NEW DELHI: The Union Human Resource Development Ministry is in the process of grading states for quality of school education based on 70 performance grading indicators in the areas of outcomes, governance and management.
It will be first such grading of states on the quality of school education. The grading will then be used to grant special funds under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan to states based on their performance in the assessment. Senior officials in the school education and literacy department of the Ministry said that the 70 indicators that include outcomes in terms of learning, access and equity, management of schools and hiring and promotion of teachers were selected from among 250 that are widely used in such assessments abroad.
"It took us two years to choose indicators that are suitable for us and give us fair idea of where we stand," said a senior official in the Ministry. "During the process, detailed brainstorming sessions with states were also carried out during which we gave examples of best practices being followed in some states and asked others to adopt them."
The states were, for example, asked to employ principals in schools either directly or through departmental examinations rather than promoting teachers for the top posts in time bound manner. "Kendriya Vidyalaya follows a good practice where limited department examinations are held for teachers for promotions and it keeps the environment competitive," said a senior official.
"They also come out with specific, customised training modules for teachers based on the individual needs of teachers rather than going in for routine training programmes. These are some of the good practices and we are asking states to follow them." The states have now sent their data for the grading and its now being verified before final gradings are carried out.
The government, however, is yet to decide whether the grading will be made public. Interestingly, Niti Aayog through its School Education Quality Index-is also in the process of rating states but it has only 34 indicators. "We have about half the indicators in common but our exercise is taking into account many more indicators which makes it more comprehensive and holistic," the Ministry official said.