Union Minister of Education Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank approved the Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2019-2020 for states and Union territories on Sunday.

Punjab (929), Chandigarh (912), Tamil Nadu (906), Andaman & Nicobar Islands (901), and Kerala (901) got the highest grade (Grade A++) for 2019-20, while Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Puducherry, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu have improved overall PGI score by 10 percent.

The PGI for states and Union territories was first published in the year 2019 by the Narendra Modi-led Union government which is a set of 70 parameters which  assesses states’ performance in school education based on data drawn from several sources, including the Unified District Information System for Education Plus, National Achievement Survey, and Mid-Day Meal. According to a statement released by the Union Education Ministry, “the PGI exercise envisages that the index would propel States and UTs towards undertaking multi-pronged interventions that will bring about the much-desired optimal education outcomes”.

States and UTs are marked on 1000 points across 70 parameters. The main five categories are access (eg. enrolment ratio, transition rate and retention rate); governance and management; infrastructure; equity (difference in performance between scheduled caste students and general category students) and learning outcomes (average score in mathematics, science, languages and social science).

The states are graded and not ranked to encourage disappointment. 

The PGI system has 10 levels. Level 1 indicates the best performances and a score between 951 and 1,000 points. Level II, also known as Grade 1++, indicates a score between 901 and 950. Those states with Grade 1+ (or Level III) have scored between 851 and 900. The lowest is Grade VII which indicates a score between 0 and 550 points.

Source: The Indian Express

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