Mumbai: Indian students, although curious and fascinated by astronomy, struggle to understand the basic concepts of the subject, revealed a nationwide survey of more than 2,000 secondary school students across 34 schools in 10 states conducted. The survey was published in the Astronomy Education Journal’s January volume.
The study, the first large-scale assessment of astronomy learning in India, highlights both enthusiasm for astronomy and deep-rooted learning gaps. It was conducted by the International Astronomical Union’s Office of Astronomy for Education (IAU-OAE) India Centre, jointly hosted by the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education under the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune.
The study’s findings reveal that while 86% of students said they enjoy learning astronomy and 70% expressed interest in pursuing it as a career, conceptual understanding remained weak. Only about one-third could correctly identify basic astronomical distance scales. A common misconception among respondents was that stars are closer to Earth than objects within our solar system, revealing a weak understanding of distances in space.
The moon too proved to be an unfamiliar topic among students. Just 7% of students could correctly identify all major phases of the moon. Researchers said this suggests gaps in observation-based learning and classroom teaching. Despite many Indian festivals being linked to lunar cycles, most students were unaware of the scientific basis of these connections.
Access to learning resources remains another major concern. Only 26% of surveyed students had ever used a telescope, and 27% had visited a planetarium. Students from less-resourced schools showed weaker performance, especially in questions that required factual knowledge. This highlights the role of socioeconomic differences in science learning. Even among students who said they were interested in astronomy, most had little knowledge about the educational path needed to study astronomy at higher levels.
“This is the first large-scale study of its kind in India,” said professor Aniket Sule, manager of the IAU-OAE India Centre. He said the results show a clear need to strengthen astronomy education through better curriculum design, teacher training, and access to tools such as telescopes and planetariums.
According to professor Surhud More, deputy manager of the centre, the study has already had a policy impact. He said that insights from the study had been incorporated into new NCERT textbooks. More added that the study showed the need for textbook reform, and the findings were used while updating astronomy content.