The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) along with the central government has decided to create a new regulator for all board exams in India. The proposed regulator – called PARAKH – will bring uniformity to all of the board exams currently being conducted across the country, including CBSE and several state board exams.
This is being done as different boards follow different evaluation standards, which leads to a wide range of disparities in their scores. Furthermore, students of different boards then face challenges while pursuing higher education at the college level.
To combat this issue, NCERT has decided to bring a certain level of uniformity to all of the boards across India. This will be done via a new regulatory body called PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development).
What is PARAKH?
PARAKH, which stands for Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development is a new regulatory body established as a National Assessment Centre (NAC) to improve the educational system of the country.
It will be setting up norms, standards, and guidelines for student assessment & evaluation for all recognised school boards of India. This will help school boards to shift their assessment patterns towards meeting the skill requirements of the 21st century.
Here are some important details to note:
- PARAKH will focus on policy making, evaluation criteria, and assessment skills.
- It will guide the State Assessment Survey (SAS) and National Assessment Survey (NAS).
- It will monitor learning outcomes across all the boards for a better educational system.
- It has been proposed as a part of the New Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2022).
- It aims to:
- Promote critical & creative thinking
- Impart industry-related education
- Improve the overall education system
Note: NEP 2020 has proposed a new structure for school education, which recommends increased public spending for education up to 6% of the GDP.
PARAKH – The New Regulatory Body for Uniform Board Education
- State and central boards across India currently follow different standards of evaluation.
- Due to this, NCERT has been holding a series of meetings with the representatives of state boards and State Councils of Educational Research and Training (SCERTs) to establish a new assessment regulator.
- The proposed regulator, PARAKH, will act as a constituent unit of NCERT.
- It will be tasked with holding periodic learning outcome tests like the National Achievement Survey (NAS) and State Achievement Surveys.
- It will also seek to put an end to the emphasis on rote learning.
- Other than that, it will help solve the problem of some state boards being at a disadvantage during college admissions, as compared to their peers from CBSE.
- PARAKH will then eventually become the national single-window source for all assessment-related information.
- It will support learning assessment in all forms, both nationally and internationally.
Other Important Update: As per the discussion, most states have supported the NEP’s proposal to hold board exams twice a year. This will include one exam to help students improve their scores. Other than that, states have also requested NCERT to offer two types of papers on Mathematics – the first of which will be a standard exam, and the another will be conducted to test higher-level competencies in students.
FAQs
What is PARAKH?
PARAKH is a new regulatory body established as a National Assessment Centre (NAC) to improve the educational system of the country.
Why is PARAKH being implemented?
PARAKH is being implemented to bring uniformity to the assessment practices and evaluation guidelines of all of the educational boards across the country.
What is NEP 2020?
The National Education Policy of India 2020 (NEP 2020) outlines the vision of a new education system of India. The policy is a comprehensive framework ranging from elementary to higher education - as well as vocational training - in both rural and urban India. It aims to transform India's education system by 2030.
