Last week, Pratham came out with its Annual Survey of Education Report (ASER). First published in 2005, ASER is an annual countrywide survey of the status of elementary education in rural India. Speaking at the launch, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said that the key to strengthening public services lay in a mindset shift — from a focus on how much the government spends or its ‘outlays’, to what this expenditure yields, that is, its outcome and impact. Does the newly built road lead to better connectivity? Does building a school lead to better education? Ahluwalia praised ASER for attempting to do just this.

The good news from ASER 2007 is that enrolment is up ( 98.5 per cent across the country) and learning levels have improved (the proportion of children in classes 1 and 2 who can recognise letters and read words has gone up from 73.3 per cent in 2006 to 78.3 per cent in 2007). But nearly 40 per cent of children in Class 5 cannot read a Class 2 textbook. Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh have improved while, somewhat surprisingly, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are amongst the worst performers. Still more surprising: Bihar is doing consistently well. In 2007, it significantly improved its enrolment levels.