According to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, only 25% of 3rd-grade students have been able to develop the basic proficiency to read & understand simple short stories or carry out two-digit addition-subtraction. Citing the findings of a 2017 Annual Status of Education Report, the former report pointed out that the Indian government’s own National Assessment Survey says that a substantial percentage of children have low learning levels:
“Only one-quarter of third-grade students can read and understand a short story with a few simple sentences or subtract one two-digit number from another.”
However, the report added that as the degree of crisis is coming under the light, more attention has been given to improving the standards, both inside as well as outside India.
Quoting the report, “From Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi to the Ministry of Human Resource Development to pioneering state governments in Delhi and Rajasthan that are instituting reforms, Indian leaders are putting learning outcomes on the agenda. The World Bank’s 2018 World Development Report focused entirely on the issue of educational quality.”
As recently as Tuesday, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched its 2nd annual Goalkeepers Data report. This report contains the latest demographic trends that have the potential to stunt the unprecedented progress in attempts to reduce poverty worldwide.
The future of poverty reduction is at risk as the population growth is exponential, especially in poorer countries like Africa. If the current trends continue to grow, the number of people below the poverty line could reverse its two-decade decline and begin to rise.