A World Bank report today presented a disappointing picture of student-learning in South Asian countries including India, saying much of what is taught is “procedural” or rote-based.

The study, which was the first comprehensive analysis on performance of South Asian educational systems said “many South Asian teachers barely know more than their students”.

“Students are poorly prepared in practical competencies such as measurement, problem-solving and writing of meaningful and grammatically-correct sentences,” the report said.

It said that one quarter to one third of those who graduate from primary schools lack basic numeracy and literacy skills that would enable them to further their education.

Strongly recommending raising teacher quality, the report cited surveys conducted in India and Pakistan, showing that teachers perform poorly in math and language tests based on the curriculum they are supposed to teach.

“Higher and clear standards must be enforced, absenteeism curbed and non-merit-based promotions halted,” it suggested.

It recommended use of financial incentives to boost quality and encouraging greater private-sector participation by easing entry barriers and encouraging well-designed public-private partnerships.

South Asian governments cannot afford to improve educational quality by themselves, it felt.

“Poor quality of education in South Asia, as reflected in low learning levels, traps many of its young people in poverty and prevents faster economic growth and more broadly shared prosperity,” it said.

The World Bank, however, said governments in the region have recognised that they must now do more to improve the quality of education in schools, after having achieved tremendous progress in increasing schooling access over the past decade.

“Just spending time in school is not enough. There has to be a significant gain in skills that requires an improvement in the quality of education,” said Philippe Le Houérou, World Bank Vice President for the South Asia Region.

“This will help countries in the region to reap the full expected returns on their investments and generate gains in productivity and economic growth,” he said.

The report noted that many governments in South Asia had invested heavily in education to achieve the Millennium development goal of universal primary education for all children by 2015.

This investment resulted in an increase in the net enrollment rate in South Asia’s primary schools from 75 per cent to 89 per cent from 2000 to 2010, bringing the region closer to the enrollment rates in Latin America and the Caribbean (94 per cent) and East Asia and the Pacific (95 per cent).