According to the results of the PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024, which is a national assessment across the country, Punjab, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh topped the rankings, the report is from the National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (NCERT), Ministry of Education, which was shared in the Lok Sabha as a reply to a question from MP Prof. Sougata Ray, and the entire report is available on the PARAKH dashboard at present.
The survey followed NEP (National Education Policy) 2020 and included 21.15 lakh students and 2.70 lakh teachers and school leaders from over 74,000 schools from 781 districts. Students were assessed in grades of Grade 3 (Foundational stage), Grade 6 (Preparatory stage) and Grade 9 (Middle stage) on the competencies set out in the National Curriculum Frameworks for school education.
Major Trends and Subject-wise Insights
Language scores were higher than Mathematics scores across all grades, and Grade 9s in Mathematics had the lowest national average for Mathematics. In Language and Social Science, girls did better than boys; however, boys were better than girls in Mathematics and Science at more advanced levels. In fact, students from rural schools performed better than those from non-rural schools in earlier grades, but by Grade 9, students from non-rural schools outperformed the students from rural schools in every subject.
Student performance varied by type of school. For students in the early grades, students from State Government and private schools performed better, while for students in Grade 9, students from Central Government schools performed better in Language. However, students who attended KVs did not perform above the national average for Grade 3 Mathematics (57% vs 60%), but they did perform above the national averages for all other grades.
Kendriya Vidyalayas vs National Mathematics Scores
- Grade 3: KV 57% | National 60%
- Grade 6: KV 55% | National 46%
- Grade 9: KV 43% | National 37%
State and Category Highlights
Punjab, Kerala, and Himachal Pradesh were consistently among the top states across many dimensions including higher Mathematics scores among girls in Grades 3, 6, and 9; and better rural performance among rural students in early-stage Mathematics. Some states like Manipur, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra were also consistently found in the top five across various metrics.
For example, in Grade 3, ST students had the lead in Language for Chandigarh, Manipur, Sikkim, Ladakh, and Nagaland. In Mathematics, rural students in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Kerala were the best performers, while pupils in State Government schools generally performed better among school types in various locations.
Grade 9 Mathematics Competency Gaps
The survey flagged significant skill gaps in Grade 9 Mathematics, with low national averages in key areas:
- Percentage application: 28%
- Understanding sets of numbers: 31%
- Algebraic manipulation: 38%
- Geometry application: 37–40%
Steps Towards Improvement
In response, the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) has taken the first step by developing interventions, such as:
- Balvatika I–III for foundational learning;
- Vidya Pravesh & Jaadui Pitara kits to facilitate play-based education;
- Competency-based learning combined with ICT;
- Teacher training intervention with NCERT, CBSE, IITs, IISERs, HBCSE, and NISER.
2024 findings provide the broad picture of learning trends, including high-performing pockets, and gaps to be remediated with targeted interventions, which is particularly important for Mathematics at the Middle stage.
