96.5 % children between 6-14 years attend school in Bihar: NGO

Patna, Jan 25 (PTI) The Annual Status Educational Report(ASER)-2010 brought out by an NGO-Pratham has revealed 96.5per cent children between the age group of six to 14 yearshave been enrolled in Bihar in 2010, the highest in the lastsix years.

The report which was released by Chief Minister NitishKumar at a function here said young children attendingpre-school (Anganwadi/Baiwdi plus LKG/UKG) has increasedsubstantially and the percentage of age four childrenattending the pre school in 2009 increased to 82.7 per cent in2010 from 71.8 per cent.

Similarly, percentage of 11 to 14 year olds not notattending school in Bihar has decline over the years and inthis age group, the state successfully reduced the gender gapwith just 4.4 per cent boys and 4.6 per cent girls out ofschool.

The percentage of 15-16 year old children who were notnot enrolled in school continues to be a cause of worry with11. 5 per cent in this age group being still out of schools.

The learning levels in reading and arithmetic though havebeen better than states like Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand andRajasthan, it needs improvement, the report suggests.

Percentage of children in STD V who can read STD II levelis 58.5 per cent and this marks a decline from 2008 when 63.9per cent cdhilren in Std V could read Std II level text, itsays.

In Math, in Std V, 51.7 per cent children can dodivision, a significant drop from 2007 when 63.1 per centchildren in STDV could do division, the report reveals.

Children''s ability to do everyday calculations is quitegood compared to other states. Among other states, only Keralaand Goa perform better than Bihar and 69.1 per cent childrenin STD VIII in Bihar can correctly do both problems on area,it says.