The government think-tank Niti Aayog’s School Education Quality Index was topped by Kerala with a performance score of 76.6%. Rajasthan, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Assam have emerged as best performing states scoring 60% and above each. Among the large states, Uttar Pradesh has scored the lowest with 36.4%. Niti Aayog has launched SEQI, which is aimed at evaluating performances of states and Union Territories in the school education sector.
Manipur, Tripura and Goa are the top performing small states scoring above 55%. Manipur scored the highest score of 82.1% and and Arunachal Pradesh the lowest at 27.2%. Among the Union Territories, Chandigarh has the highest overall performance score of 82.9% while Lakshadweep ranks last with 31.9%. Delhi, Daman and Diu and Lakshadweep performed better in the Governance Processes Aiding Outcomes category.
‘Quality school education is a function of a targeted focus on learning outcomes, efficient governance structures, provision of necessary infrastructure and ensuring equitable academic opportunities,” said Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.
Officials said the SEQI aims to bring outcomes focus to the education policy by providing states and UTs with a platform to identify their strengths and weaknesses and to undertake requisite course corrections or policy interventions.
It has been developed through a collaborative process involving Union human resource development ministry, the World Bank and sector experts. The index consists of 30 critical indicators that assess the delivery of quality education.
