PARAKH: A new regulator for ‘uniformity’ in all board exams
- Posted By
10Pointer
- Categories
Polity & Governance
- Published
1st Sep, 2022
-
Context
The Centre is planning to draw up a benchmark framework ‘PARAKH’ to assess students at the secondary and higher secondary level to bring about “uniformity” across state and central boards.
- PARAKH is also part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
What is PARAKH?
- PARAKH stands for Performance Assessment, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development.
- The proposed regulator will act as a constituent unit of the NCERT.
- It will also be tasked with holding periodic learning outcome tests like the National Achievement Survey (NAS) and State Achievement Surveys.
- The benchmark assessment framework will seek to put an end to the emphasis on rote learning, as envisaged by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
- PARAKH, the proposed implementing agency, is also part of the NEP proposal.
Significance
- PARAKH will help tackle the problem of students of some state boards being at a disadvantage during college admissions as compared to their peers in CBSE schools.
- It will develop and implement “technical standards for the design, conduct, analysis and reporting” of tests at all levels of school education.
- PARAKH will eventually become the national single-window source for all assessment related information and expertise, with a mandate to support learning assessment in all forms, both nationally and where applicable, internationally.