While I agree with most of what is said in “Reading between the Lines: Assessing ASER 2017” (EPW, 24 February 2018) by Disha Nawani, the study to which it refers was done in two districts with socio-economic circumstances significantly below the Indian average. The report makes it clear that assessing India’s education system as a whole was not the goal, and the findings do not
reflect its current state. 

Though I have significant reservations about the findings in the Annual Status of Education Reports (ASERs), are these findings unique to India (and/or developing countries as a whole)? If this survey were to be conducted in, say, my home country of Canada, what would the results be? I would not be surprised if a large proportion of Canadian students could not do long division, for instance (I have totally forgotten how to). Additionally, Americans read at about a seventh or eighth grade level on average. How would this be reflected in a survey like ASER?