Report on Performance Grading Index for Districts

On 27^th June, 2022, the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSE&L), Ministry of Education (MoE), released the Centre’s first-ever Performance Grading Index for Districts (PGI-D) for 2018-19 and 2019-20.

• It is a tool to provide insights on the status of school education in States and UTs including key levers that drive their performance and critical areas for improvement

Parameters: The index comprises a total weightage of 600 points across 83 indicators which are grouped under 6 categories: 1) Outcomes, 2) Effective Classroom Transaction, 3) Infrastructure Facilities & Student’s Entitlements, 4) School Safety & Child Protection, 5) Digital Learning and 6) Governance Process.

GI-D Grades: GI-D grades the districts into ten grades, classified as Daksh, Utkarsh, Ati-uttam, Uttam, Prachesta I, II and III, and Akanshi I, II and III.

Major Findings: Rajasthan tops the list with all of the three districts with Utkarsh grades.

• The top three districts in terms of performance are Sikar (488), Jhunjhunu (486), and Jaipur (482) with a score of 1,000 points. Punjab with 14 districts followed by Gujarat and Kerala with each having 13 districts in Ati-Uttam grade.
• 33 States and UTs have improved their PGI score in 2019-20 compared to the previous year with Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Punjab, and Arunachal Pradesh have improved their score by more than 20%.
• The only two states, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have scored less than 2018-19. There are 12 states/ UTs which don't have any districts in the Ati-Uttam and Uttam categories. These states are Bihar, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, and Uttarakhand.

Significance: The index is expected to help the state education departments to identify gaps at the district level and improve their performance in a decentralized manner.