Performance Grading Index: Chandigarh scores hat-trick
Chandigarh has scored a hat-trick by topping the country in the Performance Grading Index (PGI) report for the third consecutive year in a row.
The Union Ministry of Education has awarded the Union Territory the best performer in school education amongst all states and UTs in the country in PGI in 2023-24. Chandigarh had also achieved this feat in 2022-23 and 2021-22 as well.
Sharing details, Education Secretary Prerna Puri told The Tribune here on Thursday that the PGI 2.0 result will propel Chandigarh towards undertaking multi-pronged interventions to achieve optimal education outcomes in terms of improving quality and also motivate the schools in the UT to adopt best practices.
“PGI helped Chandigarh to identify specific interventions required to make transformational changes in school education,” she said, while divulging that PGI 2.0 was constructed based on 73 indicators from two categories containing six domains.
Chandigarh scored 703 points, achieving Prachesta-1, reflecting its strong performance in governance and infrastructure. PGI 2.0 was a robust benchmarking tool aligned with National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
“The encouragement and focused guidance of the Punjab Governor-cum-Chandigarh Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria and Chief Secretary Rajeev Verma’s seamless interdepartmental coordination played a vital role in putting in place world-class infrastructure, aligning policies, tracking progress, and driving continuous improvements — all with the aim and unwavering commitment to excellence in education,” Prerna said.
“Chandigarh’s impressive performance in the PGI 2.0 is a proud moment for the city. At the heart of this success are our teachers, whose dedication and hard work have laid the foundation for this achievement, their efforts in improving classroom practices, ensuring holistic student development, and embracing modern pedagogical tools have been critical to raising the quality of education across the city,” said Gulab Chand Kataria, Punjab Governor-cum-UT Administrator.
What all took city to top
Vocational skill courses increased from 38 in 2021-22 to 47 government schools in 2023-24. Social audit under PM Poshan Scheme introduced from 2023-24, conducted in 20 schools.
Sanitary pad vending machines and incinerators were installed in left-out 13 government schools. Free textbooks were provided to all students at elementary level before the start of the academic year. As many as 450 anganwadis twinned/co-located with government schools.
All targeted students provided aids, appliances and assistive tech-based solutions for children with special needs. Kitchen gardens in all government schools managed and looked after by students. Aadhaar seeded more than 98 per cent of students in Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) Plus system.
Students’ attendance captured digitally in all government schools. More than 90 per cent mainstreaming done for identified out of school children in 2022-23 and 2023-24. Training provided to teachers on pedagogical aspects and orientation given to students on cyber safety to students.
Future plans
Chandigarh aims to mark further improvement in the next PGI report to score good in learning outcomes and equity domains. Parakh Rashtriya Sarvekshan-2024 was held on December 4, 2024, for classes III, VI and IX, the report of which will be released on July 2.
PTR in all schools
Chandigarh will ensure pupil teacher ratio (PTR) as per the Right to Education (RTE) norms at primary and upper primary level in all the government schools with the Department of School Education completing recruitment process for regular appointment of 396 JBTs and 303 TGTs.
Chandigarh