In a hat-trick, Chandigarh tops national school education grading index
The city has scored a hat-trick by topping the country in the Performance Grading Index (PGI) report, which evaluates the status of school education across states and UTs, for the third consecutive year.
The Union Ministry of Education released the report for 2023-24, with Chandigarh topping the list. The UT had also achieved the feat in 2022-23 and 2021-22.
Chandigarh scored 703 points, achieving Prachesta-1, reflecting its strong performance in governance and infrastructure in PGI 2.0 — a benchmarking tool aligned with National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Sharing details, Education Secretary Prerna Puri told The Tribune that the PGI 2.0 result will propel Chandigarh towards undertaking multi-pronged interventions to achieve optimal education outcomes, further improve quality and motivate schools to adopt best practices.
“The PGI helped Chandigarh to identify specific interventions required to make transformational changes in school education,” Puri said, divulging that PGI 2.0 was constructed based on 73 indicators from two categories containing six domains.
Speaking about the initiatives undertaken by Department of School Education to improve domain-wise scores, UT Director School Education (DSE) Harsuhinder Pal Singh Brar said Chandigarh’s improvement of adjusted net enrolment ratio at secondary level soared from 76.41 per cent in 2021-22 to 106.8 per cent in 2023-24. He added that the net enrolment ratio at higher secondary level was also up from 56.87 per cent in 2021-22 to 71.2 per cent in 2023-24.
“While maintaining the retention rate at 100 per cent at all levels in all three years, we introduced three years of pre-primary cycle in all the government schools in 2023-24, which led to a higher participation rate in organised learning (one year before the official primary entry age),” he disclosed.
Brar said ICT laboratories and smart classrooms (two to three per school) were also set up at all government schools in the city, while pre-vocational exposure visits were conducted for all students in Classes 6 to 8 in 2023-24.
Meanwhile, Puri said though the progress was evident, Chandigarh schools will further intensify efforts to meet Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, which focuses on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030.
“The encouragement and focused guidance of Chandigarh Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria and Chief Secretary Rajeev Verma’s seamless interdepartmental coordination between the Departments of Education, Engineering, Finance, Social Welfare, Municipal Corporation, and SCERT, 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,” she said, adding that the interdepartmental teamwork, anchored by a shared commitment to student success has transformed plans into results.
Meanwhile, UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria said, “Chandigarh’s impressive performance in the PGI 2.0 is a proud moment. Our teachers’ 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. “
The UT Chief Secretary, Rajeev Verma, said, “The city’s PGI 2.0 success is more than a statistical accomplishment. It is a story of unity, purpose and the belief that quality education is a shared responsibility. Together, we have set a new benchmark — and together, we will continue striving for even greater heights in education.”
ROADMAP TO SUCCESS
Vocational skill courses at government schools increased from 38 in 2021-22 to 47 in 2023-24. Introduced in 2023-24, social audits under PM Poshan Scheme were conducted at 20 schools.
Sanitary pad vending machines and incinerators installed in 13 left-out government schools. Free textbooks provided to all students at elementary level before start of academic year.
As many as 450 anganwadis twinned or co-located with government schools. A 100 per cent targeted students provided aids, appliances and assistive tech-based solutions for children with special needs.
Aadhaar seeded more than 98 per cent of students in Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) Plus system.
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. Cybersafety orientations conducted for students.
FUTURE PLANS of UT Administration
Chandigarh aims to mark further improvement in the next PGI report to score well in learning outcomes and equity domains. Parakh Rashtriya Sarvekshan-2024 was held on December 4, 2024, for students of Classes 3, 6 and 9, the report of which will be released on July 2.
Chandigarh will also ensure pupil teacher ratio (PTR) as per the Right to Education (RTE) norms at primary and upper primary level in government schools with the Department of School Education completing recruitment process for regular appointment of 396 JBTs and 303 TGTs
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