NEW DELHI: A detailed assessment by the Centre’s top think tank, Niti Aayog, has revealed that the quality of school education varies significantly across states.
Among 20 large states, Kerala was rated the best performer with a score of 76.6 per cent and Uttar Pradesh the worst with 36.4 per cent by the assessment titled, School Education Quality Index.
Haryana, Assam and Uttar Pradesh showed improvement in their performance in 2016-17, in comparison to the base year of 2015-16, the 137-page report, prepared with the support of the World Bank, revealed.
It has assessed the states on the basis of learning outcomes, access, equity and infrastructure and facilities using survey data, self-reported data from states and third-party verification. West Bengal could not be rated as it did not share the required data.
“Schooling should result in successful learning outcomes. A credible system of assessment in this regard is crucial to design necessary remedial actions,” said Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.
Vice-chairman Rajeev Kumar said that to ensure the system is geared towards learning; the index assigned almost half its weight to learning outcomes.
“This sends a strong signal across the nation to ensure that the focus remains centred on learning outcomes,” he said.