Assessing literacy and numeracy among primary school students: A pilot survey in rural Bangladesh

Bangladesh dramatically increased its primary school completion rate over the last decade. However, there exist serious concerns about the level of learning among students who do complete. This article analyzes a pilot survey, conducted in a northern rural district, using procedures pioneered by ASER Centre in rural India. The survey measures ability to read and solve mathematical problems at the Grade 2 Bangladesh curriculum level among students in grades 1 to 5. The sample includes students from 18 schools: government-run, NGO-run, and fee-paying privately run. Using the ASER proxy, the percentage of Grade 3 students found to be “working at grade” for reading is 30% and for mathematics, 18%. NGO schools attract disproportionately more lower socio-economic students than do government schools. Academic performance is similar in both school types. The article discusses methodological problems in assessing reading and mathematics ability.