Now schools in Maha to be graded from A+ to C

The state education department has ordered that schools in Maharashtra, like higher educational institutions, will now be given grades from A+ to C to indicate the quality of education being imparted by them. The schools will have to display these grades and the state, too, will develop a dedicated website of aggregated data on these gradings so that the information is easily accessible to parents. Furthermore, schools will have to be evaluated (graded) periodically based on their performance under various parameters such as basic infrastructure, teaching-learning standards, safety and security of children, and campus inclusiveness and gender equality.

The state school education department has announced the School Quality Assurance and Accreditation Framework (SQAAF), which provides details of various parameters based on which the schools will be assessed. The SQAAF was prepared as per the recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the guidelines developed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). Following the guidelines, the state school education department, too, established the State School Standards Authority (SSSA) which will be responsible for evaluating schools against the SQAAF criteria.

As per the information shared by the state education department, the SSSA will be a six-member body headed by the director of the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT). It will develop a dedicated website where schools will have to disclose all their information. Schools will conduct individual self-assessments annually, and the SSSA will further decide on the frequency of assessments. A website developed by the SSSA will provide public access to aggregated data, and it will also be a process based on self-declaration of information related to schools.

An official from the SCERT said, “Each school has to submit its data on this website in a standardised format designed as per the parameters defined under SQAAF. Every year, schools will self-assess to get grades. But an external or third-party evaluation will be conducted every two years, which will ensure verification of the data submitted by schools. Based on these evaluations, schools will be graded. Schools will have to display these grades, while individuals will also have access to this information on a dedicated website created by the SSSA.”