CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu ranks low in basic reading and arithmetic skills , but the good news is it is among the few states that has shown marginal improvement on both fronts since last year.The Annual Status of Education Report released by Pratham Foundation on Monday showed that among the southern states, only TN is in the red when it comes to reading levels. Less than 30% of Class 3 children in TN can read portions of a Class 1 text as compared to more than 60% in Kerala, 51% to 60% in Andhra Pradesh and between 41% and 50% of children in Karnataka. However, the basic reading levels in the state have improved since 2010.“Although the proportion of children able to read a Class 1 text remains low in absolute terms at every class in Tamil Nadu, the levels appear to be rising slowly year after year,” the report said. The report added that states that showed an improvement also showed that children’s attendance, teacher attendance, and the proportion of multigrade classrooms were largely unchanged or have improved and remain at high levels, suggesting a relationship between these factors.Among other positives for TN are high levels of enrolment in schools (over 99%) and rise in use of computers in upper primary schools. Unlike most states, TN also shows improvements in arithmetic skill, which is measured in terms of the proportion of class III children who can solve a two-digit subtraction problem with borrowing.This year’s report also vindicates officials who proposed and spearheaded the implementation of the activity-based learning methodology in the state. While TN claims to have achieved success in improving reading and arithmetic skills through ABL methods, Pratham refuted such claims in previous years. The state, however, continued to insist that the programme’s success would be evident only after at least five years.The 2011 report said, “In Tamil Nadu the SSA (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) provided leadership for about four years to establish ABL. The primary goal of ABL is not improvement of reading, which may be an outcome of an overall change in pedagogy that allows children to learn at their own pace. Hence a slower pace may be expected.”The state has also improved its pupil-teacher ratio since 2010. While 53% of schools did not meet the pupil-teacher ratio according to the Right To Education Act in 2010, the number fell to 47.8% in 2011. However, on RTE norms for facilities, the state has fared worse this year on number of schools with playgrounds or boundary walls; availability of drinking water in schools, availability of teaching learning materials and books.Former head of the SSA in the state, M P Vijayajumar, said, “We need to do a lot more. While the NCERT has been saying our Class 7 and 8 grades have been poor for a long time, NASSCOM studies show the lack of employability of our graduates. The comprehension levels of our students are also poor. They lack in thinking and social skills. But the active learning methodology (an extension of ABL for upper primary classes) incorporates all this in its execution. In another five years Tamil Nadu will show where we truly stand.”