The aim and objective of NAS is to evaluate children’s progress and learning competencies as an indicator of the health of the education system, so as to take appropriate steps for remedial actions at different levels.
The Government of India has been implementing a rolling programme of sample based National Achievement Survey (NAS) aimed at classes III, V, VIII and X with a cycle period of three years. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has been periodically conducting National Achievement Surveys (NAS) since 2001. Five rounds of NAS have been completed till 2017, wherein the first three rounds covered Class III, V and VIII and in the last two rounds, NAS also covered Class X. The last round of NAS was conducted on 12.11.2021 and has covered (a) Government Schools (Central Government and State Government); (b) Government Aided Schools; and (c) Private Unaided Schools. Subjects covered are Language, Mathematics & EVS for class 3 & 5, Mathematics, Science & Social Science for class 8 and Language, Mathematics, Science, Social Science and English for class 10. About 34 lakh students of 1.18 lakh schools from both rural and urban areas participated in NAS 2021.
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Education is a subject in the Concurrent List. Improving the standards of education across all levels from primary to senior secondary level is a continuous and ongoing process.
The Government of India has taken following measures for improvement of standard of education across the country:
1. The Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha has been aligned to the recommendation of NEP 2020. Samagra Shiksha – an Integrated Scheme for school education, w.e.f. 2018-19, is an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class XII and aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of school education. Under the scheme, financial assistance is provided to States and UTs for undertaking various activities to ensure universal access to quality education including opening/strengthening of new schools upto senior secondary level, construction of school buildings & additional classrooms, up-gradation and running of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, setting up of residential schools/hostels, free uniforms, free text books, transport allowance and undertaking enrolment & retention drives, training of teachers, composite school grants, library and sports grants, assessment surveys, learning enhancement programmes etc.
2. National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat) has been launched under Samagra Shiksha for ensuring that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) by the end of Grade 3, and e-content for the same has been released in DIKSHA platform.
3. Integrated In-service teacher training programme – NISHTHA 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 has been introduced for different stages of school education for Teachers, Head Teachers/Principals and other stakeholders in Educational Management.
4. Learning Outcomes for the Secondary level have been notified.
5. A 70 indicator based matrix Performance Grading Index (PGI) has been developed to grade the States/UTs. District level Performance Grading Indices (PGI) has been prepared and launched.
6. The Structured Assessment for Analyzing Learning levels (SAFAL) framework has been developed by CBSE and launched on 29th July 2021 for Competency-based assessment for grades 3, 5 and 8 focusing on testing for core concepts, application-based questions and higher-order thinking skills.
7. VIDYA PRAVESH—Guidelines for Three-month Play-based School Preparation Module for Grade-I Children, has been released on 29th July 2021 to ensure that all children are exposed to a warm and welcoming environment when they enter Grade-I.
Further, NAS helps to identify the learning gaps at the district level. National, State/UT and District Report Cards are released to enable analysis of results and remedial action at appropriate level. National, State and District Report Cards for NAS 2017 both for elementary and secondary level, including class X, are available on NCERT website ncert.nic.in.
