Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) 2019 'Early Years' ASER 2019 'Early Years' – Partners Andhra Pradesh Maharashtra Department of Social Work, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University, Srikakulam Administrative Service Degree College, Nagpur Government Degree College for Women (Autonomous), Srikakulam Manipur Assam Department of Education, Chanambam Ibomcha College, Bishnupur Department of Communication and Journalism, Gauhati University, Kamrup (Rural) District Institute of Education and Training, Kamrup (Rural) Meghalaya Jawaharlal Nehru College, Boko, Kamrup (Rural) Indian Institute of Professional Studies, Shillong, East Khasi Hills Bihar Nagaland Mahabodhi Mahavidyalaya (B.Ed.), Nalanda Unity College, Dimapur Chhattisgarh Odisha District Institute of Education and Training, Mahasamund Department of Social Work, Biju Pattanaik College of Hotel Management, Tourism & Social Work, Khordha Gujarat Shri Sarvajanik B.S.W. and M.S.W. College, Mehsana Punjab NSS Wing, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University, Bathinda Haryana Sarswati Vidya Mandir, Malapur, Hisar Rajasthan Ekal Jan Sewa Sansthan, Ajmer Himachal Pradesh District Institute of Education and Training, Kangra Tamil Nadu Janak Raj Mahajan B.Ed. College, Gangath, Kangra K.M.G. College of Education, Vellore K.L.B. D.A.V. College for Girls, Palampur, Kangra Society for Development of Economically Weaker Section (SODEWS), Thakur P.G. College of Education, Dhaliara, Kangra Vellore Jharkhand Telangana Radha Govind University, Ramgarh Department of Social Work, K.I.M.S. Degree & P.G. College, Karimnagar Karnataka Tripura Department of Social Work, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Post Graduate Centre, Organization for Rural Survival, South Tripura Suvarna Gangotri, Chamarajanagar Uttar Pradesh Kerala Department of Social Work, Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith, Department of Social Work, St. Thomas' College (Autonomous), Varanasi Thrissur Department of Social Work, University of Lucknow, Lucknow Madhya Pradesh Uttarakhand AKS University, Satna School of Social Sciences, Doon University, Dehradun The Bhopal School of Social Sciences, Bhopal West Bengal Department of Social Work, Bankura University, Bankura ii ASER 2019 Special thanks to Ajay Kumar Soni, Director, Rajiv Gandhi College of Computer Application and Technology, Satna, Madhya Pradesh Ambalika Khanna Aparajita Bhargarh Chaudhary, Early Childhood Development Specialist, UNICEF India Ashish Kohli, State Project Director, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, Himachal Pradesh Bharati Kalita, Principal, District Institute of Education and Training, Kamrup (Rural), Assam Bijaya Deka, Associate Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru College, Boko, Assam Binoy Paul, Secretary, Organization for Rural Survival, Tripura Dayanand Devdas, Former ASER Master Trainer, Chhattisgarh Dr. Anil Kumar Chaudhari, Associate Professor, Department of Social Work, Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith, Uttar Pradesh Dr. Bharati Bharali, Associate Professor, Department of Communication and Journalism, Gauhati University, Assam Dr. Dhir Jhingran, Founder Director, Language and Learning Foundation, Delhi Dr. Fr. John P. J., Principal, The Bhopal School of Social Sciences, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh Dr. Kanithi Sreeramulu, Principal, Government Degree College for Women (Autonomous), Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh Dr. Manjula Sharma, Quality Coordinator, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, Himachal Pradesh Dr. Reena Singh, Head of Department, School of Social Sciences, Doon University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand Dr. Rupesh Kumar, Associate Professor, Department of Social Work, University of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Dr. Tanuka Roy Sinha, TIC, Department of Social Work, Bankura University, Bankura, West Bengal Dr. U. Kavya Jyotsna, Head of Department, Department of Social Work, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University, Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh Dr. Venita Kaul, Professor Emerita, Education, Ambedkar University, Delhi Iravati Puri Labhya Foundation, Delhi Meenakshi Dogra, Consultant, Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development (CECED), Ambedkar University Mhonbeni Jami, Dean Students' Welfare, Unity College, Dimapur, Nagaland Oren Ovung, Administrator, Unity College, Dimapur, Nagaland Prof. Gurnam Singh, Head of Department, Department of Social Work, University of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Prof. N. Mohendro Singh, Former Director, College Development Council, Manipur University, Imphal, Manipur Prof. Sanjay, Head & Dean, Department of Social Work, Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith, Uttar Pradesh Rakesh Ranjan, Assistant Professor, Radha Govind University, Ramgarh, Jharkhand Ramanpreet Kaur, Assistant Professor, School