What is ASER?
The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) is a survey of the quality of education in India, and has been conducted each year since 2005 by Pratham. ASER seeks to fill a gap in educational data by looking to provide a reliable set of data at the national level, that is comprehensive and, at the same time, easy to understand.
ASER surveys all the rural districts in India, selecting 30 villages from each district and 20 households from each village. This gives a total of 600 households per village. The villages are selected using a Probability Proportional to Size (PPS) sampling technique.
ASER is carried out in a campaign mode and is a truly national project. Pratham looks to involve ordinary citizens in the process of data collection and survey. In order to train these surveyors, workshops are held where the necessary skills are imparted. After the trainings are complete, the survey takes place and upon its completion, the results are sent in to Pratham by the surveyors themselves.
Objectives
- to get reliable estimates of the status of children’s schooling and basic learning (reading and arithmetic level) at the district level; and
- to measure the change in these basic learning and school statistics from last year.
- use this workshop as a launching pad for ASER Pakistan in the latter part of 2008 and conduct a national survey on measuring quality education till at least 2015.
How can you contribute?
This workshop is the first step towards ASER Pakistan, an annual exercise in measuring learning levels. This is not a standalone workshop. Starting from 2008, SAFED will conduct this exercise annually till at least 2015, thereby making it an important national statistical tool for educational quality and learning levels measurement. Being a community-driven survey, we would like participating members to take ownership of areas/districts/villages in their fields of operation. By late October 2008, when the time comes for ASER Pakistan, we would then like you to survey your assigned area and thus play your part in completing the national picture.
Members and resource persons
Rukmini Banerji, Director ASER Institute India
Dr. Rukmini Banerji is associated with the Pratham Resource Centre in New Delhi, India in the capacity of a Director. She did her Ph.D. in Education from the University of Chicago and her BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in July 1983 from Balliol College, Oxford University. Before that she completed her MA in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University .Her academic honours include the Spencer Foundation research grant, Population Council Post-doctoral Fellowship, Hewlett Demographic Training Scholarship, University of Chicago Scholarship, Carolyn Hoefer Memorial Award and the Rhodes Scholarship.
Dr. Wilima Wadhwa, Lead Statistician, ASER Institute India
Dr. Wilima Wadhwa did her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Irvine (UCI), USA. She has worked with Pratham since 2005, and has designed the ASER survey. She is an Applied Econometrician and also teaches at the University of California and at the Indian Statistical Institute.
What is the workshop plan?
Day 1 – Introductions; why, how, experiences of ASER in India; issues of sampling
Day 2 – Practice mapping, selection of households, testing and discussions
Day 3 – Doing ASER in a village; practice surveys in a village
Day 4 – Reporting results and analyzing information; creating a district report card
Day 5 – Communication and planning ahead
ASER – a community driven initiative
A key concept that ASER promotes is that of sharing. Not only is the entire survey process people-drive, the costs are also shared by the attendees. The minimal costs of travel to the district and data-collection, a process that lasts for a day or two, are covered by the surveyors themselves.
The workshop costs over the entire five-day period are Rs. 3500 per member. This covers for refreshments, transportation to and from villages, stationery costs and occasionals. Participants are expected to arrange for their own accommodation. However, if requested, ITA can arrange for subsidised accommodation at the IER.
Technical Note on
Choosing Villages: Sampling Strategy
by Dr. Wilima Wadhwa
The sampling strategy used helps to generate a representative picture of each district. The aim is to survey all rural districts. The estimates obtained will then be aggregated (using appropriate weights) to the state and all-India levels.
In 2005, using standard sampling techniques, a sample size of 400 households was derived for each district. In 2006 the sample size was enlarged to 600 households to get an even more accurate account of how the children in each class are faring. Hence, in ASER 2006 Rural, the sample size is 30 villages per district and 20 households per village.
The villages were randomly selected using the village directory of the 2001 census. The sampling was done using the PPS (Probability Proportional to Size Sampling) technique. The PPS is a widely used standard sampling technique and is the appropriate technique to use when the sampling units are of different sizes. In our case, the sampling units are the villages. This method allows villages with larger populations to have a higher chance of being selected in the sample.
In ASER 2006, the 20 villages from ASER 2005 were kept and 10 more villages were added from the census village directory. The 10 new villages were chosen using PPS. The 20 old villages and the 10 new villages will give a “panel” of villages, which generates more precise estimates of changes.
Since one of the objectives of ASER 2006 is to measure the change in learning since 2005, creating a panel is a more appropriate sampling strategy. Each district received a village list with appropriate block information along with the data from the 2001 census on total number of households and total population.
Like ASER 2005, the village list is final and cannot be replaced. This is to maintain randomness of the sample to obtain reliable estimates.
Box comparing ASER with NEAS and PEC
National Education Assessment System |
Punjab Examination Commission |
Annual Status of Education Report |
NEAS was established in the late 90s as a country-wide initiative to build assessment capacity at school, provincial and federal levels to measure learning outcomes and improve the quality of education. To date NEAS has conducted three rounds of subject-based assessments (www.neas.gov.pk).
NEAS is planned as a sample-based national assessment for grade 4th and grade 8th in four subjects: Language, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. |
PEC is a provincial initiative of the government of the Punjab established in 2004 to address the Quality Challenge. Punjab Examination Commission is an autonomous body to administer assessment-only examinations for grade 5 and grade 8 in all subjects and both public and private schools. To date two rounds of assessments have been held in 2006 and 2008 (www.pec.edu.pk). |
ASER is a household based survey to measure reading, comprehension and numeracy skills for children between the ages of 6-14. Launched in India in 2005 by Pratham (an NGO) has been conducted consecutively each year (2005, 2006 and 2007) across all districts of India, with a focus on rural areas.
Compared to NEAS and PEC, ASER is a household based survey looking at more generic skills of numeracy and literacy compared to subject specific learning levels. |
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