ASER 2014: RECAP

ASER 2014 National Release event: January 15, 2015

Ajay Piramal, Pratham Education Foundation

Baela Raza Jamil, ITA-Pakistan

Dinyar Devitre, Pratham USA

Rukmini Banerji, ASER Centre

Yamini Aiyar, Accountability Initiative

Sara Ruto, Uwezo, East Africa

ASER 2014 report release events

Conversation on Solutions to the Learning Crisis between Abhijit Banerjee, JPAL- MIT, Madhav Chavan, Pratham, and Yamini Aiyar, Accountability Initiative

Day 2 : Panel Discussion on Citizen-led, Household-based Assessment with representatives from Pakistan, Kenya, Senegal, Mali, Nigeria and Mexico

Day 2 : Panel Discussion on Looking Back, Looking Ahead - International Perspectives with representatives from Pratham, Hewlett Foundation, UNESCO and Harvard Kennedy School

Check out a selection of photos from the two-day event here. 

What did ASER 2014 find out? Watch a video of the national findings here

Check out a new series of blog posts featuring ASER voices and reflections

ASER's ninth national release is scheduled for January 15, 2014. Here is an overview of the process. 

Good luck! Every year ASER is conducted by more than 25,000 volunteers across the country. Dr Madhav Chavan, CEO Pratham, and Dr Rukmini Banerji, Director ASER Centre, had brief messages for them. Watch Dr Chavan and Dr Banerji on YouTube.

National Workshop. Every year, ASER kicks off with the National Workshop where the entire ASER team gets together to review and practice all tools and procedures as well as plan the ASER calendar and logistics for each state. This year the National Workshop brought together over 120 people at Parivartan Parisar in Siwan, Bihar, from August 1-5. See a photo essay about the National Workshop here.

Coverage.  ASER 2013 aims to reach 562 rural districts across 29 Indian states and union territories. In each district, 30 villages have been selected from the Census 2001 village directory using the Probability Proportional to Size (PPS) methodology. In each village, 20 households are randomly selected. Keep track of the survey's progress here. Read more about sampling in ASER here.

Survey content. This year, as every year, schooling information will be recorded for all children in the age group 3-16 who are resident in sampled households. Children aged 5-16 will be tested in basic reading and basic arithmetic, and some information about the household will be collected. In each sampled village, the largest government school with primary classes will be visited and information about infrastructure, enrolment, and attendance will be collected. Download  the ASER 2013 instruction manual in English / Hindi. View/download ASER reading and math testing tools here

Partners.  This year, like every year, about 500 institutions and organizations will partner with ASER to conduct the survey in their own districts. A special feature this year is the participation of 175 DIETs in 8 states. See a list of participating DIETs here.

ASER 2013 stories. From village volunteers to visitors from other countries, anyone who has ever done ASER returns with new insights about the communities they visited and the power of the ASER process to engage all sorts of people in thinking about learning. As ASER 2013 rolls out, people across the country share stories of people and places, experiences and responses. Read ASER 2013 stories on the ASER Centre blog. See the best photos from every state of ASER 2013 in the field on Flickr. 

National Release. The ASER 2013 was released on January 15, 2014 by Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission at India International Centre, New Delhi. Watch the full ASER 2013 National Report release function. 

The ASER pledge. This year, people all across the country took a solemn pledge to conduct ASER with sincerity and honesty. The pledge was translated into all major Indian languages and was an important part of every ASER training workshop. Watch members of the ASER team take the pledge here.