The recently released ASER 2024 report on education in rural India is a stark reminder of the country’s growing educational crisis, one that threatens not just the academic future of millions of children but also India’s long-term economic and technological aspirations. The findings highlight a persistent and deeply concerning stagnation in basic arithmetic skills over the past decade, a trend that, if left unaddressed, could erode India’s competitive advantage in the global knowledge economy and undermine its workforce potential at every level.
A look at the trends in arithmetic proficiency over the last ten years reveals that India has made minimal progress in improving basic mathematical competencies among children. The ASER arithmetic assessment is based on very simple tests, evaluating whether students can perform subtraction (a two-digit numerical subtraction problem with borrowing, expected to be mastered by Std II students) and division (a three-digit by one-digit numerical division problem with remainder, aligned with Std III/IV curricular expectations).
Despite the basic nature of these tests, student performance at the national level has remained almost unchanged over the last decade, with no significant upward trend in the proportion of children who can successfully perform these operations.
For instance, in Std III, the percentage of children who could do at least subtraction was 25.4 per cent in 2014 and gradually rose to 33.7 per cent in 2024. Similarly, in Std V, the percentage of children who could successfully perform division was 26.1 per cent and marginally rose to 30.7 per cent in 2024. While some states have shown progress, the national average has barely moved forward, indicating that improvements are neither widespread nor consistent. Even by Std VIII, when students should ideally be adept at fundamental arithmetic, only 45.7 per cent of students can perform division, meaning that more than half the adolescent population lacks the mathematical competency required for higher-order problem-solving.
The fact that such a basic skill—division of a three-digit number by a one-digit number—is beyond the reach of the majority of students raises serious concerns about their ability to cope with secondary and higher education curricula, let alone advanced STEM learning.
The implications of these findings extend far beyond the classroom. India is in the midst of a major technological transformation, with sectors like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, robotics, biotechnology, and digital finance driving global innovation. However, these industries require a workforce with strong foundational numeracy skills—something the ASER findings indicate is sorely lacking. If India continues on this trajectory, it risks missing the bus on the next great technological revolution, failing to capitalise on the economic opportunities that emerging technologies present.
While much of the conversation around STEM education focuses on preparing students for high-end technology jobs, arithmetic proficiency is not just about advanced science and engineering—it is a fundamental life skill. In today’s world, numeracy is as critical as literacy. It plays a central role in personal financial management, professional efficiency, and social mobility. Whether calculating interest rates, managing household budgets, analysing market trends, understanding contracts, or running a small business, arithmetic forms the backbone of rational decision-making.
Moreover, a population that lacks basic arithmetic competency is more vulnerable to financial exploitation, misinformation, and poor economic choices. Mathematical illiteracy is not just an educational issue—it is a societal and economic problem. Without adequate numeracy skills, individuals struggle with everything from understanding interest rates and inflation to calculating wages and evaluating business risks. In a rapidly digitising world, those who lack these basic skills are at a higher risk of being left behind in the formal economy, further widening economic disparities. The digital economy has further heightened the necessity of arithmetic, with e-commerce, online banking, digital payments, and tax compliance all demanding numeracy as an essential skill.
This widespread deficiency in arithmetic will have direct consequences for higher education institutions and industries that rely on mathematically competent graduates. Universities and technical institutes will be forced to divert resources toward remedial education, delaying students’ progress into advanced learning areas and reducing their overall competitiveness in high-skill sectors. If students entering college lack the ability to perform basic arithmetic operations, how will they cope with complex subjects like economics, engineering, computer science, or even data-driven social sciences?
Furthermore, employers in high-growth industries will increasingly struggle to find adequately skilled professionals within India, pushing them to invest and retrain graduates what they should have learned in college. This would be a catastrophic loss of opportunity for India, which has long prided itself on its strength in technical education. If foundational arithmetic skills continue to stagnate, India’s reputation as a global technology and innovation hub could decline, with economic consequences that extend far beyond the education sector.
To address this crisis, India must immediately prioritise arithmetic education as a core component of its broader education reform agenda. Targeted interventions should include strengthening numeracy programmes at the primary level to ensure students master basic arithmetic by Std III/IV, investing in teacher training to improve mathematical pedagogy, leveraging technology—adaptive learning tools, AI-driven tutoring, and gamified math apps—to provide personalised support, expanding public-private partnerships to introduce structured numeracy-focused interventions, particularly in government schools, and bridging the gap between school curricula and real-world numeracy needs to ensure that students understand the practical applications of arithmetic.
The NIPUN (National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy) Bharat initiative is a critical step by the Government of India to ensure foundational literacy and numeracy for all children by Grade 3. The success of this initiative is critical and more is needed for higher ages.
The ASER 2024 findings are a national wake-up call. A failure to address India’s arithmetic crisis today will result in an underprepared workforce tomorrow, crippling the nation’s ability to compete in a globalised, technology-driven economy. The challenge is not just educational—it is economic, strategic, and generational.
Furthermore, employers in high-growth industries will increasingly struggle to find adequately skilled professionals within India, pushing them to invest and retrain graduates what they should have learned in college. This would be a catastrophic loss of opportunity for India, which has long prided itself on its strength in technical education. If foundational arithmetic skills continue to stagnate, India’s reputation as a global technology and innovation hub could decline, with economic consequences that extend far beyond the education sector.
To address this crisis, India must immediately prioritise arithmetic education as a core component of its broader education reform agenda. Targeted interventions should include strengthening numeracy programmes at the primary level to ensure students master basic arithmetic by Std III/IV, investing in teacher training to improve mathematical pedagogy, leveraging technology—adaptive learning tools, AI-driven tutoring, and gamified math apps—to provide personalised support, expanding public-private partnerships to introduce structured numeracy-focused interventions, particularly in government schools, and bridging the gap between school curricula and real-world numeracy needs to ensure that students understand the practical applications of arithmetic.
The NIPUN (National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy) Bharat initiative is a critical step by the Government of India to ensure foundational literacy and numeracy for all children by Grade 3. The success of this initiative is critical and more is needed for higher ages.
The ASER 2024 findings are a national wake-up call. A failure to address India’s arithmetic crisis today will result in an underprepared workforce tomorrow, crippling the nation’s ability to compete in a globalised, technology-driven economy. The challenge is not just educational—it is economic, strategic, and generational.
Shri Shobhit Mathur is the Co-founder and Vice-Chancellor of Rishihood University, Haryana. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author.
The article was published in News18.com platform.