Why in the News?

Chandigarh has been adjudged the best performer in school education for the academic year 2023-24, as per the Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0 Report released by the Union Ministry of Education.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• About PGI (Overview, Indicators, Top Performers, Average Performers, Bottom Performers, Methodology, etc.)

Performance Grading Index 2.0: An Overview

• The Union Ministry of Education released the Performance Grading Index for Districts (PGI-D) 2.0 for the academic year 2023-24.
• This upgraded framework assesses school education quality across States and Union Territories (UTs) on a scale of 1,000 points.
• It measures performance across multiple domains such as:
  • Learning Outcomes,
  • Access,
  • Infrastructure,
  • Equity,
  • Governance, and
  • Teacher Education
• The PGI-D 2.0 aims to enable data-driven policymaking, promote evidence-based interventions, and encourage States/UTs to improve learning environments and outcomes in schools.

Top Performers: Chandigarh, Punjab, and Delhi

• Chandigarh secured the highest rank this year, becoming the only State/UT placed in the fifth-highest grade, Prachesta-1, with a score of 719 out of 1,000.
  • To attain this grade, a region must score between 701-760. The city showed balanced strength across domains such as learning outcomes, infrastructure, and equity.
• Following Chandigarh, ten other States and UTs were placed in Prachesta-3 (scores between 581-640), including:

• Punjab, Delhi, Gujarat, Kerala, Odisha, Goa, Haryana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu

• These regions demonstrated consistent performance in indicators such as access to education, infrastructure development, and educational governance.

Bottom-Ranked and Lagging States

• Meghalaya scored the lowest in the PGI 2.0 with 417 points and was the only State placed in the lowest performance level, Akanshi-3 (401-460 score bracket).
• Other States such as Bihar, Assam, Telangana, Jharkhand, Tripura, Manipur, Chhattisgarh, and the Northeastern States (Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh) also performed poorly, falling into the Akanshi-2 category (scores between 461-520).
• These States struggled primarily with issues related to student retention, basic infrastructure, and governance-related challenges.

Middle Performers and Average Scores

• Fourteen States and UTs, including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, were placed in the Akanshi-1 category, scoring between 521-580.
• These regions performed moderately well but still have considerable scope for improvement, especially in learning outcomes and teacher training.

States Showing Highest Improvements

• The PGI 2.0 also highlighted the States that made the most significant improvements over the previous year (2022-23):

• Bihar and Telangana showed the most progress in access to education, with enhancements in student enrolment, retention rates, and transition to higher grades.
• Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, and Telangana made notable improvements in school infrastructure, with better availability of drinking water, electricity, clean toilets, and digital learning tools.

• These gains demonstrate the effectiveness of targeted interventions and public investments in school systems in underperforming regions.

PGI Methodology and Grading System

• The PGI 2.0 assigns scores based on weighted indicators. For instance, if the indicator “proficiency in Mathematics in Grade 5” carries a weightage of 20 and a State has 50% of students achieving the minimum proficiency, the score awarded is 10 (20 x 0.5).
• This method ensures that the quality of education is measured holistically, accounting for both outcomes and enabling conditions.
• Despite progress, no State or UT has yet achieved the highest performance grade, Utkarsh, which requires a score above 90% (761-1,000 points).
• This indicates the need for accelerated reforms across the country.