The Ministry of Education organized the National Workshop on Post-National Achievement Survey (NAS) in the august presence of Smt. Annapurna Devi, MoS for Education here today. Smt. Anita Karwal, Secretary, of DoSE&L, and senior officials from the Ministry of Education attended the workshop. The Minister also released the Mobile application of the National Achievement Survey which is available on the Android play store.
Smt. Annapurna Devi said that education is the foundation for the development of humanity. The economic, social, cultural, and scientific progress of human society depends on how educated and known that society is. The Minister said that under the guidance of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, evidence-based research is being promoted to make education future ready. The National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 will provide the foundation for such interventions. She said that we have to take such measures so that the pace of education of the children not only reaches the pre-pandemic level but can also compensate for the loss they have suffered during this period. To achieve this, she added that we need to make short-term, mid-term, and long-term strategies. She congratulated the Officials of the Ministry, NCERT, State Education Secretaries, and SPDs for the smooth conduct of NAS 2021 and the timely release of the Report Card.
Anita Karwal said that teachers should identify the stage of learning for students so that transactions can be designed based on the needs of students. She further said that States should have State level Achievement Survey (SLAS) next year based on the experience of the National achievement survey by the Education Ministry. She further stated that teachers should emphasize various learning modes other than the textbooks. They should not use books as the only tool rather than explore other modes. There is a need to explore fun-based learning, she added.
Prof. Indrani Bhaduri gave a brief presentation on the Conduct of the National Achievement Survey 2021 and the release of the National, State, and District Report Card. She provided the roadmap for post-NAS interventions. She stated that the National Achievement Survey is a large-scale survey that has been conducted in India since 2001 periodically to assess children’s learning levels and gain an insight into the health and efficacy of the educational system. The latest cycle of NAS was conducted in November 2021 and assessed the learning levels of Class 3, 5, 8, and 10 students are drawn from 720 districts of all the States and UTs of India.
The extensive reporting of the survey findings at the level of the district, state, and nation provides a detailed understanding of the learning achievement of children across India. The core aim of the program was to disseminate the findings of the NAS 2021 among the state dignitaries and to have deliberations on the roadmaps that all the States/UTs have developed as a part of the intensive Regional workshops conducted during July 2022 across the nation. The Road maps that the state/UT prepared elaborate on the post-NAS interventions that the State/UT intend to implement as a follow-up of the findings of NAS for their particular State/UT.
The post-NAS intervention is a crucial post-survey phase that focuses on the optimal utilization of the findings of the survey to inform the actions and steps that can be taken to enhance the learning levels of children. There were dedicated presentations and discussions on Learning Outcomes developed by NCERT and the grass root level interventions at the Block, Cluster, and District levels. Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Ladakh, Manipur, and Karnataka gave brief roadmap presentations to guide the post-NAS 2021 interventions.
Dr. Amarendra Behera from NCERT briefly explained the Vidya Samiksha Kendra and Sh. Rajnish Kumar, Director (Digital Education) introduced the National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR) to the group of education administrators. Sh Ravi Hedge, DDG (Stats) presented strategies for Out of School Children.
The Additional Chief Secretary (Education), Principal Secretaries, State Education Secretaries, State Project Directors of Samagra Shiksha of State/UT Government, and several officials from NCERT, CBSE, KVS, NVS, and SCERT participated in the National Workshop. The theme was improving the students’ learning outcomes through technology and data.