In News:

• Three global educational non-profits recently approached the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to set up the proposed regulator PARAKH.
• PARAKH - Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development - is also part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 proposals.

 What’s in today’s news:

• About PARAKH
• News Summary 

PARAKH - Performance Assessment, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development:

Background:

• Earlier, the NCERT convened a series of meetings with various stakeholders towards the implementation of NEP 2020. This discussion also included the establishment of a new assessment regulator.
• During the discussions, most states endorsed the NEP proposal of developing a benchmark framework to ensure consistency between state and central boards
• As a result, the Union Ministry of Education recently invited bids to establish a regulator - PARAKH.

About PARAKH:

• The benchmark assessment framework - PARAKH, has been proposed by the NEP 2020.
• It will function as a standard-setting body for student assessment and evaluation for all school boards in the country and will put an end to the emphasis on rote learning.
• While the NCERT is an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Education, PARAKH will act as a constituent unit of the NCERT.
• PARAKH will be tasked with -
  • Setting norms, standards and guidelines for student assessment and evaluation for all recognised school boards of India.
  • Holding periodic learning outcome tests like the National Achievement Survey (NAS) and State Achievement Surveys.
    • If the plans are on track, the NAS in 2024 will be conducted by PARAKH.
  • PARAKH will manage India's participation in international assessments such as the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) in addition to NAS.
• PARAKH will eventually become the national single-window source for all assessment-related information and expertise, with a mandate to assist all forms of learning assessment, both nationally and globally.

Significance:

• Uniformity: PARAKH would be expected to address the issue of differences in scores among students associated with different boards, who are at a disadvantage during college admissions when compared to their CBSE peers.
• Standardisation: It will establish and implement technical standards for test design, administration, analysis and reporting at all levels of schooling.
• Skill development: It will encourage and help school boards to shift their assessment patterns towards meeting the skill requirements of the 21st century.

News Summary:

• Educational Testing Services (ETS), American Institutes for Research (AIR) and the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) have expressed interest in assisting with the establishment of India's first national school-level testing and assessment regulator, PARAKH.
• While ETS is well-known for conducting the TOEFL and GRE, which are gateways to admission in the top universities of the world, AIR and ACER are well-known for conducting research on behavioural and social science domains.
• Once chosen, the agency will, among other things,
  • Assist the PARAKH team in incorporating international evidence to develop evaluation processes in India to meet Covid-19 and other pandemic circumstances.
  • Provide technical guidelines and advice to boards for designing, developing and implementing state-wide methods for measuring student learning that are consistent with state and national curricular standards.
  • Support examination boards with novel assessment patterns (both internal and external), evaluation processes and practices, result calculation and compilation, post-result practices and the recent research.