The Quality Education Study (QES), conducted by the Bangalore-based IT major Wipro and Educational Initiatives, Ahmedabad surveyed 23,000 students, 790 teachers and 54 principals from 89 private schools (including 66 affiliated with CBSE and CISCE) in the metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore. The study assessed the competence of class IV, VI and VIII students in maths, science, social studies and English, attitudes and values, and co-scholastic education. A summary of main conclusions:
Learning outcomes
• Class IV students scored lower than the international average on questions drawn from international studies such as Trends in International Maths and Science Study (TIMSS) and Progress in Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). Though class VIII students attained parity with international students, this was due to high scores in procedural questions.
• There’s a drop in learning outcomes from a previous Student Learning in Metros Study (SLIMS) 2006. In questions which were drawn from SLIMS 2006, students scored less in QES in maths (classes IV, VI) and English (class VIII).
• Students from schools affiliated with the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) topped the 89 schools surveyed with CISCE students out-performing those from CBSE-affiliated schools.
• Comparitive scores also reveal that students from Kolkata and Delhi performed significantly better than Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore.
• Students excelled in presenting model answers learned by rote and scored well while responding to procedural questions which don’t require cognitive learning or application of concepts.
• Practical competencies such as map reading, using good language in writing, measurement, general awareness etc are not well developed.
Social skills and attitudes
• Surprisingly, 40-43 percent of students in classes IV, VI and VIII opine that education of the girl child is not as important as of male children.
• Nearly half the students assessed exhibited religious and/or communal prejudice.
• Nearly 60 percent exhibited intolerance of migrants from other states of the Indian Union on the ground that they take away jobs of natives and generate linguistic tensions.
• Shockingly, the great majority (70-80 percent) of classes IV, VI and VIII students exhibited lack of sympathy towards differently-abled people and opined they are a burden, unhappy and cannot do well in studies.
• 60 percent of students exhibited insensitivity towards HIV affected people and a lack of awareness about HIV.
Co-scholastic curriculums
• A large number of principals (more than 70 percent) agree that co-scholastic education is integral to the curriculum for building students’ self-confidence, self-control, sportsman-ship, solidarity, teamwork, competitive-ness, health, etc. However, half of them admitted they neglect co-curricular activities. An average school child spends only 9 percent and 10 percent of time respectively on sports and co-scholastic activities like music/art/dance/elocution/dramatics.
Teacher appraisal and mentoring
• Nearly 25 percent of schools don’t have teacher appraisal systems or conduct them sporadically. While student assessment, peer review and observation often determine teacher appraisal, external assessment is the exception.
Principal-teacher beliefs
• 30 percent of principals and 40 percent of teachers surveyed believe that (i) strict discipline is necessary; (ii) teachers’ control over students is necessary for discipline; (iii) students must fear teachers; (iv) inattentive students should suffer corporal punishment.
Academic pressure
• Students who expressed they are under severe pressure to perform academically, displayed a higher degree of confidence in their capabilities but fared badly in tests.