PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan (RS) 2025

Key Highlights:
  • Survey Scope: The 2024 survey assessed over 21.15 lakh students across Grades 3, 6, and 9 from 74,229 schools in 781 districts.
  • Top Performers: Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, and Chandigarh were recognized for their strong performance across all grades.
  • Subject-Specific Leaders:
    • Grade 3: Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Kerala led.
    • Grade 6: Kerala, Punjab, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu topped the list.
    • Grade 9: Punjab, Kerala, and Chandigarh showed the best performance.
  • Low-Performing Areas: Low-performing districts were primarily located in Meghalaya, Jharkhand, and Arunachal Pradesh.
  • Gender Performance: Girls generally performed better than boys in Language and “The World Around Us,” while boys had a slight edge in Mathematics.
  • Urban vs. Rural: Students in urban schools scored higher than their rural counterparts in all subjects.
  • School Type: Central Government schools recorded the highest scores, followed by private schools, then government-aided and State Government schools.
  • Implications: The survey results highlight the urgent need to strengthen foundational literacy and numeracy, improve teaching methods and teacher training, integrate formative assessment tools, and reorient curricula to foster critical thinking.
  • Significance: PARAKH RS is a crucial tool for data-driven policy-making, ensuring that interventions are targeted and effective, aligning with the NEP 2020’s goal of achieving universal quality education by 2030.
  • Top-Performing States and Union Territories:
    • Punjab: Ranked highly, especially in Grade 3 and Grade 6.
    • Himachal Pradesh: A top performer, particularly in Grade 3.
    • Kerala: Showed strong performance across Grade 3 and Grade 6.
    • Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu: A strong performer, notably in Grade 6.
    • Chandigarh: Excelled in Grade 9 and was recognized as a top performer overall.
  • Performance Variations:
    • Institutional Performance: Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) performed best at the Grade 9 level but recorded the lowest scores in Grade 3 Mathematics.
    • Social Groups: Lower scores were observed among SC, ST, and other social groups in subjects like Language and Mathematics compared to the national average.
    • Mathematics: Only 55% of Grade 3 students could arrange numbers up to 99, and 31% of Grade 9 students could work with advanced concepts like fractions and integers.
    • Language: Many Grade 9 students struggled with understanding constitutional values and national values.
  • Major Concern:
    • Significant learning deficits persist, particularly in Mathematics and Science as students progress to higher grades.
    • Weak understanding in areas like fractions, percentages, geometry, electricity, and scientific reasoning was observed in higher grades.
    • Low-performing districts were concentrated in states like Meghalaya, Jharkhand, and Arunachal Pradesh.
  • Learning Deficits: The survey uncovered significant learning gaps, with many students struggling with fundamental concepts in Mathematics (e.g., ordering numbers, place value, fractions) and understanding natural processes in Environmental Science.
Explanation of Exam Oriented Key Terms
01
 PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan (RS)
PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan (RS) is a comprehensive, National Large-Scale Assessment (NSA) conducted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to evaluate student competencies in language, mathematics, science, and social sciences across different grades, aligning with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Background
  • Renamed from National Achievement Survey (NAS): The PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan was formerly known as the National Achievement Survey (NAS).
  • Regular assessment: Like its predecessor, PARAKH RS is a large-scale, nationwide student assessment conducted every three years.
  • Institutional backing: The survey is managed by the National Assessment Centre, PARAKH, a constituent unit of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
Objectives
  • Evaluate the education system: Its primary goal is to evaluate and monitor the health and performance of India’s school education system, both nationally and over time.
  • Assess learning outcomes: It provides reliable data on students’ learning outcomes by evaluating their competencies across various educational stages.
  • Enable data-driven policy: The data from the survey is used to inform educational policy and identify areas needing targeted interventions and reforms.
  • Standardize assessment: The overall PARAKH initiative aims to standardize assessment practices across all recognized school boards in India.
Key features of the assessment
  • Competency-based assessment: The assessment moves away from rote learning to evaluate students’ competencies and skills, in line with NEP 2020.
  • Holistic evaluation: It assesses not just individual students but also provides insight into the overall strengths and weaknesses of the educational system at the district level.
  • Comprehensive scope: The survey covers students from government, government-aided, and private schools across every district in the country.
  • Sample-based: The survey is conducted on a sample of millions of students, not the entire student population.
  • Use of technology: It integrates technology like Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) for precise data analysis.
Alignment with NEP 2020
  • New school structure: The survey aligns with the new 5+3+3+4 curricular structure of the NEP 2020. It assesses learning at the end of the Foundational (Grade 3), Preparatory (Grade 6), and Middle (Grade 9) stages.
  • Holistic development: The data contributes to the development of Holistic Progress Cards, another key feature of NEP 2020.
  • Empowering educators: The insights from the survey empower teachers and administrators to improve their pedagogical practices based on data.
Significance and findings for policy
  • Highlights learning gaps: The survey findings are crucial for identifying significant learning deficits, such as persistent weaknesses in subjects like Mathematics and Science.
  • Requires targeted interventions: The results reveal widening learning gaps as students progress through the grades, necessitating targeted bridge programs and reforms in teacher training and curriculum.
  • Guides reform: The data serves as a compass for policy-making, curriculum redesign, and resource allocation to build a more inclusive and responsive education system.

PRACTICE QUESTIONS

Which of the following subjects were assessed in the 2025 PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan for Grade 9 students?

I. Language
II. Mathematics
III. Science
IV. Social Science
V. Environmental Studies (“The World Around Us”)

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

a) I, II, and IV only
b) I, II, III, IV, and V
c) I, II, and III only
d) I, II, III, and IV only

Answer: d

Explanation: The 2025 PARAKH RS assessed different subjects by grade level. For Grade 9, the subjects were Language, Mathematics, Science, and Social Science. “The World Around Us” (Environmental Studies) was assessed for Grades 3 and 6.

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