NEW DELHI: The first round of the National Achievement Survey (NAS) has been conducted at class X level which has indicated the need for significant improvement in the learning levels, HRD ministry Smriti Irani said today.
Four rounds of surveys have been conducted by NCERT for class V and three rounds for class III and VIII, she said during Question hour in Rajya Sabha.
"These reveal improvement in learning achievement levels of pupils in various subject. First round of NAS has been conducted at class X level, indicating that there is need for significant improvement in learning levels," Irani said.
The HRD minister was asked by JD(U) member K C Tyagi whether Government's attention had been drawn towards poor quality of primary and secondary education in the country.
Irani also mentioned several initiatives taken by her ministry and said that at a recent meeting with state government representatives, it had also been planned to hold a workshops for government school principals, an index to measure performance of teachers and other measures.
To another question related to literacy levels in Telangana, Irani said as per Census 2011, the literacy rate of undivided Andhra Pradesh was 67.02 per cent as against the national average of 72.98 per cent.
"The combined literacy rate of 10 districts in Telangana comes to 66.46 percent whereas District Karimnagar had a literacy rate of 64.15 percent. The low literacy rate is due to various factors including poverty and gender and social inequities," she said.
As Irani ended her reply, SP member Jaya Bachchan said there were members in the House who asked questions but walked out before the reply was completed. Chairman M Hamid Ansari said "the point is noted".