Sanjay Kumar, Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education (DoSEL), chaired a review meeting on PARAKH with the stakeholders. Additional Secretaries, Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, Shri Vipin Kumar and Shri Anandrao V. Patil; Head, PARAKH, NCERT, Prof. Indrani Bhaduri, and other Bureau heads were also present for the meeting. The Educational Testing Service (ETS), team led by Shri Amit Sevak, CEO, ETS, Princeton, US also participated in the meeting.
Highlighting the importance of assessment, Sanjay Kumar said that it is at the base of the entire process and if the assessment is run properly it will change people’s perception about education. India will set the benchmark for the rest of the world regarding the future of assessment, he said. He further said that teachers should be made aware of the significance of NAS so that they can conduct the exams with due diligence.
Detailed discussion took place about the ‘Academic Bank of Credit’ strengthening the ‘Competency-Based Framework’ through the use of ‘Holistic Progress Cards (HPCs)’. These HPCs are also visualized as teacher training tools and make the teacher aware of the grade-specific competencies and their related assessments.
The National Assessment Center, Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development (PARAKH) was established in March 2023 as an independent body under the Ministry of Education to fulfill the objectives suggested by the National Education Policy, 2020.
India’s first national assessment regulator, PARAKH was set up to bring uniformity in the assessment structure across all boards in India. Educational Testing Service (ETS), that conducts test such as TOEFL and GRE has been given the responsibility of setting up the regulatory body by National Council for Education Research (NCERT).
PARAKH is an independent body that works towards setting up of norms, standards and guidelines for student assessment and evaluation across recognised boards in India. Different assessment processes create disparities among students. A uniform assessment and evaluation structure will thus foster equality and eliminate bias.
PARAKH focuses on three major areas — large-scale assessment like the National Achievement Survey, school-based assessments and capacity building. Some of the key guidelines that PARAKH will formulate would demonstrate the best practices in education, looking at the diverse identities and needs of children.
