School Education Index: Chandigarh Best, Meghalaya Worst

Category: national

Chandigarh was at the top in school education whereas the lowest was Meghalaya in PGI 2.0 report. The index measures the States/UTs on 1000 points on the parameters including access, equity, learning outcomes, infrastructure, teacher training, and governance. Revealing the potential of increment, no State/UT made it to the highest performance bracket of 761-1000. 24 States/UTs have shown improvements in their performance and 12 have recorded a fall in comparison to last year. Bihar and Telangana had improved the most in terms of access, whereas Delhi, J&K and Telangana had improved high in terms of infrastructure.

Why in the news?

• India In June 2025 The Union Ministry of Education published the Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0 based on measurable indicators to rank States and UTs and evaluate the quality of school education by providing an overview of school education in India and the academic performance of students at the end of the third year of secondary school (academic year 202324).

Key Highlights

What is PGI 2.0:

• People are measured in six domains:
  • Quality and Learning Outcomes
  • Access
  • Infra and Facilities
  • Equity
  • Governance Processes
  • Teacher Education and Training
• Total score: 1000 points.

Grading categories:

• Prachesta-1: 701–760
• Prachesta-3: 581–640
• Akanshi-1: 521–580
• Akanshi-2: 461–520
• Akanshi-3: 401–460

States performance

• Top Performers:
  • Chandigarh 719 719 - Only State/UT in Prachesta-1 category.
  • Prachesta-3 (581- 640) 10 States/UTs:
    • Punjab, Delhi, Gujarat, Odisha, Kerala, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Haryana, Goa, Maharashtra, Rajasthan.
• Bottom Performers:
  • Meghalaya received 417, the range Akanshi-3 (401460).
• Low performers (Akanshi-2, 461520):
  • Telangana, Assam, Jharkhand, Tripura, Manipur, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Nagaland, Mizoram Arunachal Pradesh.
• Middle Performers( Aakanshi- 1, 521-580):
  • Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, J&K, Uttarakhand, Puducherry, Ladakh, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar Islands among the 14 States/UTs.

Domain-wise Improvements:

• Access: The best improvement was by Bihar and Telangana.
• Infrastructure: Delhi, J&K and Telangana performed the best.
• Nonetheless, none of the States/UTs scored the highest brackets (761-1000).

Conclusion

The latest PGI 2.0 report shows that there are some good results but still some gaps in India's education system in schools. Whereas stemming the trend in Chandigarh has become a benchmark, many States, particularly the Northeast and central India, still need to conduct specific interventions. It is also pointed out in the report, that there is an urgent necessity to make specific investments especially in infrastructure, teacher training and outcomes to obtain broad-based educational excellence and equity.