What PARAKH 2024 survey tells us about learning gaps among Indian school students

As many as 71% of Grade 6 students in India struggle to represent and compare commonly used fractions in everyday situations. Grade 3 students have great difficulty in “recognising, creating, and classifying basic geometric shapes and their properties.”

These findings have been revealed by the PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan Report 2024 (previously known as the National Achievement Survey, or NAS), published recently.

By Grade 9, students’ learning gains seemed to plateau or even decline, with the average maths score dropping to 37%, the lowest across all grades, said the report. Science and social science also showed weak performance, both averaging 40%. Just 29% of them were able to understand the concept of percentage and apply it to solve problems.

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The PARAKH survey was conducted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) across 781 districts and over 74,000 schools.

It assessed more than 21 lakh students in Grades 3, 6, and 9, termed as the foundational stage, the preparatory stage and the middle stage, respectively.

Class 3: Punjab, Kerala, Himachal lead

Per the survey, Indian school students at the foundational stage perform better in language than maths, and girls perform better than boys in language. The top three best-performing states, according to the survey, are Punjab, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh.

According to Indrani Bhaduri, Programme Coordinator, CEO and Head of PARAKH, NCERT, the principle behind the survey is that “education should not only focus on content mastery but also the development of critical thinking, problem-solving, and application-based skills”.

“By examining student performance in language, mathematics, science, and social sciences, the study highlights both areas of progress and challenges that require targeted interventions…The survey also explores how teachers are equipped to facilitate meaningful learning, assessing their engagement with professional development programmes, use of technology in teaching, and implementation of innovative classroom strategies. The role of school infrastructure and access to digital learning tools is also examined, underscoring the importance of creating an environment that supports holistic education,” the report said.

Class 3: Struggling with geometry

The survey found that at the foundational stage (Grade 3), 64% of students answered language questions correctly, while only 60% managed the same in maths. Girls outperformed boys in language by 2 percentage points, though both were equal in maths.

Interestingly, it is only in Grade 3 that rural students scored slightly higher than their urban peers in both language and maths, at 64% and 60%, compared to 63% and 59%, respectively.

In terms of “competency” for this grade, the highest (67%) in language was in “knowing and using enough words to carry out day-to-day interactions effectively and guessing the meaning of new words by using existing vocabulary”. For maths, 69% students could “identify and extend simple patterns in their surroundings, shapes, and numbers”.

Students struggled the most with “recognising, making, and classifying basic geometric shapes and their observable properties, and understanding and explaining the relative relation of objects in space” as well as “performing simple transactions using money up to Rs 100”.

Class 3: Lowest-performing states

Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur, and Rajasthan emerged as top performers in Grade 3. The five lowest-performing states in this category were Lakshadweep, Jharkhand, Puducherry, Goa, and Tripura.

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When comparing performance by school management, state government schools came out on top in maths (61%). For languages, there was a tie between the state government and private schools (64%). Interestingly, Central government schools performed the worst in both categories.

Among caste categories, students classified as ‘Others’ or unreserved category consistently scored the highest, while Scheduled Tribe (ST) students scored the lowest.

Class 6: Mix of continuity, change

The preparatory stage (Grade 6) showed a mix of continuity and change. Language continued to be the strongest subject nationally, with an average score of 57%, followed by “The World Around Us” (TWAU) at 49%.

Maths, however, remained a concern with an average score of just 50%. Girls outperformed boys in language and TWAU, while boys marginally outscored girls in maths. The performance gap between urban and rural students became more pronounced in Grade 6, especially in language, where urban students had a clear edge of 4 percentage points.

State-wise, Kerala overtook Punjab, followed by Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Chandigarh, and then Himachal Pradesh. Meghalaya, Mizoram, Jammu & Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry emerged as the states with the poorest performance.

Class 6: Central govt schools shine

In a 180-degree turn from Grade 3, Grade 6 shows central government schools leading in all subjects, with private schools following closely. State government-aided schools performed the worst.

Caste-wise, however, the pattern continues with ‘Others’ performing the best across all subjects, and ST students performing the worst.

Competency-wise, students did the best in “understanding main ideas and drawing essential conclusions from the material read” at 58%. However, just 29% could “represent and compare commonly used fractions in daily life (such as 1/2 and 1/4) as parts of unit wholes, as locations on number lines and as divisions of whole numbers.”

Class 9: Stagnation in learning

By the time students reached the middle stage (Grade 9), learning gains appeared to stagnate or even decline.

Language remained the highest-performing subject with an average score of 54%, while maths dropped to 37%, the lowest across all grades. Science and social science were both low at 40%.

Girls continued to perform better than boys in language and social science, while boys slightly led in maths and science. However, the gender gaps remained modest compared to the rural-urban and school-type divides.

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Urban students in Grade 9 performed significantly better across all subjects, particularly in language, by 7 percentage points. The trend from Grade 6 continued with central government schools again posting the best scores, especially in languages (69%), followed by private schools. State government and aided schools showed similar outcomes, as the poorest performers.

Class 9: Punjab's dominance

Punjab’s dominance extended to Grade 9 as well, followed by Kerala, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi. At the other end of the spectrum were Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Jammu & Kashmir.

The caste-wise trend remained the same across all three grades, with ‘Others’ performing the best and ST students performing the worst.

About 54% of the Grade 9 students could “identify main points and summarise from careful listening or reading of the text (news articles, reports, editorials)”, but only 29% could manage to “explore the idea of percentage and apply it to solve problems”.

Broader learning environment

Beyond academics, the report also examined the broader learning environment. On assessment strategies, 95% of teachers reported using self-assessment, 92% used project work and 91% used peer assessment. The use of portfolios was lower at 81%.

In terms of pedagogical approaches, experiential learning and competency-based assessments were widely used, but toy-based learning lagged.

The report says that 87% teachers used kits for maths/language/science, and 76% schools had audio-visual resources for the delivery of instruction.

In terms of experiential learning, 97% and 96% of schools reported sports and cultural activities, respectively. On the technology front, access to smartphones and the internet was relatively high (around 60%), but access to laptops or tablets was low at just 33%. Additionally, while most schools had basic facilities like toilets and drinking water, less than two-thirds had functional science labs for Grade 9 students.

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The emotional and social environment in schools also came under the spotlight in the report. Although most teachers reported being able to resolve conflicts and support emotional learning, less than half of the students said they felt comfortable talking to someone when they felt stressed or upset. While 96% of schools had “student behaviour/discipline” policies in place, only 70% reported having an anti-bullying policy. Around 79% of students said they felt safe at school.

Centralised assessment slammed

While the report throws light on several issues, experts say there are also problems with it. “The assessment is being done in a completely centralised manner, whereas it should be localised and tied to teaching-learning. This focuses on memorising instead of learning. The RTE (Right to Education) Act had emphasised continuous and comprehensive assessment at the school level, and not until a child is 14 years old,” Educationist Anita Rampal told The Federal.

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“This kind of assessment invariably leads to competition between states. It sets up a system where teaching is geared towards tests, not to help children construct knowledge or understanding. Teachers tell us in confidence that during such assessments, they end up helping students because they don’t want children or schools to fail. Therefore, there should be more focus on assessment for learning, not assessment of learning,” she said.