-Baishali Mukherjee

The National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2024, conducted under the Ministry of Education, Government of India (GoI), is scheduled for December 4, 2024. It will include 83 schools in Kolkata to evaluate the quality of education in West Bengal government schools. Students from 27 schools in Kolkata will be tested in Grade 3, 24 schools in Grade 6, and 32 schools in Grade 9. Nationwide, five million students from Classes 3, 6, and 9 across 792 districts will be evaluated.

Grade 3 and Grade 6 students will be tested in subjects such as Language, Mathematics, and Environmental Studies, while Grade 9 students will be assessed in Language, Mathematics, and Social Science. The exam duration is 90 minutes for Grades 3 and 6, and 2 hours for Grade 9. Students will complete the exam using OMR sheets, and the results will be compiled and published as a comprehensive report.

This large-scale, nationwide assessment evaluates learning outcomes in various school types, including state government, government-aided, private unaided, and central government schools. Importantly, it does not generate individual scores for students or schools. As a nationally representative survey, it offers a systemic evaluation of school education, enabling performance comparisons across diverse groups and regions. The findings provide valuable insights for identifying areas needing improvement and guiding interventions for better educational outcomes.

This year, the test will be conducted in 23 languages by the exam body Performance, Assessment, Review, and Analysis (PARAKH), which replaced NAS in 2021. The 2024 survey, called PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan, will also evaluate school board performance and include questions on children’s life skills, mental health, study habits, and school environments. The previous NAS survey, conducted in 2021, assessed students in Classes 3, 5, 8, and 10.

While NAS was grade-specific, PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 will be stage-specific, assessing students’ competencies at the end of pedagogical stages outlined in NEP 2020: foundational (Class 3), preparatory (Class 6), and middle (Class 9). However, only one specific class from each selected school will participate. The survey aims to measure learning outcomes and track the progress of school students nationwide.

Also read: Delhi: Promising PARAKH