NCERT, PARAKH hold State Educational Achievement Survey; 11 million children participate

NEW DELHI: The education ministry conducted the first State Educational Achievement Survey (SEAS) across all participating states and union territories on Friday, November 3. This was the first major action of the new exam and testing body under the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) called PARAKH, full form: Performance Assessment, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development.

The survey was conducted to gauge the foundational literacy and numeracy of students in Classes 3,6 and 9 across government, government-aided, and private-unaided schools across the country. 11 million children – 110 lakh – were set to write the SEAS 2023.

According to reports, Punjab conveyed that it will not participate in the survey.

SEAS Survey 2023

The SEAS was conducted by PARAKH, a constituent body under NCERT. The State Councils of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) were responsible for organising the survey in the sampled schools in their respective states.

The SEAS 2023 leads up to the National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2024 which will also be a PARAKH exam. The last NAS was held in 2021.

While NAS tests students on foundational literacy and numeracy along with their understanding of science and social science concepts, SEAS focuses more on foundational literacy and numeracy. Compared to NAS, which focuses on districts, SEAS has a larger sample size as it aims to assess student competencies at the block level.

NCERT’s Indrani Bhaduri, who heads PARAKH, congratulates states for successfully conducting SEAS on social media.

.....#StateEducationalAchievementSurvey by #PARAKH conducted successfully in #Jharkhand https://t.co/URhI8KJdDJ

— Indrani Bhaduri (@indranibhaduri) November 3, 2023

SCERT Bihar shared the successful completion of SEAS Parakh 2023 exam.

#StateEducationalAchievementSurvey (SEAS) #PARAKH #Bihar pic.twitter.com/5eZlcoQbqL

— SCERT BIHAR (@scertbihar) November 3, 2023

SCERT Assam shared that the SEAS Exam 2023 was held from 9:30 am onwards.

Students at sampled schools are participating in #SEAS2023 #PARAKH at 9:30 AM early morning in Assam @ranojpeguassam @CMOfficeAssam
@PARAKH_NAC @indranibhaduri @ssaassam2016 @TtanyaChaudhary @PiyanuB pic.twitter.com/lgISHxy20t

— SCERT Assam (@SCERT_Assam) November 3, 2023

Directorate of Education, Goa, said that over 18, 000 students from over 750 schools participated in the SEAS Exam 2023.

SCERT GOA in collaboration with Goa Samagra Shiksha conducted State Educational Achievement Survey for grades 3/6/9. Over 18000 students from over 750 schools across the state participated in the survey. @EduMinOfIndia @DrPramodPSawant @dip_goa @AlkaSin65646636 @indranibhaduri pic.twitter.com/BmtJFUFQ8x

— Directorate of Education, Goa (@DOE_GOA) November 3, 2023

PARAKH was formally notified in January 2023 to work on setting norms, standards and guidelines for student assessment and evaluation for all recognised school boards in the country. The independent body was set up as per the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. In February 2023, NCERT announced that the ETS, a global private testing body that conducts TOEFL, has been roped in as a technical partner for PARAKH.

(With inputs from PTI)