School education: Kerala tops Performance Grading Index  

Kerala has emerged in top position in the latest Performance Grading Index (PGI) for States and Union Territories released by the Union Ministry of Education. In the index that assesses the quality of school education in the country, the State shared the top honours with Maharashtra and Punjab, with an overall score of 928 out of 1,000.

Kerala has been ranked one of the top performers with a Level 2 grade in the access to education index, winning 79/80 points and governance processes, bagging 342/360 points. The State won 154/180 in the learning outcomes and quality, 135/150 in infrastructure and facilities and 218/230 in equity.

CM hails success

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in a Facebook post, said that Kerala’s ranking in the PGI was a recognition of the efforts taken by the State Government to elevate the standard of school education to international level. He said Kerala had steadily improved performance in the PGI since the year 2017-18 when the system was first introduced by the Central Government.

He hoped the PGI score would help the State in its effort to transform itself into a knowledge society.

Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty said the ranking was a recognition at the national level for the State government’s Public Education Rejuvenation Mission. The State had also been able to make more strides than that last year.

The Public Education Rejuvenation Mission, one of the missions launched by the Left Democratic Front government for creating a Nava Keralam, had brought about a sea change in public schools in the State. Besides improvements in basic infrastructure, it has also led to academic improvements.

The Minister thanked students who had continued their education despite the challenges of COVID-19 pandemic, teachers who guided them, parents who supported their wards, officials of the General Education Department, and non-teaching staff for the honour.