(a) the rank obtained by India in the Programme for International Student Assessment – PISA 2009 Index;
(b) the reasons for India not participating in \PISA 2012; and
(c) the measures which have been taken since 2009 to improve India`s performance on the indicators used in the survey?
MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)
(a) India Participated in PISA 2009 only through schools in Tamil Nadu & Himachal Pradesh, in which 73rd rank was assigned by the PISA, 2009 Index. The reasons for poor performance were analysed and it was observed that the nature of questions/items asked in the PISA tests are content free and mostly application-based that require information on international names, brands, trademarks, products, etc. with which Indian students, especially students from rural areas, are unfamiliar.
(b) & (c) India has developed its own student assessment survey systems called the National Assessment Surveys (NAS), which are 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. The NAS is conducted every three years and provides detailed information on learning outcomes, which is useful for teacher training, curriculum development and for improving quality of education. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has also introduced a test called Problem Solving Assessment (PSA) for the student in classes IX and XI from the year 2013, which gives students an exposure to application - oriented testing.