The results of the Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development Rashtriya Sarvekshen (PARAKH RS), formerly known as the National Achievement Survey (NAS), is deeply disturbing for a country that is banking heavily on the so-called demographic dividend to claim its place in the sun. Some of the most concerning insights include only 55% of grade 3 students assessed could arrange numbers up to 99 in ascending and descending orders; 29% of grade 6 students could represent and compare commonly used fractions in daily life (such as ½, ¼) as parts of a whole; and a mere 28% of grade 9 students explored the idea of percentages and applied it to solve problems.
Such insights are common even in non-mathematical aspects—only 56% of grade 6 students could explain the functioning of local institutions (family, school, bank/post office, etc.) and analyse their roles, while just 37% of grade 9 students were able to describe biological changes (growth, hormonal) during adolescence.
The pattern that emerges is startling. Even for indicators where results are somewhat favourable, the score does not exceed 69% for grade 3 (identifying and extending simple patterns in their surroundings, shapes, and numbers), 57% for grade 6 (describing basic safety needs and protection of humans, birds, and animals); and 54% for grade 9 (comprehending and summarising material).
Put in perspective, not even seven out of 10 students are able to fare decently at the skills required at their learning level, and that number falls below six out of 10 as the students progress to higher grades. Two caveats should be considered—first, the survey assessed around 2.1 million students across grade levels, as opposed to the 248 million students in the Indian education system. Second, results vary widely across states—in Punjab, the highest score across grades and competencies was 88% (grade 3, identifying simple patterns), while it was 65% for Meghalaya (grade 3, sorting objects into groups and sub-groups based on more than one property). However, for a nation with a goal of a $5-trillion economy by 2030 and developed status by 2047, India is certainly failing its future workforce and citizenry.
The writing has been on the wall for quite some time, and the government has indeed taken steps towards building a more holistic education system with the New Education Policy 2020. But such changes will take time to reflect, putting the 2047 deadline in jeopardy. Meanwhile, India has shied away from participating in the Programme for International Student Assessment since 2009 after an abysmal performance (ranking 73rd out of 74 nations), and its education budget is painfully far from the 6% of GDP envisaged in 1968. Its teachers are not faring well either—late last year, after identifying that teachers were a significant part of the reason why surveys show dismal results, the Central Board of Secondary Education floated the idea of launching an assessment centre for them by June—no further report of such a centre exists in the public domain.
Problems plague the Indian education system from every aspect at this point in time, and they have been festering over the years. It is high time that policymakers, the government, and other stakeholders alike take decisive action to bring it back from the brink of collapse. With the goals that we have, we owe our learners that much, and more.