(a) whether the Government has decided to participate in the Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA) organized by OECD and if so, the details thereof ; and
(b) the measures taken/being taken by the Government to improve the quality in school education after the
previous PISA in 2009?
MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL ‘NISHANK’)
(a) The Government of India has decided to participate in the Programme for International Students
Assessment (PISA) to be conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) in 2021.
(b) The Central Government has taken the following initiatives for improving the quality in school
education:
(i) To ensure competencies, the Central rules to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education
(RTE) Act, 2009 have been amended and class-wise, subject-wise Learning Outcomes have been shared
with all States and Union Territories.
(ii) The National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2017 was held on 13th November 2017 for assessing the
competencies developed by the children at the grade levels III, V and VIII. NAS (2017) was administered
with district as the unit of reporting in the Government and Government aided schools. The competency
based test was based on the Learning Outcomes which were recently incorporated in the Central Rules for
the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act by the Government of India. Similarly,
National Achievement Survey for Class X was also conducted throughout the country on February 05,
2018 in government, government aided and private schools.
The NAS district report cards have been shared with the States and UTs to help in identifying gaps at the
district level and devise strategies for further improvement. Subsequently, a framework of intervention has
been developed and shared with States to improve the quality of learning in the schools.
(iii) The online D.El.Ed. course was started from 3rd October, 2017 and 9,58,513 teachers have
successfully completed the training.
(iv) In order to provide e-learning material, different facilities like e- PATHSHALA, DIKSHA portal,
SWAYAM (Study Webs to Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds), SWAYAM PRABHA DTH
Channels have been made available by the Ministry.
(v) Under Samagra Shiksha, funds are given to all States and UTs for strengthening of infrastructure and
provision of other facilities in schools to ensure that all schools meet the prescribed norms, besides other
interventions to improve the quality of education such as training of in-service teachers, headmasters and
principals, remedial teaching for academically weaker students, provision of library grants to schools, ICT
and digital initiatives, strengthening of teacher education institutions, Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan, Padhe
Bharat Badhe Bharat, etc.
(vi) An integrated Teacher Training Programme titled NISHTHA (National Initiative for School Heads
and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement) has been launched, to train 42 lakh teachers, and other functionaries
to make classrooms learner-friendly and improving children’s competencies including critical thinking,
problem solving, creativity, as well as social-personal qualities such as cooperation, team work etc.
(vii) MHRD has designed a 70 indicators based matrix called Performance Grading Index (PGI) to grade
the States and UTs.
(viii) The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has undertaken various examination reforms to
promote competencies and quality of learning :
(a) Change in design of question papers with nearly 33% increase in internal choice in all major subjects
for classes X and XII and introduction of objective type questions. It has been decided to include 10%
competency based Questions in the annual examination of class 10 in the current year.
(b) Experiential learning has been introduced from 2019-20 to promote self thinking, creativity and
effective study skills among students.
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