School Education Quality Index (SEQI)

India’s Gross Enrollment Ratio has increased at the primary and secondary education levels, but the challenge that still remains is providing Quality Education. Keeping in mind the need of the hour, NITI Aayog has released the first edition of “The Success of Our Schools-School Education Quality Index (SEQI)” that is developed to evaluate the performance of the States and Union Territories in the school education sector. The aim of the index is to bring an outcome focus to education policy. The index provides an opportunity for the States and UTs to analyze their strengths and weaknesses and take required corrective measures. The index is developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Human Resource and Development, the World Bank, sector experts, etc. The index is developed in line with NITI Aayog’s aim to promote the spirit of competitive and cooperative federalism to encourage knowledge and best practices sharing across the States and Union Territories.

The data used in evaluating index has been derived from various sources available in public domain such as data published by Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE), National Achievement Survey 2017 results, and data validated by State and UTs government. The index consists of 30 critical indicators that assess overall effectiveness, quality and efficiency of the school education system in India. The indicators are classified into two broad categories:

1. Outcomes Category: It comprises of the following four domains, among which learning outcomes is assigned more than 50% of the total weightage given to this category.

1. Learning Outcomes and Quality- 3 indicators
2. Access Outcomes- 3 indicators
3. Infrastructure & Facilities for Outcomes- 3 indicators
4. Equity Outcomes- 7 indicators

2. Governance Process Aiding Outcomes-

Covering student and teacher attendance, Teacher Availability, administrative adequacy, Training, Accountability and Transparency – 14 indicators

The States and Union territories have been categorized into three groups- Large States, Small States and Union Territories. The States and UTs are ranked for overall performance, considering reference year as 2016-17 and on the change of performance between the reference year and base year (2015-16).

The key highlights of the index are:

1. Overall Performance Rankings

• Among 20 Larger States, Kerala has been placed at the first position in overall performance rankings, followed by Rajasthan and Karnataka. Whereas, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh have been placed at the lowest position.
• Among the Small States, Manipur has topped the overall performance ranking with a score of 68.8% followed by Tripura while Arunachal Pradesh has occupied the lowest position with a score of 24.6%.
• Among the Union Territories, Chandigarh and Dadra & Nagar Haveli are the top-performers with an overall score of more than 50% while Lakshadweep has been placed at the 7^th position with a score of 31.9%

2. Annual Incremental Performance

• Haryana has shown the greatest improvement with an increase of 18.5 percentage points followed by Assam and Uttar Pradesh. While Uttarakhand and Karnataka have shown negative performance with a score of -1.33 and -3.61 percentage points respectively.
• Among the small states, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Goa have shown great improvement.
• Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Puducherry have improved with a great increase of 16.5, 15.0 and 14.3 percentage points respectively.

3. Karnataka leads the larger states on the Outcomes category, while Uttar Pradesh is at the lowest position. Manipur leads the smaller states and Chandigarh leads the UTs on the outcomes category.
4. Most of the States and UTs have performed better on Outcomes than on Governance Process Aiding Outcomes. Kerala scored the highest in this category among the larger states, while Jharkhand ranks the last. Sikkim is the only small state that has performed better on Governance Process Aiding Outcomes category. Chandigarh is also the best performing UT in this category.

The A3Q, i.e. Accessibility, Availability, Affordability and Quality in providing education to all, need to be focused upon. Although accessibility, availability and affordability have been ensured through government initiatives like Right to Education Act, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Opening of Kendriya Vidayalas and other government-aided schools, Mid-day meal scheme, Minimum fees in government schools, etc. But, reports such as Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) diverts the attention towards the need for improving grade-level competency and learning outcomes. Quality education can be obtained through targeted focus on learning outcomes, efficient governance system, installing and maintaining necessary infrastructure, and ensuring equal opportunities for all. SEQI is the right step towards achieving the goal of Quality Education in India and the UN SDG- 4: “Quality Education: Ensure inclusive and equitable education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”