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Centre postpones National Achievement Survey by one year amid spike in Covid-19 cases
The NAS, which was initially scheduled to be held in November 2020 to assess the learning levels of students, will now be held around the same time next year.
The Centre has decided to postpone the National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2020 by one year amid a surge in coronavirus cases in the country.
The NAS, which was initially scheduled to be held in November 2020 to assess the learning levels of students, will now be held around the same time next year. “Due to current prevailing pandemic situation in the country, it has been decided to postpone NAS to 2021,” according to a communication sent by Union ministry of education director JP Pandey last week to principal secretaries, school education, of all the states and union territories.
The central ministry has tentatively scheduled the survey for classes 3, 5, 8, and 10 during the first week of October or second week of November 2021, asking the states and UTs to convey their preference by September 18. “As the survey involves all states and UTs, early finalization of dates would help stakeholders and other agencies involved in the conduct of NAS for a seamless and timely planning,” reads the letter. The postponement came as India’s Covid-19 tally raced past the 40 lakh-mark.
The exercise will be conducted jointly by the Union ministry of education and the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to evaluate class-appropriate learning competencies of students in state-run and aided schools, understand educational health of schooling, diagnose maladies, and institute measures to fill them. In the last survey held in November 2017, the learning levels of 25 lakh students of 1.10 lakh schools across 701 districts in all states and UTs were assessed.
A senior official of Punjab’s school education department said there is no other option available as all schools are closed. “There is no plan to reopen schools for now as Covid-19 cases are rising across the country. Whenever any decision is taken, primary and middle school will be the last to be reopened,” he said. Punjab held the Punjab Achievement Survey (PAS) online last month for students of classes 6 to 12 to check the learning outcomes to prepare the teachers and students for the national achievement survey. In the 2017 survey, Punjab students had not fared well, particularly in mathematics even though they did better in languages.
