500 Plus Districts Had Forbidden Digital Learning During Pandemic: Govt. Report

In a recent report from the performance grading index for districts (PGI-D) for the years 2020-21 and 2021-22 prepared by the education ministry came out with several highlights. One of them was about how several 503 districts could access only 10 to 30 percent of digital education during the two years of the pandemic.

The index has been analyzed based on six parameters. Learning outcomes, effective classroom interactions, infrastructure facilities, school safety, child protection, digital learning, and government process were the parameters involved. The PGI score is classified into various grades depending on the scores of the districts, which ranges from less than 10% to more than 90%.

Details of reports:

According to the reports, In 2020-21, as many as 240 districts scored less than 10% in the digital learning parameter, 156 districts scored 11% to 20 %, while 107 districts had scores between 21% and 30%, the report revealed. On the other hand, a few districts saw a marginal improvement in digital learning in 2021-22; the report highlighted that 119 of them still scored less than 10%, 209 scored between 11% to 20%, and 116 scored between 21% and 30%.

“The ultimate objective of PGI-D is to help the districts to prioritize areas for intervention in school education and thus improve to reach the highest grade,” the report stated.

Some low-scoring districts:

Additionally, some districts saw improvements in digital learning. The report highlighted that 119 of them still scored less than 10%, 209 scored between 11% to 20%, and 116 scored between 21% and 30%.

On the other hand, other low-scoring districts included Assam’s Goalpara and Hailakandi, Chhattisgarh’s Kondagaon, Jharkhand’s Godda and Pakaur, Madhya Pradesh’s Dewas and Uttar Pradesh’s Deoria and Ballia.

“10 districts have shown over 20% improvement in score, and 74 districts shown improvement of over 10% in score during 2021-22 as compared to 2019-20. Overall grade level improvement in 2021-22 under the category is 202 districts,” the report stated.

The ASER report released in January this year highlighted a massive drop in learning levels among students due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The report highlighted that the basic learning ability dropped to the lowest level since 2012, and the ability to complete arithmetic problems dropped to levels last seen in 2014.