The Ministry of Education has released the 2020-21 Performance Grade Index (PGI) in which six states and one Union Territory (UT) secured spots. Kerala, Punjab, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh and UT Chandigarh have emerged as the best performers in school education across indicators such as learning outcomes, equity and infrastructure, as stated in a report by The Indian Express.
These states and UT have been placed at Level II of the index, which was launched by the Centre in 2017-18. The index measures the performances of states and UTs on a uniform scale and helps them prioritise areas for intervention. Although, since its launch, no state or UT has attained Level I.
What about the index of last year? Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the UTs of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Chandigarh were on Level II, for which states/UTs need to score 901 or above out of 1,000. Now, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh are the new entrants to Level II. The index report read, “The maximum and minimum scores obtained by the states in 2020-21 are 928 (Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab) and 669 (Arunachal Pradesh), respectively."
“The deviation between the maximum and minimum scores obtained by states is 259 or 39%, of the minimum points, indicating that Arunachal Pradesh has to put more efforts to reach the top slot," it added.
Which states and UTs are on Level III? Level III ranges between 851-900 and the state/UTs on this level are Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Puducherry, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Lakshadweep, Delhi, and Odisha.
Further, the report stated, “The PGI evaluation classifies States and UTs into grade/levels, as opposed to ranking. Grading allows several States and UTs to be considered at the same level, eliminating the phenomenon of one improving only at the cost of others.”
