45,000 state-run schools see dip in performance, reveals govt survey

Guwahati: The scholastic performance in about 45,000 state-run schools in Assam has significantly deteriorated in the current academic year due to ‘loss of instructional time due to the Covid-19 pandemic’.
This was revealed in Gunotsav — a survey conducted by the state government — whose findings were publsihed on Monday.
Education minister Ranoj Pegu has warned the poor performing schools of action.
“Earlier, Sivasagar, Majuli and Nalbari did well. But the Gunotsav outcomes of the hill districts — Dima Hasao, Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong — have been very disappointing. In the Bodoland Territorial Region schools, too, the results were unsatisfactory,” Pegu said, adding that major interventions will be initiated in schools that performed below standard.
The outcome of this year’s Gunotsav, a state-wide assessment to grade schools based on the learning outcomes of children as well as co-scholastic activities, use of resources and community participation, show that the percentage of schools in the top two grades, A+ and A, has come down from 70 in 2018 to 52.
In the first Gunotsav in 2017, about 38% of the schools were graded as A+ and A. There was no assessment between 2019 and 2021.
“Due to the Covid pandemic, offline classes mostly remained closed for most part of the academic year (2021) due to which learning has suffered throughout the year. As per In National Achievement Survey, the performance all over the country is found to have decreased in 2021 from 2017,” the assessment report adds in the explainer for the decline.
This year’s assessment shows that overall efficiency in all subjects of students show an uneven trend till Class VII. But as they step into Class VII for transition into secondary education, their performances graph starts moving upwards.
From the language subjects to mathematics and science, the number of non-performers show a significant drop in Class VIII.
In Language 1 paper, which is the mother tongue, the percentage of students with the lowest performance was 14.79% (C-category) and 19.09% (D category) up to Class VII. However, the corresponding figure improved to 11.61% and 11.96%, respectively, in Class VIII assessment.
Similarly, 18.63% and 31.20% of the Class VII students were categorized in C and D in maths, but the figures improved to 17.35% and 25.73% in Class VIII.