Puducherry tops in education index

For third year in a row, Puducherry has topped the Educational Development Index (EDI) at the elementary level in a study prepared the National University of Educational Planning and Administration. It is followed by Lakshwadeep and Punjab.

For third year in a row, Puducherry has topped the Educational Development Index (EDI) at the elementary level in a study prepared the National University of Educational Planning and Administration. It is followed by Lakshwadeep and Punjab.

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Punjab has shown a remarkable progress and has moved from the seventh to the third rank. Bihar and Jharkhand remain at the bottom of ladder at 35th and 34th rank.

“It’s a distinction of a sort for Puducherry but it’s EDI which is 0.870, much less than an ideal figure of 1, which means that there is still lots of scope for further improvement," an official said.

The EDI is prepared after taking into account four components - access, infrastructure, teachers and outcomes. In case of access, the two important factors were looked into - availability of schools per 1,000 child population and ratio of primary to upper primary schools.

The study was based on the data received from as many as 1.36 million schools spread over 637 districts across 35 states.

In other findings, the overall enrolment of students in class I-V is better for private schools compared to government schools.