Data | Private tuitions helped blunt learning loss in many States

States which recorded a drastic decrease in maths and reading skills also saw a decline in private tuition-takers post-pandemic

The data points published on January 23 and February 1 showed that the maths skills and reading skills of rural school students in the southern and western States were impacted the most due to COVID-19. Further reading of the Annual Status of Education Report (2022) shows that in many southern and western States, the share of children taking paid private tuition classes reduced after the COVID-19 outbreak, while it increased in all other regions.

Notably, Gujarat, where reading ability was the poorest among all the States in 2022, recorded the biggest decrease in students taking tuition classes post-pandemic. Similarly, the share of students who took tuition classes also decreased in the southern States of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka — all of which recorded drastic declines in maths and reading skills. Interestingly, Andhra Pradesh, the only southern State which recorded an increase in the share of students who could do division problems post-pandemic, was also the only southern State which saw a significant increase in tuition-going children. Telangana and Rajasthan recorded only meagre increases.

None of the States in the central, eastern, northern and north-eastern regions, except Tripura, recorded a decrease in private tuition-going children in 2022 compared to 2018. Many States in these regions recorded an increase in the share of Class VIII children who could carry out division sums and read Standard II-level text post-pandemic. Even in those States where the share declined, the decrease was not as steep as their southern counterparts.

However, it is also important to note that the share of students who took private coaching was already relatively high in many eastern, north-eastern and northern States and only further increased during the pandemic. On the other hand, the share was relatively low in western and southern States and further declined after the pandemic in many of them. This data suggests that while the pandemic-forced school closures led to a drastic fall in learning outcomes, private tuition helped fill the void or at least helped blunt the impact that COVID-19 had on education.

Chart 1 shows the share of Class I-VIII rural school students who took paid private tuition classes in 2022. The share in the southern, western and central States was low compared to other regions.

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Chart 2 shows the change in the share of Class I-VIII rural school students who took paid private tuition classes in 2022 compared to 2018. Only Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra recorded significant increases among the southern and western States.