In a landmark development for India’s education system, the PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024, the largest-ever school-level assessment conducted in the country, has revealed significant improvements in foundational learning outcomes, marking a critical step toward achieving the goals of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and Mission NIPUN Bharat.
Conducted by the National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development) under NCERT, the survey assessed over 21.15 lakh students across 74,229 schools in all 781 districts spanning India’s 36 States and Union Territories. Targeting Grades 3, 6, and 9, the assessment offers a system-level baseline aligned with the key NEP 2020 stages, including Foundational, Preparatory, and Middle.
The most striking gains emerged at the foundational level. In Grade 3, 57% of students were proficient or above in Language and 65% in Mathematics, according to Item Response Theory (IRT) scores. These figures mark a sharp increase from 2021, when only 39% and 42% of students demonstrated similar proficiency in Language and Math, respectively.
The 2024 findings not only exceed pre-pandemic levels seen in the 2017 NAS (47% in Language, 53% in Math), but also indicate that India has effectively recouped learning losses at the foundational level caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the survey, state government schools emerged as top performers in Grade 3, indicating the early success of the NIPUN Bharat Mission, while Central Government schools dominated outcomes in Grades 6 and 9. Rural students slightly outperformed their urban counterparts in both Language and Math at the foundational level.
Gender-based trends showed girls slightly ahead in Language (65% vs 63%) but equal performance in Math (60%) in Grade 3. However, gender and urban-rural gaps persisted at the higher stages, highlighting the need for targeted interventions.
The report emphasizes that only Grade 3 scores are comparable across the 2017, 2021, and 2024 cycles, due to alignment with the NEP 2020’s revised school structure. Direct comparisons between older grades (such as NAS Grade 5 or 8) and current Grades 6 and 9 could lead to misleading conclusions about learning decline.
Beyond student performance, the survey gathered insights from over 2.7 lakh teachers and school leaders. Their responses shed light on factors affecting learning, including digital access, school environments, and student well-being. Notably, the report raised red flags over emotional stress among adolescents and limited access for Children with Special Needs (CWSN) — issues that demand urgent policy attention.
The improvement in foundational learning directly strengthens India’s performance on SDG 4.1.1, which tracks minimum proficiency in reading and math across three school stages. Several states — including Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh — surpassed their previous performances, demonstrating the impact of sustained efforts in teacher training, curriculum reforms, and early-grade interventions.
