489 : The 2017 Annual Status of Education Report 1: India’s Learning Crisis
Dipinder S Randhawa
27 April 2018
The 2017 Annual Status of Education Report released in January 2018 revealed that while
India has achieved near universal enrollment, the quality of learning in schools has not only
been poor, but has also deteriorated over the years. After eight years of schooling, more than
a quarter of the children are unable to read a Standard 2 text, and nearly three out of five are
not able to solve a simple three-digit by one-digit division sum. The learning deficiencies
have widened over the past 10 years, raising serious questions about the value imparted by
Indian primary and secondary schools, and the cognitive skills, capabilities and prospects of
its youth as they enter an increasingly uncertain and demanding workforce. This paper
attempts to delineate the reasons behind the poor performance and its consequences