of Social Sciences, Doon University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand Ranjeet Kaur Johal, NSS Programme Coordinator, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University, Punjab Supporters of ASER 2019 'Early Years' LatticeData Solutions LLP Charlotte Smith Neha Singhal LinkedIn Chirag Vyas Nimisha Kapoor The Jani Family Foundation Daniel Rodriguez-Segura Panchali Guha Kavyanjali Kaushik Prof. Chirantan Chatterjee Abhay Puri Ketan Purnima Ramanujan Anup Mukerji Madhuri Agarwal Ranajit Bhattacharyya Ariyka Nath Magda Tsaneva Shobhini Mukerji Arushi Kaushik Mahendra Yadav Upasak Das Ashish and Deborah Verma Mallika Sinha Vikram S Gandhi Atulan Guha Mel and Nancy Gross Our heartfelt thanks to all our partners, volunteers, master trainers, Pratham state heads, Pratham accountants, and Pratham state teams without whose hard work and dedication ASER 2019 'Early Years' would not have been possible. And finally, thanks to all the children and their families who interacted with us. ASER 2019 iii Contents ■ ASER 2019 'Early Years' – Partners .................................................................................................................................... ii ■ Special thanks to ............................................................................................................................................................. iii Co ■ ASER 2019 'Early Years' – An overview .............................................................................................................................. 1 1. Commentary ■ Young children, mothers and the nation ........................................................ Madhav Chavan.......................................... 5 ■ Building blocks to a better future: The urgent need to focus on early years .... Rukmini Banerji ......................................... 7 ■ The early years continuum ............................................................................ An interview with Dr Venita Kaul ............... 11 ■ Pre-primary schooling: An urgent priority for India ......................................... Ashish Dhawan and Krishnan S ................. 13 ■ The early advantage: Learning levels in Std I ................................................. Wilima Wadhwa ....................................... 17 ■ The hardest puzzle of all................................................................................ Suman Bhattacharjea .............................. 20 ■ To accelerate learning, press Play ................................................................. Sonali Khan .............................................. 23 ■ Engaging mothers in children's development, learning and school readiness .. Smitin Brid ............................................... 26 ■ Begin early before it is too late ..................................................................... Samyukta Subramanian ........................... 28 ■ Importance of literature to literacy ............................................................... Saktibrata Sen and Simmi Sikka .............. 30 2. About ASER 2019 'Early Years' ■ ASER 2019 'Early Years' – Coverage ................................................................................................................................. 34 ■ ASER 2019 'Early Years' – Summary of the survey process ................................................................................................ 35 ■ ASER 2019 'Early Years' – Early learning tasks ................................................................................................................. 36 ■ Sample design of rural ASER 2019 'Early Years' .............................................. Wilima Wadhwa ....................................... 43 ■ ASER 2019 'Early Years'– Sample description .................................................................................................................. 46 3. ASER 2019 'Early Years' – National picture ■ ASER 2019 'Early Years' – National findings ..................................................................................................................... 48 4. All districts ......................................................................................................................................................................... 51 5. Andhra Pradesh: Srikakulam, Assam: Kamrup (Rural), Bihar: Nalanda, Chhattisgarh: Mahasamund ..................................... 62 6. Gujarat: Mehsana, Haryana: Hisar, Himachal Pradesh: Kangra, Jharkhand: Ramgarh ........................................................... 72 iv ASER 2019 7. Karnataka: Chamarajanagar, Kerala: Thrissur, Madhya Pradesh: Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh: Satna, Maharashtra: Nagpur....................................................................................................................... 82 8. Manipur: Bishnupur, Meghalaya: East Khasi Hills, Nagaland: Dimapur, Odisha: Khordha ...................................................... 94