India has achieved more than 89% of literacy. The country is also getting ready to implement National Education Policy 2020. The Karnataka state has become a pioneer in the implementation of NEP in the country. Schools are regarded as a priority sector, and as such, the country has given more focus on quality teaching and learning. There are over 800 districts in the country. Ministry of Education under its aegis Department of School Education and Literacy released the Performance Grading Index for Districts of India for 2019-20. Accordingly, Chitradurga, Belagavi and Dharwad from Karnataka are ranked among ‘Athi Utham` districts in the country in school-education performance.
The Performance Grading Index for Districts of India for 2019-20 analyzed the performance of districts based on six domains: Outcomes, effective classroom transactions, infrastructure facilities and student entitlements, school safety and child protection, digital learning and governance process. Based on scores, the districts have been graded;
- Daksh (90-100%)- capable
- Utkarsh (80-90%)- Happyness
- Athi Utham (71-80%)- First Rate
- Utham (61-70%)- Virtuous Attribute.
- Prachesta 1 (51-60%)- pre-eminently intelligent 1
- Prachesta 2 (41-50%)- pre-eminently intelligent2
- Prachesta 3 (31-40%)- pre-eminently intelligent3
- Akanshi 1 (21-30%)- tolerance1
- Akanshi 2 (11-20%) – tolerance2
- Akanshi 3 (up to 10%)- tolerance3
The fact is that no district in the country could secure the Daksh rank; only three from Rajasthan were called Utkarsh. Three districts from Karnataka were labelled as Athi-Uttam. Twenty-five districts from Karnataka were declared Uttham (50-60%). Bengaluru Urban North, Mysuru, Udupi, Raichur, Chikmagaluru and Kalaburagi were among the country`s 238 Prachesta-1 districts.
Belagavi was among the top 10 in the country in outcomes. This includes learning outcomes and quality, access, teacher availability and professional development. With a score of 219 out of 290, Belagavi was only a few points behind Sikar (228), Jhunjhunu (236), and Jaipur (228), Nagaur (227) in Rajasthan and Jagatsinghpur (223) in Odisha. Belagavi is the pride in the state of Karnataka. Further, Karnataka, along with Chandigarh, has the second position in the outcome category for the states. Rajasthan scored 168/180 and stood No.1 in the country. Dharwad fared best in Karnataka in governance; and Chitradurga, Uttara Kannada and Chikkaballapura topped the state in terms of infrastructure.
The Ministry of Education of the Government of India released the report based on the voluntary uploading of data by the districts and from various sources like Unified District Information System for Education Plus and National Achievement Survey 2017.
The PGI-D is a ranking only for the government sector which includes government, aided, corporation and Zilla Panchayat schools. Many districts like Udupi, Chikmagalur and Bengaluru North, which are in Prachesta-1, have a large number of private unaided schools that are quite good, but not covered in this analysis. The other districts in Prachesta-1; Raichur, Kalaburagi and Mysuru are in that category as the government schools are not up to the mark. The overall scores of the schools in the state stand at 63% which needs improvement. Raichur is at 57% and Chitradurga at 75%. Districts need to engage in self-analysis of these results. Teacher accountability and professional development in class 3 and 5 needs serious attention. Some other experts said the data is not reliable. Measuring performance by constructing acceptable indicators that suits different context is always debated.
Knowing Karnataka`s education outcome and the status of schools in different districts of Karnataka, it is difficult to understand how districts like Shivamogga, Mysuru and Chikkamagaluru are rated as Prachesta-1. It may be noted that the report is based on voluntarily uploaded data by the districts in which neutrality and sanctity of the data are always a question. Proper validation should have been made to ensure the credibility of the data.
If we look at the data of Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, shivamogga, Mysuru etc; they have also fared better on the various parameters, yet those districts could not get the ratings as expected. Notwithstanding, the Department of Primary and Secondary Education of the state must focus on the issues raised in the report, and take appropriate actions in the grey area. Further proper direction may be given to the districts concerned to be vigilant and forward the data of the schools through validation.