Dimapur, November 29 (MExN): Performance of students in lower classes in Nagaland seems to be diminishing in all the subject areas compared with the national performance, according to the National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 which was recently released.
According to a press release from the NAS Cell, SCERT, Kohima, the interpretation of the NAS report 2021, in comparison to state and the national performance, revealed diverse findings.
The achievement level of the children in Mathematics is the lowest followed by Environmental Studies (EVS) which is an alarming sign for both teachers and parents. However, as the class goes higher there is slight improvement in the student performance across the subject areas when compared with the national level, it said.
The NAS is a national representative survey of students' learning undertaken by the Ministry of Education, Government of India. It is a large-scale assessment conducted to obtain information about the learning achievement of students of Classes 3, 5, 8 and 10 studying in State Government schools, Government Aided schools, Private Unaided and Central Government Schools at all India level. The NAS 2021 was held on November 12, 2021.
According to the release, NAS 2021 focused on competency-based assessment. It tested student’s competencies in Language, Mathematics and EVS for Classes 3 & 5; Language, Mathematics, Science & Social Sciences for Class 8 and Modern Indian Language, Mathematics, Science, Social Science and English for Class 10.
Health of Nagaland’s education system
For the state of Nagaland, NAS survey was conducted across 11 districts, covering 910 schools with participation of 5507 teachers and 28,995 students.
The performance of Class 3 students across the state of Nagaland in comparison with the National performance was low. The overall national average was 59% and the state average was 55.3%.
Similarly, the students of Class 5 in Nagaland also performed comparatively lower with a state average of 44.1% against the national average of 49%.
In terms of the performance of Class 8 students in Nagaland, the survey reflected a ‘slight difference’ as the state average was 41.5% while the national average was 41.9%.
The performance of the class 10 students across Nagaland in comparison with national does not reflects much variation as the national average is 37.8% and the state average is 37.1%.
Way forward
As per the release, the objective of NAS 2021 is to evaluate children's progress and learning competencies as an indicator of the efficiency of the education system, so as to take appropriate steps for remedial actions at different levels.
It would help diagnose learning gaps and determine necessary interventions in education policies, teaching practices and learning, thereby supporting the states/UTs governments in developing long term, mid-term and short-term interventions to improve learning levels.
In this connection, as a step forward, the SCERT, Nagaland NAS cell organised a 12-day webinar for “Dissemination and Understanding of NAS 2021 Report at the State and District Level” as per the directive received from Ministry of Education, Department of School Education & Literacy.
The NAS Cell along with the subject experts at SCERT had consultative meetings through which it was decided that SCERT would conduct 12 webinars in collaboration with the Department of School Education for state functionaries and the 11 districts in order to reach out to maximum number of stake holders. The target group for the state functionaries were the educational officers of DoSE, NBSE, Samagra Shiksha and DIETs and school heads of Government, Private and central schools from primary to higher secondary levels at the district level.
In the coming academic year more initiatives as guided by the central directive will be implemented and intervention plan for post-NAS activities will be formulated to enhance the student learning outcome, it stated.
