HYDERABAD: Telangana stands 12th among all the States in the country in the recently-released Performance Grading Index (PGI)-2018-19 report on the status of school education by the Ministry of Human Resource and Development, based on 70 scoring parameters.
This is among a series of reports released by the Central government in the recent times, which have highlighted the poor performance of the State in imparting quality education, including the School Education Quality Index and SDG Index report by Niti Aayog.
The report divides all the scoring parameters into four domains -- Learning outcomes and quality, Access, Infrastructure and Facilities, Equity, Governance and Processes -- with a total of 1,000 points. Telangana scored 757 points, standing 12th among all the States and 16th among all the States and Union Territories. Gujarat was ranked first and Kerala second among the States, as they scored 870 and 862 points respectively.
While Telangana’s score of 757 is a slight improvement from the previous year’s score of 676 in the same report, the increase is only due to one scoring domain, Governance and Processes, for taking measures concerning biometric attendance, filling up of administrative posts or ensuring transparency in teacher transfers.
However, when it comes to important parameters such as learning outcomes, infrastructure or improving access to schools for children, Telangana has not improved its standing. Rather, the State’s performance has declined when it comes to infrastructure domain, from 96 points out of 150 in the previous year to 92 points in the current report.
The State performed poorly when it comes to the parameters under the infrastructure domain, like having computer labs and integrated science labs, in which it scored 4 and 6 respectively out of 10 points.Telangana also performed poorly especially in the parameter under access domain, like retention of children in schools in the elementary and secondary levels, scoring 7 out of 10 points in each. The high dropout rate from school at the secondary level was highlighted in the SDG Index report of the Niti Aayog as well.
A long way to go
Telangana has scored 757 points, standing 12th among all the States, and 16th among all the States and Union Territories. Its performance has declined when it comes to infrastructure