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Chandigarh best in the country in school education, says Union edu ministry report
Although Chandigarh had been placed first in the Union education ministry report for school education in previous years, it had slipped to second, behind Punjab, two years ago
Chandigarh has been placed in the best performer bracket in school education in the ministry of education’s performance grading index (PGI) report for states and Union Territories released on Friday.
Although the UT had been placed first in previous years, it had slipped to second, behind Punjab, two years ago. In last year’s report, Kerala, Maharashtra and Punjab were tied for the first spot, with Chandigarh coming in second again.
The rankings, based on 73 indicators, are aligned with Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE +), national achievement survey, PM POSHAN portal, PRABAND portal and Vidyanjali portal data.
Chandigarh secured an overall score of 659, out of a maximum possible score of 1,000. Punjab, which scored 647.4, and the UT are the only two to qualify for the Prachesta two grade of the ministry ranking.
In the learning outcomes category, Chandigarh got 103.6 out of 240 based on the city’s performance in NAS 2021. In what is considered as the most important domain, the UT was only behind Punjab’s score.
The UT topped the access domain, scoring 68.6 out of 80. This domain deals with curtailing drop-out rates and ensuring universal education at all levels, as envisioned under the National Education Policy (NEP).
Talking about infrastructure and facilities, the UT was at the top again with a score of 115.5 out of 190. This includes indicators such as ICT facilities, availability of textbooks and uniforms.
There was room for improvement in equity domain. Although Chandigarh scored 210.6 out of 260, many states and UTs fared better than the UT. This domain measures the inclusivity in education to ensure that no child loses out on opportunities owing to circumstances of birth or background.
Under the governance domain, the UT scored 76.1 out of 130. This domain determines rankings using of IT instead of human interface, including indicators such as digital attendance and online transfer of teachers. Gujarat and Kerala had a score better than Chandigarh. The UT was at the top in the teacher education and training domain, with a score of 84.7 out of 100. The domain measures the quality of teacher education, recruitment, deployment and service conditions.
UT director school education Harsuhinderpal Singh Brar said, “We are glad that the city is back at the top again. The credit lies with the higher hierarchy of the department, especially the governor who is an educationist and has taken an interest in improving the city’s schools. We aim to do even better next year.”
