L J Ravi 
Mr. Ashok kamat chairman of AKSHARA FOUNDATION and others showing books in BENGALURU.
2024-25 Gram Panchayat Level Maths Contests Report, fostering rural education and community progress
-Akshara Foundation marks 25 years of accelerating conventional learning through technology-
Bangalore: Celebrating 25 years of impact, Akshara Foundation, a Bangalore-based public charitable trust committed to ensuring “Every Child in School and Learning Well,” launched the 2024-25 Gram Panchayat Level Maths Contests Report today. Under the Ganitha Kalika Andolana (GKA) initiative, a maths learning movement supported by the Government of Karnataka, Akshara Foundation has been facilitating community-led assessments called Gram Panchayat-level Maths Contests for a few years now. These contests are momentous events in rural communities, offering out-of-school, unbiased, and transparent assessments that evaluate the current maths learning levels of children in grades 4, 5, and 6.
In 2024-25, the Gram Panchayat level Maths Contests were conducted across 28 districts in Karnataka. 5,95,517 children from 26,188 schools in 4,890 Gram Panchayat’s were assessed in around 30 days. Unlike traditional assessments, these contests are specifically designed to address the gaps in numeracy levels of children studying in government schools. Conducted outside the school environment, they foster discussions among parents, teachers, and the wider community about children’s learning levels.
Key findings from the 2024-25 report include:
The 2024-25 GP-level Maths Contests revealed interesting gender-based trends in performance across grades 4, 5, and 6.
To understand their performance, we created three performance bands each of which denotes the percentage of children who could answer 8 out of 20 questions correctly:
0-40% band
40-70% band
70-100% band
Grade 4: 53.1% of participants were girls, slightly outnumbering the 46.9% boys. Girls outperformed boys in the 70%-100% performance band by almost 4 percentage points, while boys trailed girls by 2.7% at the bottom end. Notably, 44% of children in grade 4 could handle division, while 48% managed subtraction.
Grade 5: Gender participation shifted slightly with 54.1% girls and 45.9% boys. As in grade 4, girls performed better in the higher percentage bands, outpacing boys by nearly 2 percentage points in the 70%-100% band. At the bottom end,
Boys treated girts by 1.6%, in terms of specific skills, 38% of grade 5 students could handle division (a decline from grade 4), while 52% were proficient in subtraction and improvement from grade 4).
Grade 6: Girls made up 53.2% of participants, with boys at 46.8%. In the 70%-100% performance band, girls outperformed boys by 2.5 percentage points, while at the bottom end, boys trailed by 3.1%. These gender performance trends resembled those seen in earlier grades.
Key Observations:
1. Gender Gap: Across all grades, girls consistently outperformed boys in the higher performance bands, while boys tended to lag girls at the lower end of the spectrum.
2. Skill Proficiency Trends: There were noticeable fluctuations in specific
competencies between grades. While subtraction skills improved from grade 4 to grade 5, division skills declined, indicating areas for targeted intervention.
These trends highlight the importance of addressing gender-based learning differences and the need for tailored interventions to support boys, especially in foundational skills such as division.
Speaking about the report, Mr. Ashok Kamath, Chairman of Akshara Foundation, said, “For more than a decade, we have worked dedicatedly to create an environment in rural Karnataka where learning mathematics is both accessible and engaging. We believe that mathematics is the cornerstone of a child’s education, laying the foundation for all future learning and growth. We are confident that our efforts through Genithe Kalika Andolana will make a lasting impact, uniting communities, parents, teachers, and children to enhance mathematics education across rural Karnataka. The collaboration shown by local Gram Panchayats, and our volunteers has been truly extraordinary. This report not only showcases the remarkable participation and enthusiasm surrounding the contests but also offers valuable insights into the challenges faced by children, especially in rural and resource-limited areas. At Akshara Foundation, we are dedicated to bridging these gaps and building a future where every child can thrive and excel in their learning journey.
The Gram Panchayat Level Maths Contests have clearly proven to be a transformative force in rural education, with continued support from various partners. The Akshara Symposium ‘It All Adds Up 2024-25 and the Gram Panchayat level Maths Contest Report are sponsored by HDFC Bank Parivartan.
