Performance Grading Index for Districts and PGI 2.0 | 10 Jul 2023

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%)
• 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.

Source: PIB