in school or college increases with age, rising from 3.9% of 14-year-olds to 10.9% of 16-year-olds and 32.6% of 18-year-olds.

Over 60% of people can perform budget management tasks using basic mathematics; 37% can apply a discount; and only 10% can calculate repayment. "Overall patterns in the ability domain indicate that having basic foundational skills like reading and arithmetic are very helpful for activities like everyday calculations and understanding instructions," according to the report.

Two-thirds of smartphone users have used it for educational purposes, such as exchanging notes, watching online videos, or clearing up questions. Just over 25% of smartphone users use them for online services like paying bills, booking tickets, filling out forms, and making online payments.