Performance Grading Index (PGI) - 2020-21 (UPSC Current Affairs)

Relevance: GS2 - Issues relating to the development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, and Human Resources.

(Source: The Hindu, 11/04/2022)

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Why in the news?

• Recently, the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSE&L) released the Performance Grading Index (PGI) for States and Union Territories (UTs) for 2020-21, which shows an evidence-based comprehensive analysis of the school education system across States/UTs.
• With over 14.9 lakh schools, 95 lakh teachers, and close to 26.5 crore pupils from various socioeconomic backgrounds, the Indian education system is one of the biggest in the world, according to the Index.

Performance Grading Index (PGI) for 2020-21

• According to the Index, compared to none in 2017–18 and four in 2019–20, seven States and UTs—Kerala, Punjab, Chandigarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh—have obtained Level II (score 901–950) in 2020–21.
• Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh are the new entrants to highest achieved level of any State so far.
• Ladakh, a recently created UT, improved significantly in PGI in 2020–21, moving from Level 8 to Level 4 or increasing its score by 299 points from 2019–20, the largest improvement in a single year ever.

What is the Performance Grading Index (PGI)?

• The Performance Grading Index of the Ministry of Education classifies States and Union Territories into 10 grades based on their score out of a total 1,000 points.
• A total of 70 variables across five Parameters—
  • learning outcome,
  • Access,
  • Infrastructure and facilities,
  • Equity, and
  • Governance process
• The Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE +) 2020–21, the National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2017 and the Mid Day Meal Portal are some data sources used to create the Index.
• The PGI 2020-21 graded the States and UTs into ten levels, with Level 1 being the highest rating attainable for States and UTs achieving over 950 out of a possible 1000 points. Level 10 is the lowest grade and is awarded for scores below 551.

Why Is It Required?

• Data-driven:It offers perspectives and data-driven tools on the effectiveness and accomplishments of school education.
• Evidence-based policymaking: The PGI's main goal is promoting evidence-based policymaking and emphasizing course correction to achieve high-quality education for all.
• Encourage implementation of multifaceted initiatives: Exercise anticipates that the Index will encourage the States and Union Territories (UTs) to implement multifaceted initiatives that will lead to the highly desired optimal academic outcomes.
• In order to ensure that the school education system is vital at every level, the PGI's goal is to assist States and UTs in identifying the gaps and prioritizing areas for intervention in accordance with those priorities.
• In addition, it will serve as a useful resource for information on best practices used by States and UTs that may be exchanged.
• The PGI system's performance is demonstrated by the States'/UTs' grades and scores for the academic years 2020–21. The areas in which a state needs to make progress are identified by the PGI score broken down by indicator.
• In order to motivate all States and UTs to perform better and adopt the best practises, the PGI will present the relative performance of each State and UT on a uniform scale.

Unified District Information System for Education Plus Report on school education

• According to a report released by the Ministry of Education, the number of kids entering pre-primary classes in 2021–2022 saw a further decline, resulting in 30% fewer students in this school section as compared to the pre–COVID period.
• Younger students, who have less access to remote learning, continue to bear the brunt of learning loss during the pandemic.
• A total of 94.95 lakh students enrolled in pre-primary courses in 2021–2022, a 10% decrease from the 1.06 crore kids who attended these programs the year before.
• According to the Unified District Information System for Education Plus report on school education, however, there was a decline of 21% in pre-primary enrollment in 2020–2021 as compared to 1.35 crore the year before as the pandemic and lockdown measures led to school closures and classrooms moving online.
• The report also notes a drop in the number of schools owing to closures and a shortage of teachers for the first time since the pandemic.
• Decline in schools: 2021–2022, as the overall number of schools fell from 15.09 lakh to 14.89 lakh, there were 20,000 fewer schools.
• According to the report, the majority of these were managed by "private and other management."
• Decline in teachers:Additionally, the number of teachers decreased by 1.89 lakh, or 1.98%, from 95.07 lakh in 2021–2022 to 96.96 lakh in 2020–2021.
• Improvement in Internet access and computer facilities:Only 33.9% of schools had Internet connection, whereas 44.75 percent of schools had computer facilities. However, compared to the period before to Covid, where just 38.5% of schools had computers and 22.3% had access to the Internet, their accessibility has increased.
• Improvement in Gross Enrollment Ratio:The gross enrolment ratio for the primary section increased from 101.3% in 2018–2019 to 104.8% in 2021–2022, measuring enrollment at a given educational level in relation to the population of that age group. From 76.9% in 2018–19 to 79.6% in 2021–22 for secondary classes, and from 50.14% to 57.6% for higher secondary level classes.

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Some Important FAQs

MCQs

Question: The performance Grading Index is an initiative by

(a) NITI Aayog

(b) Ministry of Education

(c) Ministry of Skill development and entrepreneurship.

(d) Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs