UP students best in country

Updated on: Tuesday, January 31, 2012

One of the most comprehensive surveys of the learning achievements of Std V students shows that Uttar Pradesh children have outclassed their counterparts from the rest of India.

The study, undertaken by the NCERT, has revealed that the mean achievement of Uttar Pradesh students in language (71.12%) and mathematics (72.89%) is the highest in the country, while in environmental studies, Mayawati’s state (67.15%) is behind the topper, Tamil Nadu (72.30%).

In comparision, Maharashtra has performed the best in language (63.87%), followed by environmental studies (57.81%) and mathematics (57.70%). But a key feature of the performance in the state is that rural children have outshone their urban peers in mathematics.

However, in all respects — the performance of girls, rural children and percentage of students getting more than 80%—Uttar Pradesh has outscored the rest.

‘UP boys and girls equally good’

The NCERT survey of class V students, carried out between March and May 2010 under the direction of Avtar Singh, head of department of educational measurement and evaluation, tested over one lakh children in language, mathematics and environmental studies in 31 states and is more exhaustive than Pratham’s Annual Status of Education Report. The NCERT followed the internationally-recognised principle of Item Response Theory (IRT) in which a student is graded on each item asked rather than on a total test. The last such comprehensive survey was conducted in 2006-07 but IRT was not followed. The HRD ministry has decided to make the survey a regular affair.

In language, students were asked questions based on comprehension and also asked to identify, evaluate and interpret a text. In maths, they had to do subtraction based on the decimal system and answer questions on geometry and number system. In environmental studies, questions were asked on health and economic problems.

In mathematics, UP is followed by Karnataka (61.53%), Delhi (58.89%), J&K (58.4%), Madhya Pradesh (58.68%), West Bengal (57.74%) and Orissa (56.02%). In language, Tamil Nadu (65.89%) follows UP. West Bengal (64.29%), Karnataka (61%) and Delhi (59.89%) are the others that have done well in language. In environmental studies, Karnataka ranks third with a mean score of 66.59%. Students from MP (58.85%), West Bengal (58.75%) and J&K (58.45%) have also fared well. The mean percentage of Bihar students stands at 49.4% in mathematics, 45.47% in language and 47.44% in environmental studies.

Girls have outperformed boys in Daman and Diu, Delhi, Goa, Mizoram, Kerala and Puducherry. In case of UP, the performance of boys and girls has been at par. In mathematics, the mean percentage of boys is 73.34%, while it is 72.49% in case of girls. A similar marginal difference can be seen in the other two subjects too.

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