The state of Tamil Nadu has fallen 10 places to rank 13 in just 1 year in the Performance Grading Index released by the Ministry of Education for the year 2020-21.
According to its website, the Performance Grading Index (PGI) is a tool to provide insights on the status of school education in States and Union Territories including key levers that drive their performance and critical areas for improvement.
The parameters taken into account are: learning outcomes and quality, access, infrastructure & facilities, equity and governance process.
Of the five parameters, governance process carries the maximum weightage of 36% followed by equity (23%), learning outcomes (18%), infrastructure and facilities (15%), access (8%).
Tamil Nadu which had scored 906 out of 1000 in 2019-20 got only 855 in 2020-21 making it to fall from rank 3 to rank 13.
The state has been categorized under Level 3 along with other states which have got scores in the range of 851 – 900 like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Odisha, NCT of Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu.
The states in Level 2 are Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, Chandigarh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan which have got scores in the 901 – 950 range. There is no state in Level 1.
Gujarat has seen a massive jump in scores from 884 in 2019-20 to 903 in 2020-21.
The score of Tamil Nadu in learning outcomes has remained stagnant at 132 from 2017-18 to 2020-21. It has seen a steep fall in the equity factor from 218 in 2017-18 to 183 in 2020-21.
Tamil Nadu fares way below in learning outcomes when compared to other south Indian states like Andhra Pradesh (154), Karnataka (160), Kerala (154), Telangana (142).
The PGI comes as yet another reality check to the status of school education in Tamil Nadu.
Earlier, the National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 showed that students in Tamil Nadu fare way below the national average across classes and subjects.
For all the talk on Tamil pride by the Dravidian parties, only 25% of Class 3 students were found to be proficient in Tamil. The learning outcomes in Tamil worsens as students progress to higher grades.
Even the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), brought out by a non-government body highlights the dismal state of learning in the state.
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