PGI 2.0 report: Change in parametersleads to sharp decline in states’ scores

Lucknow: A radical change in the parameters adopted by the department of school education & literacy, Union ministry of education has seen a sharp fall in scores of all states in the latest Performance Grading Index (PGI). None of the 28 states and eight Union territories have been able to finish in the top five levels — Daksh, Utkarsh, Ati-Uttam, Uttam and Pracheshta-1.Only two small states, Punjab and Haryana have managed to get the 6th level, Pracheshta-2, with scores between 641-700. UP, along with 11 others, is among Akankshi-2 states (score band 461-520) in the PGI analysis released last week for 2021-22. In 2020-21, seven states were in level II with scores between 901-950, while none of the states could qualify for the level 1 (951-1000). UP, along with 11 other states, was in level III (score band 851-900). Likewise, last year’s top performing states — Kerala and Maharashtra — are among the second best performing states/UTs in the 2021-22 grading. Both these states plunged to Prachesta-3 (581-640 score). Last year, they were in level II with scores between 901-950. Additional project director, Samagra Shiksha, Rohit Tripathi said, “The report is quite disappointing for almost all states. This is primarily because of two factors. First, this time states had no scope of self-reporting the data. Entire data was prepopulated with several portals run by the Centre. Two, the report used data from National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 where all states performed poorly."Tripathi explained how states, before PGI 2021-22, collected data from basic education officers (BSAs) on questions such as number of smart classes, then filled them in the ranking format, and accordingly would get marked. "But this time, there were no questions for states to answer," he said.The PGI 2021-22 not only used a different methodology but also enhanced data from secondary level. "Earlier, data from elementary schools dominated PGI. But this time, there is focus on the secondary level, where data is picked up from UDISE (Unified District Information System for Education). So, the states with high quality of UDISE data scored better. For UP, reflection of secondary data is relatively poor than elementary. The report shows we were worse among the bad," said an official.Due to the drastic change in parameters, the scores of PGI 2020-21 can't be compared with those of 2021-22, stated the PGI report. Starting in 2017-18, it was felt that many parameters of the PGI had lost relevance. Therefore, the PGI structure for 2021-22 was revised and renamed PGI 2.0.The new PGI structure covers 73 indicators, focused more on qualitative assessment besides including digital initiatives and teacher education. It reduces the weightage given to the Governance Processes.