Chandigarh Leads, Meghalaya Trails in School Education Rankings 2023–24

The Education Ministry’s Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0 for 2023–24 places Chandigarh at the top in school education quality, with Meghalaya at the bottom, highlighting disparities in learning outcomes, access, and infrastructure.

School Education Performance Index India

Performance Grading Index Latest News

  • Chandigarh has been adjudged the best performer in school education for the academic year 2023-24, as per the Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0 Report released by the Union Ministry of Education.

Performance Grading Index 2.0: An Overview

  • The Union Ministry of Education released the Performance Grading Index for Districts (PGI-D) 2.0 for the academic year 2023-24 on June 18, 2025. 
  • This upgraded framework assesses school education quality across States and Union Territories (UTs) on a scale of 1,000 points. 
  • It measures performance across multiple domains such as: 
    • Learning Outcomes
    • Access
    • Infrastructure
    • Equity
    • Governance, and 
    • Teacher Education
  • The PGI-D 2.0 aims to enable data-driven policymaking, promote evidence-based interventions, and encourage States/UTs to improve learning environments and outcomes in schools.

Top Performers: Chandigarh, Punjab, and Delhi

  • Chandigarh secured the highest rank this year, becoming the only State/UT placed in the fifth-highest grade, Prachesta-1, with a score of 719 out of 1,000. 
    • To attain this grade, a region must score between 701-760. The city showed balanced strength across domains such as learning outcomes, infrastructure, and equity.
  • Following Chandigarh, ten other States and UTs were placed in Prachesta-3 (scores between 581-640), including:
    • Punjab, Delhi, Gujarat, Kerala, Odisha, Goa, Haryana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu
  • These regions demonstrated consistent performance in indicators such as access to education, infrastructure development, and educational governance.

Bottom-Ranked and Lagging States

  • Meghalaya scored the lowest in the PGI 2.0 with 417 points and was the only State placed in the lowest performance level, Akanshi-3 (401-460 score bracket). 
  • Other States such as Bihar, Assam, Telangana, Jharkhand, Tripura, Manipur, Chhattisgarh, and the Northeastern States (Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh) also performed poorly, falling into the Akanshi-2 category (scores between 461-520).
  • These States struggled primarily with issues related to student retention, basic infrastructure, and governance-related challenges.

Middle Performers and Average Scores

  • Fourteen States and UTs, including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, were placed in the Akanshi-1 category, scoring between 521-580. 
  • These regions performed moderately well but still have considerable scope for improvement, especially in learning outcomes and teacher training.

States Showing Highest Improvements

  • The PGI 2.0 also highlighted the States that made the most significant improvements over the previous year (2022-23):
    • Bihar and Telangana showed the most progress in access to education, with enhancements in student enrolment, retention rates, and transition to higher grades.
    • Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, and Telangana made notable improvements in school infrastructure, with better availability of drinking water, electricity, clean toilets, and digital learning tools.
  • These gains demonstrate the effectiveness of targeted interventions and public investments in school systems in underperforming regions.

PGI Methodology and Grading System

  • The PGI 2.0 assigns scores based on weighted indicators. For instance, if the indicator “proficiency in Mathematics in Grade 5” carries a weightage of 20 and a State has 50% of students achieving the minimum proficiency, the score awarded is 10 (20 x 0.5). 
  • This method ensures that the quality of education is measured holistically, accounting for both outcomes and enabling conditions.
  • Despite progress, no State or UT has yet achieved the highest performance grade, Utkarsh, which requires a score above 90% (761-1,000 points). 
  • This indicates the need for accelerated reforms across the country.

Source: TH | BS

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Performance Grading Index FAQs

Q1. Which State/UT topped the PGI 2.0 school education index for 2023–24?+

Q2. What is the score range for Prachesta-1 in the PGI index?+

Q3. Which States showed the most improvement in access to education?+

Q4. Which State was the lowest performer in the PGI 2.0 for 2023–24?+

Q5. How many States improved their scores in the PGI 2.0 compared to the previous year?+

Tags: mains articles performance grading index upsc current affairs upsc mains current affairs

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