Performance Grading Index 2020-21

The Ministry of Education recently released its Performance Grading Index (PGI).

About the Index:

Previous Editions:

• The PGI report for 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20 has been released by the department.

Objective:

• PGI's primary goal is to promote evidence-based policymaking and emphasize course correction to ensure quality education for all.

PGI 2020-21 graded the states/UTs into ten categories:

• Level 1 is the highest achievable grade, which is for a State/UT scoring more than 950 points out of a total of 1000 points.
• Level 10 is the lowest grade available for scores less than 551.
• It is a comprehensive evidence-based analysis of the school education system across states and union territories.
• It divides states and union territories into ten grades based on their total score of 1,000 points.

Their performance is evaluated using 70 indicators spread across five domains:

• Access Infrastructure and Facilities as a Learning Outcome
• Equity
• Process of governance

Sources:

• The Index is based on data from several sources, including the 2020-21 Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE +), the National Achievement Survey NAS 2017, and the Mid Day Meal Portal.

Information/ Facts:

• With approximately 14.9 lakh schools, 95 lakh teachers, and nearly 26.5 crore students from various socioeconomic backgrounds, India's education system is one of the largest in the world.

Significant Highlights:

Outstanding performers

• Gujarat is now ranked among the top performing states in terms of school education.
• Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh have joined Kerala, Punjab, Chandigarh, and Maharashtra in being classified as Level 2 with scores ranging from 901 to 950 out of a possible 1,000.
• A total of 12 states and union territories, including the National Capital Territory of Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Odisha, achieved Level 3 with a score ranging from 851 to 900.
• There were no states in the bottom three.
• Best Improver Ladakh has made the most progress, rising from Level 10 in 2019-2020 to Level 4 in 2020-2021.

The ratio of gross enrollment

• It compares enrollment in a particular level of education to the population of that age group.
• From 2018-2019 to 2021-2022, the primary section improved from 101.3% to 104.8%.
• It has risen from 76.9% in 2018-19 to 79.6% in 2021-22 for secondary classes.
• It has risen from 50.14% to 57.6% at the higher secondary level.

GER Gender Parity Index (GPI)

• It represents the proportion of girls in school in relation to their population in the corresponding age group.
• It was also discovered to be more beneficial to girls than boys.

Enrollment in pre-primary schools is declining.

• In 2021-2022, 94.95 lakh students enrolled in pre-primary classes, a 10% decrease from the previous year, when 1.06 crore children enrolled in these classes.
• Enrollment in pre-primary classes fell by 21% between 2020 and 2021.

Primary school enrollment is declining.

• Classes 1–5 are included.
• For the first time, it fell from 12.20 lakh in 2020-2021 to 12.18 lakh in 2021-2022.
• However, the total number of students from primary to secondary school increased by 19 lakh, reaching 25.57 crore.

A decrease in the number of schools

• According to the report, the number of schools has decreased due to closures and a teacher shortage.
• In 2021-2022, there were 20,000 fewer schools, as the total number of schools fell from 15.09 lakh to 14.89 lakh.
• In terms of state breakdown, Madhya Pradesh (7,689), Odisha (1,894), Andhra Pradesh (1,395), Uttar Pradesh (1143), Punjab (994), and Maharashtra(509). were the states with the highest number of school closures during the second pandemic year

Private vs. public education

• According to the UDISE+ report, enrollment in private schools has continued to decline, while enrollment in government schools has increased.
• As a result of the pandemic's financial constraints, private school students continued to enrol in public schools.

Infrastructure

• Computers were available in 44.75% of schools, but Internet access was only available in 33.9%.
• However, their availability has increased since the pre-Covid period, when only 38.5% of schools had computers and 22.3% had Internet access.

The Index's Importance:

Best educational outcomes

• The goal of PGI is to encourage states and territories to implement multi-pronged interventions that will result in the desired optimal education outcomes across all dimensions.

Identifying the gaps

• PGI is expected to assist states and UTs in identifying gaps and prioritizing areas for intervention in order to ensure that the school education system is robust at all the levels.

