New Delhi: Seven districts in India have been categorised as ‘worst preforming’ by the Ministry of Education under its ‘Performance Grading Index for districts (PGI-D)’. The combined PGI-D report for 2018-19 and 2019-20, which seeks to assess the school education system, was released by the ministry Monday.
Of the seven districts, six are located in the northeastern states of Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. One is in West Bengal.
In 2019-20, Shi Yomi and Kra Dai in Arunachal Pradesh and Mamit in Mizoram were at the bottom. In 2018-19, these were Namsai in Arunachal Pradesh, and Mamit, Serchhip and Lawangtalai in Mizoram.
This is the first-ever exercise by the Education Ministry to rate districts, and not just states, based on their learning outcome levels, infrastructure and other parameters.
State academicians and education experts claim the PGI-D does not offer an accurate picture, but acknowledge “infrastructure problems” in the states.
Dr Lallianchhunga, assistant professor at the Mizoram University, who has served on various state government boards, said that, based on his interaction with the administration of various schools in Mizoram, the data does not provide a true picture for the state. “The state of education in Mizoram is not as bad as it is reflected in the PGI-D,” he said.
According to Prof R. Govinda, former vice-chancellor of the National University of Educational Planning and Administration, too, such data should be taken with a pinch of salt.
“The northeast is thinly populated as compared to several other states,” said Govinda.
“In such sample surveys, you need substantial data from both such states in order to come to a fair conclusion. Not to discount the fact that the northeast has historically had problems with infrastructure due to its varied terrain and has largely been ignored from the national conversation,” he added.
The PGI-D structure comprises a total weightage of 600 points across 83 indicators, grouped under six categories — Learning Outcomes, Effective Classroom Transaction, Infrastructure Facilities and Student’s Entitlements, School Safety and Child Protection, Digital Learning, and Governance Process.
In the academic year 2019-20, Shi Yomi had the lowest score of 109. In ‘Learning Outcomes’, the district scored 84 out of a total 290, in ‘Effective Classroom Transaction’, 4 of 90, in ‘Infrastructure Facilities and Student’s Entitlements, 18 on 51, in ‘Digital learning’, 3 on 50, and 1 out of 83 in ‘Governance Process’.
There is no data available on school safety and child protection for Shi Yomi.
In 2018-19, Lawangtalai in Mizoram, with an overall score of 106 out of 600, was the worst-performing district.
It scored 62/290 in ‘Learning Outcomes’, 10/90 in ‘Effective Classroom Transaction’, 3/50 in ‘Digital Learning’, 28/51 in ‘Infrastructure Facilities and Student’s Entitlements’, and 3/83 in ‘Governance Process’. Data on school safety and child protection was not available for Lawangtalai either.
ThePrint reached Sri Marken Kadu, Director of Secondary Education, Arunachal Pradesh, for a comment by call, but the official refused.
Mizoram Education Secretary Lalzirmawia Chhangte said he did not have any knowledge of the survey and directed the reporter towards Lalhmachhuana, Joint Director and State Project Director of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. ThePrint reached him by call and mail but had not received a response by the time of publishing this report.
Both Shi Yomi’s and Lawangtalai’s consolidated score over 2018-19 and 2019-20 was less than 30 per cent. In comparison, districts like Jaipur, Sikar and Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan scored an overall 80 per cent.
Also read: Which state’s topped Modi govt’s education survey? Clue: It was below national avg last time
Politics, lack of infrastructure factors for poor performance
According to the state-specific break-up of the PGI-D report, Arunachal was 231 points behind the best-performing state, Punjab, in 2019-20.
The northeastern state saw a drop in parameters like ‘percentage of identified out-of-school-children mainstreamed’, ‘net enrolment ratio in secondary level education’, ‘quality of computer labs’, and ‘per cent of state budget share spent on education to total state budget’.
The Mizoram report says the state was 206 points behind Punjab in 2019-20. It reportedly saw a drop in parameters such as ‘access to education’, ‘percentage of schools having functional drinking water facility’, ‘percentage of government head teachers/principals who have completed school leadership training’, ‘percentage of identified out-of-school-children mainstreamed’, ‘net enrolment ratio in secondary level education’, ‘quality of science labs’, and ‘per cent of state budget share spent on education to total state budget’.
In 2018-19, Darjeeling in West Bengal registered an overall poor performance, with 165 out of 600. However, it increased its score to 254 in 2019-20. The district managed to make significant improvement in its ‘Learning Outcomes’, the report said.
“The reason for poor enrolment in secondary education is due to the lack of higher educational institutions in the state. Private institutions are costly, which creates an entry barrier for poor students,” Prof. Nani Bath, senior lecturer at Arunachal University, told ThePrint.
“Plus, the state still lacks connectivity between rural and urban areas leaving fewer options for rural students.”
Bath said the “political leadership in the state has been taking advantage of people’s innocence”.
“As for the poor learning outcomes, often, teachers are selected on political considerations, not on merit. As a result, students, too, join schools not to gain knowledge but to obtain certificates,” he added.
Also read: In India’s poorest district in UP, smart classes a small ray of hope for children’s future
‘Need to go deeper to look for trends’
The PGI-D grading system includes 10 grades — Daksh for districts scoring more than 90 per cent in a category or overall, Utkarsh (81-90 per cent), Ati Uttam (71-80 per cent), Uttam (61 to 70 per cent), Prachesta-1 (51 to 60 per cent), Prachesta-2 (41 to 50 per cent), Prachesta-3 (31 to 40 per cent), Akanshi-1 (21 to 30 per cent), Akanshi-2 (11 to 20 per cent), and Akanshi-3 (up to 10 per cent).
In 2019-20, three districts in Arunachal Pradesh received the Prachesta-1 grade, 13 Prachesta-2, seven Prachesta-3, and three Akanshi-1. In comparison, in 2018-19, two districts were graded Prachesta-1, 10 Prachesta-2, another 10 Prachesta-3, and one Akanshi-2 grade.
Mizoram showed a similar trend — in both years, three districts in the state were graded Prachesta-1. Four districts in 2019-20 and one in 2018-19 got Prachesta-2. Four districts got Akanshi-1 and another four Akanshi-2 in both years.
None of the districts in the two states scored above 60 per cent in either 2018-19 or 2019-20, and, on average, most were graded Prachesta 2.
While Prof. Govinda questioned the accuracy of the PGI-D data, he wasn’t altogether dismissive of government data in general and said it can be used by states to bring interventions in the schooling system.
“It is extremely unfortunate that states pay no heed to such data in order to bring changes in the system,” he said. “Even if district-level data is given, they need to go deeper to look for trends and bring about changes in order to improve the state of education.”
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
Also read: India is seeing its worst ‘edu-cide’. First survey after Covid shows