'Maha topping Performance Grading Index gives impetus to strive harder'

Education officials are pleased that Maharashtra has topped the 2020ndash21 Performance Grading Index PGI which ranks states and Union Territories UT on the basis of their school education system However some educationists feel a lot more remains to be done to improve the standard of schooling in the stateKailash Pagare IAS officer and project director at Samagra Shikshamdasha Maharashtra government educational initiative said The state government has been always striving to be number one in all spheres of education This PGI has given us the impetus to work even harder to improve the quality of education in the state I thank all teachers and officers of the education department who have worked very hard and made it possible to claim the top spot and achieve this goal We aim to do even better nowThe next top six states after Maharashtra on the PGImdashwhich was released by the Department of School Education and Literacy on Thursdaymdashare Kerala Punjab Chandigarh Gujarat Rajasthan and Andhra PradeshMaharashtra Kerala and Punjab claimed the top spot by scoring the highest individual scores among all states and UTs 928 out of 1000 making it to Level 2 of the PGISince the PGI was introduced in 201718 no state has ever made it to Level 1Janardan Jangle President of Teachers Democratic Front TDF however was sceptical How are these surveys done Which districts and talukas did these surveyors visit How did they come to this conclusion There are still many gaps If you see the learning outcome has not improved it is stagnant This itself shows what is happening There is a huge number of teachers vacancies They keep assuring us the vacancy will be filled This is the true situation in Maharashtra This is a political stunt the ground reality is different from what is shownBasanti Roy educationist and former secretary of the Mumbai division of the state board said while it was good news that Maharashtra reached Level 2 according to the Annual Status of Education report as well as the National Achievement Survey there has been a decline in the standards of schools and learning outcomesHowever it is difficult to question the credibility of either of the three surveys she saidThe principal of a South Mumbai school said many gaps in the system still need fixing The education system in Maharashtra faced a major setback during Covid19After schools reopened Maharashtra failed to put as much effort to bridge the learning gaps as compared to many other states the principal saidAlso Read Twitter starts laying off staff in IndialdquoA total of seven states and UTs attained Level 2 a score of 901950 in 202021 as compared to none in 201718rdquo stated the MoE reportGujarat Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh are the new entrants to the highest achieved level of any state so farThe assessment is made considering 1000 points across 70 indicators grouped into two categories outcomes and governance management GM These categories are further divided into five domainsmdashLearning Outcomes LO Access A Infrastructure and Facilities IF Equity E and Governance Process GPOf the five major categories Maharashtra scored similar scores in Learning Outcomes and Quality and Access and Outcomes The 202021 scores in the two parameters remained at 144 and 76 respectively similar to 201920As compared to the academic year 201920 a significant improvement of 41 points was registered under Governance Process Meanwhile progress by 17 and 9 points was recorded in Infrastructure and Facilities and EquityThe PGI 202021 classified the statesUTs into ten grades the highest achievable grade is Level 1 To obtain this grade the state must score 950 out of 1000 points The lowest grade is Level 10 which is given to a state that scores below 551The ultimate goal of PGI is to encourage states and UTs to implement multifaceted interventions that will result in highly sought ideal educational outcomes in all respects The PGI is anticipated to assist states and UTs in identifying gaps and prioritising areas for intervention in order to make sure the school education system is strong at all levels the MoE report statedThe newly formed UT Ladakh has seen a significant improvement progressing to Level 4 by increasing its 20192020 score by 299 points the highestever turnaround in a single year According to the Index the Indian education system is one of the largest in the world with about 149 lakh schools 95 lakh teachers and nearly 265 crore students from varied socioeconomic backgroundsMaharashtras performance in numbersState has highest individual score 928Improved its score by 59 points compared to 201920Jumped from 8th position in 201920 to 1st in 202021