Creating an Enabling Environment for Private Schools to Deliver Quality Education

Private Schools at a Glance

Nearly half of India’s school children are enrolled in private schools (U-DISE 2019)

70% of students in private schools pay less than Rs 1,000

73% parents believe their children will have better learning outcomes in private schools

We found that there is a lack of reliable data of learning outcomes in private schools. Since parents do not have information to judge schools based on learning, they usually opt for schools based on weak proxies like infrastructure, reputation or medium of teaching.

Our Approach

Data for Demand

Reducing the information gap between schools and parents by equipping the latter with data on school quality based on standardized assessments in primary and middle grades.

Generate Evidence on Private Schools

Building a positive narrative through disseminating data and evidence to create an enabling environment for private schools to focus more on improving learning outcomes.

assessment FLN classroom child

Competency-based Census Assessments in key grades

To capture the school quality data based on learning outcomes, a competency-based census assessment (CCA) in grades 3, 5 and 8 as envisaged by the NEP 2020 can help monitor the school progress over time and provide an overall picture of the education system’s performance without any stakes for the students. Aggregated at the school level, this assessment’s results would provide valuable data about the learning quality in the school and help stakeholders across the education system evaluate progress on early grade competencies to take timely remedial action. These assessments are not meant for passing or failing a child but to understand the health of the education system.

 

In line with the NEP’s recommendations to execute these competency-based census assessments, CBSE conducted Structured Assessment for Analyzing Learning levels (SAFAL), a competency-based assessment for all students studying at key stages of grades 3, 5, and 8.