Lok Sabha Question No. 3186 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-31
Subject: Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: SANTOSH AHLAWAT, SUNIL KUMAR SINGH, RANGASWAMY DHRUVANARAYANA, RAJESH KUMAR DIWAKAR, CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3186 TO BE ANSWERED ON 31.12.2018

Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)

3186. SHRIMATI SANTOSH AHLAWAT: SHRI SUNIL KUMAR SINGH: SHRI R. DHRUVA NARAYANA: SHRI RAJESH KUMAR DIWAKER: SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI:

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

(a) whether it is a fact that the Government is going to start three new Professional courses with an aim to reduce curriculum overload and if so, the details thereof along with the salient points of the Course;

(b) whether it is likely to reduce the curriculum overload and if so, the details thereof; and

(c)  whether  it  is  a  fact  that  the  Government  is  going  to  conduct  tests  like  the  Programme  for International Student Assessment (PISA) which evaluates school students scholastic performance in Math's, Science and Reading and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (DR. SATYA PAL SINGH)

(a) & (b): The National Curriculum Framework (NCF)-2005 brought out by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) addresses the issue related to curriculum load keeping in view the Yash Pal Committee Report (1993) titled 'Learning Without Burden'.  This report  points  out  that  the  pernicious  burden  of  non-comprehension  needs  more  attention.  The NCF states that 'Heavy School Bags' is the common source of physical discomfort due to heavy encyclopedic types of information loaded textbooks. To overcome this problem,  NCF emphasizes upon shifting learning away from rote methods, connecting knowledge to life outside school,  enriching  the  curriculum  to  provide  for  overall  development  of  children  rather  than remain textbook centric, and making examination more flexible and integrated to classroom life.

(c):    Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) is a triennial international survey that  aims  to  evaluate  education  systems  worldwide  by  testing  the  skills  and  knowledge  of  15 years old students in Mathematics, science and Reading. India participated in PISA in 2009 only through schools in two States, i.e Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh.

India has developed its own student assessment system called the National Achievement Survey (NAS), which is independently conducted by NCERT across the country. The NAS 2017 was conducted on 13th November, 2017 through which the learning levels of around 22 lakh students of Classes III, V and VIII from 1.10 lakh schools across 701 districts in all 36 States and UTs were  assessed.    This  competency  based  assessment  was  based  on  the  Learning  Outcomes developed  by  the  National  Council  of  Educational  Research  and  Training  (NCERT)  for  all subjects  from  Grades  I  to  VIII.  The  Students  of  Classes  III  and  V  are  assessed  on  Reading Comprehension, Mathematics and Environmental Studies and Class VIII students are assessed on Language, Maths, Science and Social Science. District report cards for NAS 2017 have been released  and  are  available  on  MHRD  website.  These  contain  various  sections,  including indicating the lowest performing area in Learning Outcomes to enable States to identify learning gaps and take steps to improve the learning outcomes based on the same.

Similarly, National Achievement Survey for Class X was also conducted throughout the country on February 05, 2018 in government, government aided and private schools. The learning levels of 1.5 million students in 44,304 schools across 610 districts in 34 States and UTs were assessed, in  5  subject  areas  of  English,  Mathematics,  Science,  Social  Science  and  Modern  Indian Language (MIL).

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