Rural students outshine urban students: National Achievement Survey

Pune, Maharashtra: Although students in rural areas may not have the same exposure when compared to those in urban areas, they certainly have a better grasp on languages and mathematics, according to an education survey

The report by the National Achievement Survey of standard III students of the state board revealed that the overall performance of students in Maharashtra is better when compared to the national average.

Three skills like listening, word recognition and reading compensation were mapped to calculate the language results. The students of the state performed better than the national average in most of the mathematical exercises, except addition and multiplication. As per results, while the state average for languages and mathematics stood at 271 and 262, the national averages were 257 and 252 respectively.

Both urban and rural students of the state performed better in language than the national average. The equation changes for the urban students in reference to mathematics. The national average for rural students in the subject is 252 and the state has an average of 266. But, while the national average of urban students in maths is 253, the state urban student average in the same subject stood at to 248.

The sample survey was carried out in 250 schools from 14 districts in the state and it took into account a total of 4,300 students. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is responsible for planning, developing tools, conducting the surveys and reporting the results under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) by the union ministry of human resource development (MHRD).

S Chockalingam, commissioner of education said, "These are both highly respected reports. Proper academic analysis is needed before making a comment".

In gender-wise performance within the state of Maharashtra, girls have outperformed boys in both language and mathematics. But when it comes to comparison with national average and the state; both girls and boys of the state have outperformed their counterparts across the country.