Chandigarh, Punjab Best Performers in School Education in Education Ministry's Performance Grading Index
Chandigarh and Punjab have emerged as the top performers in school education according to the Performance Grading Index (PGI) report released by the Ministry of Education. In the previous report, Kerala and Maharashtra were the joint top-performing states, but they now rank among the second-best performers. The Ministry of Education evaluates the performance of the education system at the state and Union Territory levels using an index for comprehensive analysis. The Performance Grading Index - States/UTs was first released in 2017-18 and has been updated until 2020-21.
However, a senior official in the education ministry highlighted the need for revision in the index. They stated that some indicators in the PGI - States/UTs have become outdated and redundant, and the focus has been more on governance processes rather than quality indicators. To address these concerns and align with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the PGI State structure has been revised and renamed as PGI 2.0 for the year 2021-22.
The latest report indicates that none of the states and Union Territories managed to achieve the required score to be in the top five grades. In the previous year, Punjab, Chandigarh, Tamil Nadu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Kerala were the top performers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Punjab stood out as the best-performing states. The current report identifies Punjab and Chandigarh as the top two states, falling in the sixth grade (Prachesta 2) with a score of 641-700. Six other states and UTs fall into the third grade (Prachesta 3) with a score of 581-640. The poorest performing states/UTs in PGI 2.0 are Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Mizoram.
The report highlights that the states and Union Territories in the Prachesta 2 grade still have a significant distance to cover in order to achieve the maximum aggregated score of 1,000 points. The PGI assesses the Indian education system, which consists of approximately 14.9 lakh schools, 95 lakh teachers, and nearly 26.5 crore students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.
In terms of domain-wise grading, no state or Union Territory managed to be in the top five grades, and the top three grades in infrastructure were not achieved. However, in the domains of access and equity, Delhi achieved the top grade (Daksh). The report also points out that there are no states or Union Territories in the bottom four grades for access and the bottom seven grades for equity. It emphasizes the disparity between states and Union Territories, stating that the maximum and minimum scores obtained in 2021-22 were 659.01 and 420.64, respectively. This indicates a deviation of 23.8% between the highest and lowest scores, highlighting the need for additional efforts from states like Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Mizoram to improve their performance. The report acknowledges that the PGI has contributed to narrowing the performance gap among states and Union Territories over the years, possibly due to government initiatives like the Look East policy.