Maharashtra drops three spots in school education quality index

Even after the state education department introduced initiative like concept-based syllabi to improve the quality of education in state schools, its ranking in the

Even after the state education department introduced initiative like concept-based syllabi to improve the quality of education in state schools, its ranking in the School Education Quality Index (SEQI) has fallen by three positions in the 2016-17 academic year.

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NITI Aayog recently released its rankings for 2016-17 along with a report that evaluated schools in each state on the basis of over 30 parameters broadly divided into learning outcomes, access outcomes, infrastructure and facilities, equity, and governance processes. While Maharashtra improved on the education index – from 58.64% in 2015-16 to 62.55% in 2016-17 – its overall rank went down to six. In 2015-16, the state had occupied the third position. This time, Haryana, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh improved their performance substantially and scored more than Maharashtra. Kerala and Tamil Nadu retained first and second positions respectively.

This comes after the education department undertook initiatives like revising the syllabus for Classes 9 to 12 in 2017 and encouraging schools to become digital schools with the help of CSR funding. According to the report, only 8.18% students in primary schools in Maharashtra have access to computer-aided learning, which is a dip from 8.23% in 2015-16. Only 54.21% schools in the state have a headmaster or principal. In 75% cases, funds meant for various schemes were released on time. The state substantially improved its performance when it came to identifying out-of-school students. As per the data, 99.90% of children in Maharashtra who were not admitted to schools were registered into one between 2016 and 2017.

Educationist and former chairperson of the state board Vasant Kalpande said, “While it is true that Maharashtra needs to improve on a lot of parameters, that states like Rajasthan are doing better has to be properly looked into.” When asked about overall performance of the state in the last five years, Kalpande said, “We can see a lot of effort being taken by teachers, schools and the government. But quantitatively, they’ve fallen short of addressing some basic issues.”