Focus

Highlights

1. 1.

   About 90 per cent of the surveyed households have smartphones and out of the surveyed youth 94.7 per cent males and 89.8 per cent females could use the smartphone. Out of the males who knew how to use smartphones, 43.7 per cent owned a smartphone. Only 19.8 per cent of the females who knew how to use a smartphone owned one.

2. 2.

   The report states that more and more young people now have completed eight or more years of schooling – 84 per cent in 2023 compared to 81 per cent in 2017.

3. 3.

   ASER 2017 found that 16 per cent of females between 14-18 years of age were out of school as compared to 11.9 per cent males.

4. 4.

   Among 14–18-year-olds, 55.7 per cent studying in Class XI or higher were enrolled in the Arts/Humanities stream.

5. 5.

   About 25 per cent of the youths cannot read a Std II level text fluently in their regional language. About 57.3 per cent can read sentences in English. Of those who can read sentences in English, 73.5 per cent can tell their meanings.

6. 6.

   In 2023, 43.3 per cent youth could do a Std III/IV level division problem.

7. 7.

   Only 5.6 per cent of the surveyed youth reported taking vocational training or other related courses. Youth studying at the college level are most likely – 16.2 per cent – to be taking vocational training, which they us usually do for short duration (6 months or less).

8. 8.

   Of all youth who used social media, only about half are familiar with the online safety settings. Males are more likely to know about these settings than females.

9. 9.

   Availability of a computer or a laptop in the households is only nine per cent. Youth who have a computer/laptop at home are much more likely to know how to use it (85 per cent) than those who do not (33.9 per cent).

10. 10.

    Among youth who have discontinued their education, males and females tend to cite different reasons for doing so. Nearly 24.2 per cent males report “lack of interest”, while almost 20.3 per cent of females report “family constraints”. Other commonly cited reasons are “financial constraints” and “had failed”.

11. 11.

    The report states that among young people in the 14-18 age group, over 60 per cent aspire to continue studying to undergraduate level or higher.

    
    

    Focus and Factoids Sneha Bhosale.