In a huge boost for the State, the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development has ranked Kerala second in the Performance Grading Index for 2017-18.
The index has been devised by the Ministry, in consultation with Niti Aayog, to grade States and Union Territories on the school education front across 70 parameters covering the areas of learning outcomes, infrastructure, and governance. The total weightage is 1,000 points.
Kerala has secured a total grade of 826, close behind Chandigarh that has 841 points. Gujarat is third with 808 points.
The indicators are divided into outcomes and governance processes. The first covers domains such as learning outcomes, access outcomes, infrastructure and facilities, and equity outcomes. The second comprises governance processes that cover attendance, teacher adequacy, administrative aspects, training, and so on.
Previous academic year
The grade was finalised on the basis of activities undertaken by the erstwhile Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, which the Samagra Shiksha now subsumes, in the 2017-18 academic year.
A team of the Niti Aayog took nearly a year to verify the activities, including the National Achievement Survey results, expenditure utilisation, realisation of infrastructural facilities in a time-bound manner, equity outcomes, and so on. This was done at the field level and on the basis of data received from the State, said Samagra Shiksha, Kerala, State Project Director A.P. Kuttykrishnan.
The Ministry, at a meeting recently, graded the State’s performance on the basis of a report submitted by the Niti Aayog. “Kerala has put up a good performance in the index, as it has in many other sectors. It is recognition for the work we have done,” Mr. Kuttykrishnan said.