Criminalization of Politics

• Two lawmakers from the state of Uttar Pradesh were recently found guilty on criminal charges, but only one of them has been disqualified and had his seat proclaimed empty by the secretariat of the Legislative Assembly of the State.

What is political criminalization?

• The criminalization of politics refers to the involvement of criminals in politics, including their ability to run for office and be elected to the State and Federal legislatures.
• It occurs mostly as a result of the connections between politicians and criminals.

Legal Aspects of Criminal Candidates' Disqualification:

• The Indian Constitution is ambiguous regarding what prevents a person from running in elections for the Parliament, Legislative Assembly, or any other legislative in this regard.
• The requirements for disqualifying a person from running in a legislative election are listed in the Representation of Peoples Act (RPA) of 1951.
• Section 8 of the act, or disqualification upon conviction for certain offences, states that a person sentenced to more than two years in prison is not eligible to run for office for six years after serving the sentence.

Safety from Disqualification:

• Legislators could delay instant disqualification (until 2013 Supreme Court decision) under Section 8(4) of the RPA.
• The clause states that state or federal politicians and members of parliament will not be disqualified for three months.
• If you do so, it won't go into effect until the appeal or application is resolved.
• The Supreme Court declared clause (4) unlawful in Lily Thomas v. Union of India, 2013, eliminating the protection enjoyed by legislators.

Related Powers of the Supreme Court:

• The Supreme Court has the authority to halt both a person's conviction and sentence. In a few uncommon instances, a conviction has been postponed to allow the appellant to run for office.
• The SC has stated, however, that such a stay should be extremely uncommon and for unique circumstances. The Election Commission is a remedy offered by the RPA itself. According to Section 11 of the Act, the EC may note the reasons for a person's disqualification and either lift it or shorten its duration.

What are the Reasons for the Criminalization of Politics?

• Lack of Enforcement: Several laws and court rulings haven't had much of an impact because they aren't being enforced.
• Vested Interests: Publishing a candidate's whole criminal past may not be very beneficial because many voters choose to cast their ballots based only on issues that pertain to their caste or religion.
• Utilization of Force and Financial Power: Candidates with solid backgrounds appear to perform well despite their reputations, partly as a result of their capacity to fund their own races and contribute significant financial resources to their respective parties.
• In rare cases, voters are also without a choice because every candidate running for office has a criminal past.

What are the Consequences of Political Criminalization?

• It limits voters' options for choosing a qualified candidate, which is against the principle of a free and fair election.
• It goes against the democratic ideal of free and fair elections, which is its cornerstone.
• Affecting Good Governance: The main issue is that lawbreakers now have the power to enact laws, which has an impact on how well the democratic process can produce good governance.
• These unwholesome democratic tendencies portray an unfavourable picture of the state institutions of India and the calibre of its elected officials.
• Affecting the Integrity of Public Servants: It also increases the flow of illicit funds during and after elections, which worsens societal corruption and impairs the performance of public officials.
• Causes Social Discord: It instils a culture of violence in society, creates a poor example for young people to follow, and erodes public confidence in democracy as a form of government.

Way Forward

• State sponsorship of elections has been advocated by a number of committees (including Dinesh Goswami and the Inderjeet Committee) looking into electoral reforms. This will significantly reduce the use of black money in elections and, as a result, the criminalization of politics.
• Increasing the effectiveness of the Election Commission is necessary to ensure a more transparent electoral process. Strengthening the Indian Election Commission is therefore essential.
• Voters must exercise caution when it comes to the improper use of gifts, money, and other inducements during elections.

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Remote Voting Facility

• The Union government recently informed the Supreme Court that it is thinking about implementing a remote voting system that would allow non-resident Indians (NRI), particularly migrant workers, to cast their votes while maintaining the integrity of the electoral process.

What is the History?

