Recently, the Ministry of Education introduced the Performance Grading Index (PGI) for 2020-2021- a confirmation-based comprehensive analysis of the school education system across states and Union Territories.

Purpose Of PGI

According to the Ministry of Education, the primary objective of the Performance Grading Index (PGI) is to enable evidence-based policymaking and emphasize course correction to assure high-quality education for all.

The Ministry of Education said the Indian Education System is one of the largest in the world, with around 14.9 lakh schools, 95 lakh teachers, and about 26.5 crore students from various socio-economic backgrounds. Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSE & L) developed the Performance Grading Index for states and union territories to offer insights and data-driven mechanisms on the performance and accomplishments of the success of school education across all states and union territories.

So far, the department has released the Performance Grading Index (PGI) report for 2017-2018, 2018-2019, and 2019-2020.

Structure of PGI

The Performance Grading Index (PGI) structure contains 1,000 points across 70 indicators divided into two categories- Outcomes and Governance management.

These two categories are further divided into five domains:

• Learning Outcomes (LO)


• Access (A)


• Infrastructure and Facilities (IF)


• Equity (E)


• Governance Process (GP)

Similar to the previous year, the Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2020-2021 categorised states and union territories into ten grades- the highest attainable Grade is Level 1, which is for stated or union territories scoring up to 950 points out of a total of 1000 points. The lowest grade is Level 10, for a score less than 551.

Benefits

The benefit of the Performance Grading Index (PGI) is to push states and union territories towards undertaking multi-pronged interventions that will bring about the much-desired optimal education consequences surrounding all dimensions. PGI intends to aid states and union territories to pinpoint the gaps and accordingly prioritize domains for intervention to ensure that the school education system is vital at every level.

Statement by the Ministry

The Ministry informed that a total of 7 states and union territories- Kerela, Chandigarh, Punjab, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra achieved Level 2 (score 901-950) in 2020-2021 compared to none in 2017-2018 and 4 in 2019-2020. Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Gujarat are the new entrants to the highest earned level of any state so far.

Ministry also said that the Performance Grading Index (PGI) scores and grades earned by states and union territories in 2020-2021 bear testimony to the effectiveness of the PGI system. The indicator-wise PGI score indicates the areas where a state requires to improve. The PGI will mirror the relative performance of all the states and union territories on a uniform scale, which enables them to perform better and to adopt the best measures followed by performers.

News Source: Adda 24/7