Governance
Performance Grading Index for Districts and PGI 2.0
- 10 Jul 2023
- 6 min read
For Prelims: Performance Grading Index for Districts, Unified District Information System for Education Plus, NAS, Daksha and Utkarsh, NEP 2020.
For Mains: Performance Grading Index for Districts.
Why in News?
Recently, the Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India has released the Performance Grading Index for Districts (PGI-D) combined report for 2020-21 & 2021-22, assessing the performance of the school education system at the District level.
- The MoE has also released a report on Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0 for States/UTs for the year 2021-22.
What is the Performance Grading Index for Districts (PGI-D)?
- About:
- PGI-D assesses the performance of the school education system at the district level by creating an index for comprehensive analysis.
- The PGI-D assessed district-level performance in school education based on the data collected from various sources, including Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE +), National Achievement Survey (NAS), 2017 and data provided by respective districts.
- Since 2017-18, MoE has released five annual reports that provide insights on status of school education in States and UTs.
- Grades:
- The report has 10 grades under which districts are categorized,
- Daksh: Highest grade (above 90%)
- Utkarsh: 81%-90%
- Ati-Uttam: 71%-80%
- Uttam: 61%-70%
- Prachesta-1: 51%-60%
- Prachesta-2: 41%-50%
- Prachesta-3: 31%-40%
- Akanshi-1: 21% to 30%
- Akanshi-2: 11% to 20%
- Akanshi-3: Lowest (less than 10%)
- The report has 10 grades under which districts are categorized,
- Indicators:
- The PGI-D structure comprises total weight age of 600 points across 83 indicators, which are grouped under 6 categories viz., Outcomes, Effective Classroom Transaction, Infrastructure Facilities & Student’s Entitlements, School Safety & Child Protection, Digital Learning and Governance Process.
- Significance:
- The PGI-D report is expected to assist state education departments in identifying gaps at the district level and improving performance in a decentralized manner.
- By prioritizing areas for intervention, districts can work towards reaching the highest grade and enhancing overall education quality.
What are the Key Highlights of the Report?
- Impact of the Pandemic on District Performance:
- None of the districts were able to achieve the top two grades (Daksh and Utkarsh).
- The number of districts categorized as Ati-Uttam decreased significantly from 121 in 2020-21 to 51 in 2021-22, indicating the impact of the pandemic on educational performance.
- Several districts across different states were categorized as Ati-Uttam in both 2020-21 and 2021-22, including Krishna and Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra Nagar Haveli, districts in Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha etc.
- Changes in Grades:
- In 2021-22, the number of districts categorized as Prachesta-2 (sixth-highest grade) increased from 86 in 2020-21 to 117.
- It suggests that more districts faced challenges in maintaining their performance due to the disruptions caused by the pandemic.
What is PGI 2.O?
- About PGI: The PGI is a comprehensive assessment tool devised by the MoE for evaluating the performance of the school education system at the State/UT level.
- It assesses the performance based on various indicators and creates an index for comprehensive analysis.
- The PGI was first released for the year 2017-18 and has been updated up to the year 2020-21.
- Revised Structure: The PGI was revised for the year 2021-22 and renamed as PGI 2.0. The new structure includes 73 indicators grouped into two categories:
- Outcomes and Governance Management (GM). Emphasis is given to qualitative assessment, digital initiatives, and teacher education.
- Categories and Domains: The PGI 2.0 is divided into six domains:
- Learning Outcomes (LO), Access (A), Infrastructure and Facilities (IF), Equity (E), Governance Process (GP), and Teachers’ Education and Training (TE&T). These domains cover various aspects of the education system.
- Grading System: States and Union Territories are assigned grades based on their points scored across the indicators.
- The grades range from Daksh (941-1000) as the highest to Akanshi-3 (401-460) as the lowest.
- Findings:
- None of the States/UTs achieved the top grades in the latest edition.
- Only two states/UTs, namely Punjab and Chandigarh have attained Grade Prachesta -2 (score 641-700).
- Andhra Pradesh has secured Grade 8 (Category: Akankshi-1) in PGI 2.0.
- Andhra Pradesh has made significant progress in its grades over the years, starting from no grade in 2017-18 to attaining Level II with a score of 901.
