Lok Sabha Question No. 220 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-04
Subject: Evaluation of Quality of Education
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Annasaheb Shankar Jolle

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO - 220 ANSWERED ON - 04/12/2023

## Evaluation of Quality of Education

## 220. SHRI ANNASAHEB SHANKAR JOLLE:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether any survey/study has been conducted recently by the Government to evaluate the quality of primary, secondary and higher education in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to improve the quality of primary and secondary education in the country; and
- (d) the  details  of  specific  programs  in  this  regard  being  implemented,  State-wise  especially  in Karnataka?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SMT. ANNPURNA DEVI)

(a) to  (d)  The Government of India has been implementing a rolling programme of sample based National Achievement Survey (NAS) aimed at classes III, V, VIII and X with a cycle of period of three  years.  The  National  Council  of  Educational  Research  and  Training  (NCERT)  has  been periodically conducting NAS. The objective of NAS is to evaluate children's progress and learning competencies as an indicator of the health of the education system, so as to take appropriate steps for remedial actions at different levels. The last round of NAS was conducted on 12.11.2021 and had  assessed  students  in  Language,  Mathematics  &  Environmental  Science  for  class  3  &  5; Language, Mathematics, Science & Social Science for class 8 and Language, Mathematics, Science, Social Science and English for class 10. About 34 lakh students of 1.18 lakh schools of 720 districts from both rural and urban areas were assessed from (a) Government Schools (Central Government and State Government) (b) Government Aided Schools; and (c) Private Unaided Schools.

Further, National, State and District report card of NAS 21 demonstrating the performance of students from each type of schools, including Government Schools (Central Government and State Government), Government Aided Schools and Private Unaided Schools have been released in public domain on 25.05.2022 at http://nas.gov.in.

Recently, the National Assessment Centre -Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of  Knowledge for Holistic Development (PARAKH) at NCERT, a standard-setting body under Ministry  of  Education  has  conducted  State  Educational  Achievement  Survey  (SEAS)-  23  on 03.11.2023 covering approximately 8 million learners  from grades 3, 6 and 9 in 30 States and UTs including State of Karnataka .  The primary objective of this survey is to evaluate the learning competencies  of  students  in  Foundational  Literacy,  Foundational  Numeracy,  Language  and Mathematics at the end of each educational stage i.e. foundational, preparatory, and middle. One of the noteworthy features of SEAS-23 is the expansion of the sample size of students to understand the learning gaps at the block level, a strategic shift from district.

The Department of School Education and Literacy is implementing an integrated centrally sponsored scheme for School Education- Samagra Shiksha since 2018-19. The scheme has now been redesigned and aligned with the recommendations of the National Education Policy, 2020. It aims to ensure that all children have access to quality education with an equitable and inclusive classroom environment which should take care of their diverse background, multilingual needs, difference academic abilities and make them active participant in the learning process.

The following initiatives  have  been  taken  by  the  Department  of  School  Education  and Literacy, MoE to improve the quality of education:

- i. National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat) has been launched under Samagra Shiksha for ensuring that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) by the end of Grade 3, and econtent for the same has been released at DIKSHA platform.
- ii. NISHTHA - National Initiative for School Heads' and Teachers' Holistic Advancement is an integrated  teacher  training  programme  designed  by  the  NCERT  to  build  the  capacities  of around 42 lakh elementary teachers and Heads of Schools at the Elementary stage, faculty members of SCERTs and DIETs and Block Resource Coordinators and  Cluster Resource Coordinators. This programme has been expanded to cover teachers at different stages. So far as NISHTHA Elementary, Secondary, Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, ECCE has been introduced for different stages of school education for Teachers, Head Teachers/Principals and other stakeholders in Educational management.
- iii. National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 has been conducted on 12 th  November, 2021 by the Ministry of Education to evaluate children's progress and learning competencies as an indicator of the health education system, and to take appropriate steps for remedial actions at different levels.
- iv. A 73 indicator-based matrix Performance Grading Index (PGI) has been developed to grade the States/UTs. District level Performance Grading Indices (PGI) have been prepared and a Web application for compilation of PGI-District has been developed.
- v. VIDYA PRAVESH-Guidelines for Three-month Play-based School Preparation Module for Grade-I Children have been released on 29 th July, 2021 for all children to expose to a warm and welcoming environment in Grade-I.
- vi. Indian Sign Language has been introduced as a subject at secondary level by National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS).
- vii. Under Samagra Shiksha approaches such as remedial teaching and bridge courses have been used at the elementary level and more progressive approaches such as Learning Enhancement Programme are implemented by identifying the learning gaps and equipping students with the core learning pre-requisites for the particular grade.