The National Achievement Survey (NAS)-2021 was conducted by the Ministry of Education. Its report has been released.
Key highlights of the survey –
Nearly 80% students found learning at home during the pandemic “burdensome” and felt that they learnt better in school with help from peers.
As many as 24% students said they had no digital device at home. Though 45% students found the experience “joyful”, 38% also said that they had difficulties in learning.
Out of a score of 500, students across various classes performed better in languages, but lagged behind in subjects like mathematics and science.
Across various subjects and classes, SC, ST and OBC students perform worse than general category students.
About the NAS –
National Achievement Survey (NAS) is a nationally representative large-scale survey of students’ learning.
The survey assesses the health of the school education system in the country through a survey of children’s learning competencies at Classes 3, 5, 8 and 10.
The survey is conducted by the Ministry of Education in every three years. The last one was held in 2017.
Objectives –
The objective of NAS 2021 is to evaluate children’s progress and learning competencies as an indicator of the efficiency of the education system.
This will enable the govt to take appropriate steps for remedial actions at different levels.
It will help to unravel the gaps in learning and will support state and UT governments in developing long term, mid-term and short-term interventions to improve learning levels.
Methodology –
The NAS covered government, government-aided and private schools.
The subjects covered were —
Language, Mathematics and Environmental Studies (EVS) for classes 3 and 5;
Language, Mathematics, Science and Social Science for class 8
Language, Mathematics, Science, Social Science and English for class 10.
The survey was conducted via an OMR-based achievement test comprising multiple-choice questions along with questionnaires in 22 different languages. It was developed by NCERT.
In 2021, this nationwide survey was administered by the CBSE in one single day at the same time.
.png)