TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: After the Education Development Index (EDI) report 2012-13 embarrassed the Goa government, the Education Department has strongly objected to the study that puts Goa at the 33rd spot, which is third position from the bottom, and slammed the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan for supplying wrong data to National University of Education Planning and Administration which conducted the study.
While, Goa’s EDI score was .520, Uttar Pradesh scored .508 and ranked 34th while Jharkhand scored .452 and ranked 35th. The union territory of Lakshadweep topped the tables with a score of .712 while Puducherry came second with .696, Tamil Nadu stood third with a score of .683, Sikkim was fourth with .672 and Karnataka was fifth with a .661 score.
The report came as a huge setback for Goa at a time when the government was being honoured for its achievements in the health and education sector.
The EDI report for the year 2012-13, when compared with t he report of the previous year indicated that Goa has slipped 12 places where it was previously place at 21. In 2010-11 Goa was placed 13 on the EDI.
Anil Powar, Director of Education has slammed the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) for furnishing incorrect data to the National University of Education Planning and Administration (NUEPA) for the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development.
The four parameters which were assessed for ranking States on the EDI were access, infrastructure, teachers and outcomes of education. Powar said that the education department in Goa does not agree with the report on various counts. The report had pointed out that infrastructure was the biggest blow. Schools in Goa failed to meet the national average on the number of classrooms pointing out that Goa had two classrooms for its students, whereas the national average is three. It also disclosed that while 80 per cent schools in Kerala, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu had a headmaster, in Goa, only 37 per cent schools with an enrolment of 150 students and above had a headmaster.
As far as the teacher index Goa did comparatively better and beat the national averages in terms of ratio of teacher to students. According to the report, Goa had one teacher for 18 students whereas the national average is one teacher for 27 students.
Powar said, “This is the s second time that Goa’s placement on the EDI has dropped because of improper data being furnished by the SSA.”
The education director said that in the past the NUEPA used to collect data from the SCERT and ever since data is being collected from the SSA that the EDI index rankings are showing a drop.
“We have discussed this matter with the secretary for education at the Centre and are trying to set the records straight,” said Powar. He said that the SSA were furnishing data without consulting the education department.
“We will be taking up this issue with the Management Information Systems which collects data for elementary education in Goa and find out where things are going wrong,” Powar said.
