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Indian Express
14 hours ago
- General
- Indian Express
Chandigarh, Punjab, Delhi toppers in Centre's PGI school education report; Meghalaya ranks at bottom
Chandigarh, Punjab, and Delhi were the top three performers in the Ministry of Education's latest assessment of school education indicators, the Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0 report for 2023-24, which was released Wednesday. The PGI was introduced in 2017, and the ministry revamped it as PGI 2.0 in 2021. It is an assessment of school education along six domains – learning outcome and quality, access, infrastructure and facilities, equity, governance processes, teacher education, and training. The latest report, covering the years 2022-23 and 2023-24, draws data from the National Achievement Survey 2021, the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+), and information on the mid-day meal programme (PM-POSHAN). States/UTs are scored out of 1,000 points. No state/UT has scored in the higher ranges of 761 and above. The highest scorer was Chandigarh at 703, followed by Punjab at 631.1, and Delhi at 623.7. Kerala, Gujarat, Odisha, Haryana, Goa, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan also scored in the 581-640 range. The state that scored the lowest was Meghalaya (417.9). Just above it were Arunachal Pradesh (461.4), Mizoram (464.2), Nagaland (468.6), and Bihar (471.9). In the middle range of 521-580 were Uttar Praded, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. The scores are meant to help states/UTs identify areas where they need to make interventions. Of the 36 states/UTs, 25 saw an improvement in their scores in 2023-24 compared to 2022-23. Chandigarh scored 687.8 in 2022-23, and Punjab scored 614.1, followed by the Andaman and Nicobar Islands at 606.4, and Gujarat at 602.2. Chandigarh was the top scorer in 2021-22 as well, with a score of 659, followed by Punjab (647.4) and Delhi (636.2). 'Since the grading and the indicators have undergone changes, the results of PGI 2.0 are not strictly comparable with the previous PGI reports, though the pattern of achievement seems to be like the previous PGI results,' the latest report stated. Referring to the inter-state disparity, the report said, 'The maximum and minimum scores obtained by the States/UTs in 2023-24 are 719 and 417 respectively.'
Indian Express
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
RTE quotas have failed to make school education inclusive
Written by Ajit Phadnis The recently released Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2023-24 data shows that student enrolment in private schools is on the rise and, in some states, exceeds enrolments in government schools. This article focuses on private school enrolments under section 12(1)(c) of the Right to Education (RTE) Act 2009, which mandates private schools to reserve 25 per cent of seats for children from weaker socio-economic backgrounds. We assess that the policy, although well-intended, has failed to meet its objectives due to poor policy design and lack of stakeholder engagement. As per a Ministry of Education document on 'Clarification on (RTE) Provisions', the objectives of Section 12(1)(c) were to enhance the quality of education received by underprivileged students and to reduce social barriers and foster social cohesion among students of different classes, castes and religions. This provision has received severe backlash from stakeholders in many states, leading to minimal or cosmetic implementation. On the face of it, the failures of the policy can be tied to inadequacies in implementation. Implementation failures include non-transparency in student selection for reserved seats, delays in government reimbursement to private schools and alleged harassment of private school management by education officers. States such as Madhya Pradesh, which streamlined processes for reimbursements to private schools, have shown higher enrolment in reserved seats. On the other hand, recurring delays in reimbursements have plagued Maharashtra. However, these administrative successes or failures are not accidental; they are rooted in the political economy of the respective states. It is well known that government school teachers oppose RTE quotas as they perceive that it would encourage students from underprivileged backgrounds to leave government schools and join private schools. Migration of students is feared as it would reduce the strength in government schools, prompting state governments to close schools and retrench/transfer school teachers. Teacher opposition translates into strong efforts to blockade the policy in states where teachers and teacher unions have substantial political power. For instance, in states such as Maharashtra, school teachers are formally represented in the state legislature (legislative council) through teachers' constituency seats. This institutional power is employed to derail policy implementation. Private schools are also hesitant to support the reservation policy. Elite schools — those that recruit better teachers and have high quality infrastructure — oppose the policy as the reimbursement rates, fixed by state governments, are too low to meet their operational costs. Additionally, schools face resistance from paying parents, who are uncomfortable that their wards will study in 'mixed' classrooms. These schools find ways to dodge the policy by either making the admission process cumbersome for reserved