• Officials from the Election Commission suggested adopting blockchain technology to facilitate remote voting in 2020. The goal is to remove voting's geographic restrictions.
• The Commission has been thinking about the potential for remote voting, which would let people vote from their place of employment.
• Section 20A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which required overseas voters to physically be present in their electoral seats to cast their ballots, had been deemed an "unreasonable restriction" by the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill of 2017.
• The Bill was later enacted in 2018, but it expired when the 16th Lok Sabha was dissolved.
• Only the following voters are currently permitted to vote by postal ballot: service voters (members of the armed forces, members of a state's armed police force, and government employees stationed abroad), voters who are on election duty, voters who are 80 years of age or older, voters who are persons with disabilities (PwD), and voters who are currently being held without bail.

What is Remote Voting?

• Votes may be cast remotely in person at a location other than the designated polling site or at a different time, by mail, or through a designated proxy.
• Several political parties have called on the EC to ensure that migrant workers, or NRIs (Non-Resident Indians), who lose out on voting because they cannot afford to travel home during elections to exercise their right to vote, are able to cast their ballots from the city in which they are employed.

Why is remote voting necessary?

Unfavorable circumstances

• Voters relocate to cities and other locations for education, job, and other reasons from the place of their registration. They find it challenging to go back to their designated polling places to cast their ballots.
• Additionally, it was found that roughly 20–25% of registered voters in Uttarakhand villages like Dumak and Kalgoth are unable to cast their ballots in their local elections since they must leave their communities to pursue employment or higher education.

Reduction in Voter Turnout

• Out of a total of 910 million electors, over 300 million persons abstained from voting in the 2019 general elections.

Issues with Metropolitan Areas

• Despite the fact that polling places are located within two kilometers of every voter in urban areas, the ECI also underlined its concern over poor voter turnout in various metropolitan and municipal districts. Urban voting indifference needed to be addressed, it was felt.

Rising Unorganized Worker Registrations:

• The government's e-SHRAM platform has over 10 million migrant workers enrolled in the unorganised sector. The remote voting project will have significant effects if it is put into practice.

Health Issues:

• It is necessary to talk about elderly persons' health issues in particular because they are increasingly being considered. In this situation, the remote voting facility will lead to an increase in both the urban and rural voting rates.

What Problems Arise With Remote Voting?

• Security: Cyber-attacks and other security flaws can affect any new technology system, including blockchain-based systems and others.
• Voting systems based on technology might likewise provide privacy problems and concerns.
• Veracity and verification: In addition, a voter verification system using biometric technologies, such facial recognition, could result in false positives or negatives in voter identification, aiding fraud or depriving persons of their right to vote.
• Voters must have a dependable internet connection and be protected against malware. In some nations, there is a relatively low level of Internet availability, penetration, and e-government service utilization.
• Voting results may potentially be impacted by software bugs or viruses on voters' devices.
• Privacy/Secrecy: To safeguard both voter privacy and the validity of the results, elections always require a high level of security. Online voting technology must get beyond restrictions that could compromise a voter's privacy in order to meet the security requirements of elections.
• Preferred Environment: It's also possible that the environment in which voting takes place is uncontrolled. It is challenging to guarantee that someone votes freely and without being forced.

What is the NRI voting procedure currently?

• The Representation of the People (Amendment) Act of 2010 made it possible for eligible NRIs who had been away for more than six months to cast their ballots, but they had to do it in person at the polling place where they had registered as an overseas elector.
• Prior to 2010, an Indian citizen who was a registered voter and had lived abroad for longer than six months was not permitted to cast a ballot. This was due to the fact that if an NRI spent more than six consecutive months abroad, their name would be removed from electoral rolls.
• An NRI is eligible to vote in the constituency that includes the address listed on their passport as their primary residence.

Way Forward

• The integrity of the election must be properly preserved via an online voting system, and voting and tallying procedures must be free from manipulation.
• The officials are said to have informed the committee that the best way to introduce remote voting is through political consensus, but any system of remote voting must take into account the confidence and acceptance of all electoral stakeholders, including voters, political parties, and election machinery.
• Using an online voting system would be meaningless even with all of the necessary legal safeguards in place if the administration or the populace lacked confidence in its accuracy, security, and integrity.

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