In recent years, India has succeeded in increasing the enrollment rate in schools. The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2022 data reveals that the enrollment rate for the 6 to 14 age group has been above 95% for the past 15 years. The improvements have continued amid the COVID-19 pandemic as well, with enrollment increasing from 97.2% in 2018 to 98.4% in 2022. While children across India are in school, are they learning?

UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM

Over 10 years of data from ASER point to three key facts:

  • At every grade level, basic learning levels are worryingly low. The all-India figures from ASER 2022 suggest that less than half of all children enrolled in Grade 5 can read text of Grade 2 level. A similar proportion of children can correctly do a two-digit subtraction problem (with borrowing). This suggests that at least half of all children in Grade 5 in India need immediate learning support.
  • Data from recent years shows small increases, especially in lower grades, but much higher improvements are needed to bring children up to the level of grade-level expectations.
  • Learning trajectories over time are flat. This suggests that if children do not acquire foundational skills in the primary school years, it is unlikely that they will pick them up later and often struggle to cope with the subsequent curriculum.

TEACHING AT THE RIGHT LEVEL

Pratham pioneered the Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) methodology in the early 2000s as an effective, low-cost strategy, to provide a solution to the learning crisis.

In the TaRL methodology, regardless of age or grade, teaching starts at the level of the child. Children are grouped according to their current learning levels either across grades or within the same class. The approach breaks away from the “chalk and talk" practices common in most classrooms and consists of simple, engaging, fun and creative daily learning activities appropriate for each learning level/group. The assessment tool has five reading and arithmetic proficiency levels to identify where each child is struggling. This helps instructors group children by their current level. Regular, time-bound assessments are conducted and collected to track progress. Based on this progress, children are re-grouped as they advance.

The data produced through this process is aggregated, displayed, and discussed, making it readily understandable for instructors, teachers, and parents. The approach facilitates accelerated learning, aiding the child to catch up in a short time.

The TaRL method was initially designed considering children who have already reached Grades 3, 4 or 5 but have not acquired basic skills. The focus is on helping children aged 8 years and above with basic reading, understanding, and expressing themselves and arithmetic skills. These are foundational building blocks that allow a child to move forward.

TaRL classes are conducted in schools during school hours, and summer vacations, and in community settings. Pratham staff, teachers and community volunteers are engaged in the implementation.

BIG CHANGE IS POSSIBLE

Since 2001, Pratham has partnered with Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) to evaluate the TaRL approach for scale. Six randomised evaluations across seven states in India showed that the TaRL approach is consistently effective when implemented systematically, resulting in some of the largest effect sizes recorded in education research. For example, learning camps held in Uttar Pradesh proved effective showing significant learning gains – the number of children who could read a paragraph or story had doubled. The long-term partnership and decades of research show that TaRL works most effectively when implemented as a comprehensive approach that reorients education systems towards prioritising learning outcomes, particularly in foundational learning.

GUIDED TOUR OF TARL

Pratham’s TaRL approach has been scaled across multiple states in India. Today, it is implemented in two ways—directly by Pratham instructors through Learning Camps or as part of a Pratham-government partnership program where government teachers implement TaRL as part of the school day. In the direct model, Pratham instructors run Learning Camps, 30-50 days of instruction (3 to 5 camps of 10 days each), for about 3 hours daily. In the partnership model, government teachers use this approach over a longer school year (four to six months) with dedicated time for 1-2 hours a day. Continuous, on-site monitoring and support, coupled with reviews conducted at various school system levels, collectively enhance the program's effectiveness.

Here’s how TaRL compares with routine teaching-learning in schools