seats, charging parents various non-fee payments, or conducting separate classes for students admitted under the quota. Another route is to register as a religious or linguistic minority-run institution. Since these minority-run schools are exempted from implementing reservation, the exemption incentivises private schools to change registration to a minority-run institution. Budget private schools — those that charge lower fees — see the provision as an opportunity, particularly in states where government reimbursements are timely. The operational costs of budget schools are lower, which makes the reimbursement rate fixed by states more acceptable. Madhya Pradesh, for instance, incentivises budget schools by offering reimbursements for reserved seats even above the prescribed 25 per cent of seats. As a result, some budget schools in the state have reserved more than 80 per cent of seats in anticipation of higher reimbursement. This model is a win-win because budget schools profit from it, and state governments can showcase higher aggregate enrolment of reserved seats. Underprivileged children who are enrolled in budget schools suffer from this bargain. Budget private schools offer only marginal improvement in educational quality over government schools. Further, the segregation of students continues, with the only change that underprivileged students, who earlier attended government schools, have now shifted to budget private schools. In contrast, elite schools, with higher educational quality, continue to be inaccessible. Therefore, neither the RTE quota objective of providing better education quality nor reducing social barriers for underprivileged children has made substantial progress. The failure of RTE quotas has important lessons for policymaking in India. Policy failures are often blamed on weak implementation, but in the RTE quota case, the fault lies as much in poor design. A good policy must anticipate the interests, incentives, and motivations of all key stakeholders, including those that are accountable to implement and comply with it. Stakeholders can be motivated by appealing to a larger purpose and highlighting how a policy could benefit them. Currently, neither government teachers, education administrators, nor elite private schools are motivated. In some states, budget private schools have helped ramp up the state numbers, primarily driven by instrumental benefits to themselves. A policy that fails to engage its key actors is unlikely to succeed, no matter how well-intentioned it may be. If inclusivity is the goal, India's education policy must engage seriously with the political economy of schooling. Stakeholders must be part of the solution — not obstacles to it. The writer is a public policy faculty with the Indian Institute of Management Indore. The article is based on a study on RTE quotas with Omkar Sathe, Partner, CPC Analytics and Pawandeep Kaur, PhD Candidate, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany
Time of India
23-04-2025
- General
- Time of India
Schools rush to meet state GIS tagging deadline
Nagpur: Schools across Maharashtra have been directed to complete GIS tagging of their premises by April 30, using a newly launched application — Maha School GIS . Officials said schools in the Nagpur division are progressing well and are set to meet the deadline. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The initiative is part of a major push towards digitising school infrastructure data, following the official rollout of the Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre (MRSAC) by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday. Schools had already begun uploading their data through the Maha School GIS app last week. The application uses advanced geospatial technology to log the precise location of schools across the state, while also integrating photographs and key data points. The system is designed to feed into a unified dashboard, consolidating crucial information such as student and staff counts, infrastructure details, computing resources, and other amenities. It directly synchronises with the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+), a central government portal that tracks educational statistics nationwide. To access the app, school heads must log in using their UDISE code and registered mobile number. Once authenticated, the app displays the school's current UDISE+ profile. Administrators are then required to geotag the school's location — capturing latitude, longitude, and a timestamp — and upload five mandatory photos: the school nameplate, full building view, kitchen area, separate toilets for boys and girls, and water facilities. For data authenticity, all uploads must be carried out while physically present on the school premises. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now This GIS-based system addresses longstanding gaps in the educational data framework, particularly in areas such as village location, population distribution, road connectivity, inter-school distances, and access to government services. By linking this information with UDISE+ records, the state aims to build a robust database to guide policy formulation and improve programme implementation. The Maha School GIS initiative is expected to significantly strengthen educational planning, giving policymakers and administrators real-time insights to better allocate resources, address infrastructure deficits, and ultimately raise the standard of education across Maharashtra.
