BHUBANESWAR: Learning levels of school students in Odisha has exceeded the national average. Not only are they doing well at the foundational stage but also performing better in the higher grades.
The Performance Assessment, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development (PARAKH) Rashtriya Sarvekshan-2024 report published by the Ministry of Education on Wednesday has revealed that there has been significant improvement in learning levels of students in grades III, VI and IX in language, science, social science and mathematics subjects. The outcomes are above the national average in all the three grades, which are considered crucial stages in school learning.
The PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan, formerly known as the National Achievement Survey (NAS), was conducted by NCERT’s National Assessment Centre on December 4 last year. It assessed the performance of 96,054 students in grades III, VI and IX spread throughout 3,839 schools (both government and private) in 30 districts. The report revealed that Odisha along with Punjab, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan were consistently among the top-10 states throughout all three grades.
In Class III, the average performance of students of the state in language and mathematics was one per cent (pc) higher than the national average which stood at 64 pc. Interestingly, students of government schools in this grade were at par with those in private schools as far as performance in both the subjects is concerned. Which means, students could identify words, their meanings, read stories and understand them, besides, carry out basic maths problems.
At Class VI level, students have excelled in subjects like language, mathematics and ‘The World Around Us’. Performance in language was 64 pc against national average of 57 pc, while it was 51 pc against the national average of 46 pc in maths, and in ‘The World Around Us’, the students scored 54 pc, four pc higher than the national average of 49 pc.
In Class IX, the students were assessed for language, maths, science and social science and again, the average performance of students in Odisha was above the national average. The performance gap was five pc to three pc in all the four subjects.
Angul and Kalahandi are among the best-performing 50 districts in the country, and Malkangiri and Gajapati among the worst-performing districts as far as performance of students in all the three grades is concerned.
Interestingly, 97 pc of surveyed schools reported widespread use of diverse pedagogical approaches in their teaching practices. However, the one gray area that the survey found out was skill education in schools. While 50 pc of the schools surveyed are offering skill courses for students in Class IX and above, student participation remains low at 21 pc.
OUTCOMES
Girls’ performance in all the three grades was better than the national avg in all the subjects
Boys’ performance was at par with national avg across the three grades
97 pc of schools reported widespread use of diverse pedagogical approaches in their teaching practices