National Achievement Survey 2021, successfully conducted across country

The National Achievement Survey 2021, was successfully conducted on Friday across all 36 States and union territories across the country.

"As per initial estimates received from 24 states/UTs nearly 96 cent of the sampled schools and nearly 92 cent of the targeted sampled children, of classes 3, 5, 8 and 10 participated in the survey. The National Achievement Survey (NAS) is a process of gathering information in order to develop a deep understanding of what students know, understand and can do with their knowledge as a result of their educational experiences" the Education Ministry in a statement said.

The Ministry further said in a statement that, "This process will ultimately culminate to improve the subsequent students' learning and development, through systemic interventions." The National Achievement Survey was conducted in different mediums of instruction as available in the sampled schools.

NAS is a scientifically designed achievement survey. There are three phases of NAS exercise, namely instrument development, sampling design and actual administration of the test.

Grade-wise subject-specific learning outcomes have been identified, which have been assessed through NAS. Instruments have been developed in such a way that it can map the specific Learning Outcomes. NCERT, being a nodal academic body has done the instrument development, testing, finalization of the test items. Being a sample-based survey, sampling design becomes crucial to make the data more representative and authentic.

Sampling-Design has been done in a scientific manner as per international standards. Actual Administration of the test in the sampled schools was conducted by CBSE in collaboration with states and UTs, to maintain the highest levels of reliability and impartiality, being a third-party assessment agency external to the school education department.

Besides student achievement tests, Pupil Questionnaires, Teachers Questionnaires and School Questionnaires were also obtained to understand the various settings and perspectives of students, teachers and schools. This will provide valuable information regarding the background, teacher training, rural-urban, the effectiveness of online education etc to comprehend the education system in a comprehensive manner.

NAS 2021 is the first achievement survey after the release of the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP). The assessment would be used to benchmark students' learning against criteria such as process skills and learning outcomes. NAS 2021 will infuse the competency-based assessment system over the content and memory-based assessment as envisaged by NEP 2020.

The Covid pandemic had forced the closure of schools and interrupted learning at different levels. There is an urgent need to evaluate children's progress and learning competencies to analyze and examine the health of the education sector for taking necessary action at the district, state and national levels. It is essential to gauge the education system before and after lockdown to evaluate the impact of school closures on students' learning.

The assessment focused on students in early grades in core subjects like reading and mathematics, which will give enough space for corrective measures in time. Further, it focuses not only on cognitive learning but also other skills that children may have picked up, while being at home during the pandemic such as painting, cooking, photography, reading, gardening etc. The enthusiastic participation of children in the survey will help pave the way forward for the normal functioning of the schools.

The results of NAS 2021 will be prepared in the form of District Report Cards, State/UT reports and National report. NAS will enable States and the Union Territories to identify gaps in learning outcomes and take remedial steps. It will also help in the capacity building for teachers and officials involved in the delivery of education in the country. The result from the assessment would also provide a rich repository of evidences and data points furthering the scope of research and development.

( With inputs from ANI )