International Quality Education

India participated in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 only through schools in two states, i.e., Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh. India has not participated in the PISA Test after 2009 as India has developed its own student assessment system called the National Achievement Survey (NAS), which is independently conducted by National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) across the country on the latest international Item Response Theory (IRT) methodology. The NAS is conducted for classes III, V, VIII & X, i.e., the critical stages of education, early primary, end of primary, upper primary and secondary levels. From current year onwards, Government has decided to conduct annual National Achievement Surveys covering all students from grade I-VIII in all government and government aided schools. The students learning assessment will be according to the Learning Outcomes developed by NCERT for all subjects covering all classes in the elementary cycle.

The Central Government through a centrally funded programme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), financially supports State and UT Governments to address gaps and challenges in ensuring quality education to children in elementary classes through recruitment of additional teachers to improve the Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR), regular annual-in- service teacher training to all teachers to update their skills and knowledge, support for Computer Aided Learning at upper primary level and regular academic support through Block Resource Centres and Cluster Resource Centres. Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat, a sub-programme under SSA has been launched to enhance the quality of foundational learning in languages and early mathematics in classes I and II and a focused programme for Science and Maths at upper primary level under SSA is also being supported. For secondary education, the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shikhsa Abhiyan programme similarly provides for in-service teacher training, academic support to schools for improving performance, including training for Principals.