Punjab and Chandigarh have once again emerged as the top performers among all states and Union Territories in the Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0 report for school education released by the Union Ministry of Education on Tuesday.

However, both Punjab and Chandigarh have achieved the fifth-highest grade, “Prachesta-1”, while no state or UT has been placed in the top four grades — Utkarsh, Uttam-1, Uttam-2 and Uttam-3. Punjab has been placed above Delhi, Kerala and neighbouring states Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Punjab has remained a top performer in the PGI since 2019-20.

For 2024-25, Punjab and Chandigarh have been bracketed in “Prachesta-1” with a score range of 701-760, corresponding to 51-60 per cent.

The report clarifies that Prachesta-1 is not the highest achievable grade. It is the fifth grade after Utkarsh (91-100 per cent), Uttam-1 (81-90 per cent), Uttam-2 (71-80 per cent) and Uttam-3 (61-70 per cent). The lowest three grades are Akanshi-1, Akanshi-2 and Akanshi-3.

“None of the states/UTs have achieved the top four grades, indicating there is huge scope for improvement in the performance of states/UTs,” the report states.

“The top-most grade attained is Prachesta-1, i.e. score range 701-760, indicating that there is huge scope for improvement in performance by States/UTs. Only Chandigarh and Punjab have attained Grade Prachesta-1, six States/UTs joined Grade Prachesta-2, nine States/UTs joined Grade Prachesta-3…,” says the report.

The UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, along with Kerala, Delhi, Odisha, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh, have been bracketed in Prachesta-2.

They are followed by Haryana, Goa, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Sikkim, Lakshadweep, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat in Prachesta-3.

Only one state, Meghalaya, has been placed in the lowest grade, Akanshi-3.

Punjab has consistently remained among the top performers in the PGI since 2019-20, when it topped the index for the first time. In 2020-21, it retained the top position.

From 2021-22 to 2023-24, under the revamped PGI 2.0 framework, Punjab has continued to remain a top-tier state along with Chandigarh.

The Performance Grading Index evaluates the performance of states and UTs by categorising them into different grades rather than assigning ranks. This grading approach allows multiple states and UTs to be placed within the same performance band, promoting a more balanced and constructive assessment framework.

The report notes that this approach avoids the unintended stigma of underperformance that rankings may impose.

PGI 2.0 is based on 70 indicators across two categories — outcomes, and governance and management — comprising six domains: learning outcomes and quality, access, infrastructure and facilities, equity, governance processes, and teacher education and training.

The data is derived from the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+), PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024, PM POSHAN Portal, PRABAND Portal and Vidyanjali Portal.

The PGI report, released by the Centre, has often triggered political sparring in Punjab.

The political one-upmanship began in June 2021, in the run-up to the 2022 Punjab Assembly polls, when Punjab secured the top ranking in PGI 2019-20 under the then Congress-led Punjab government.

Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi’s then deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia had dismissed Punjab’s achievement and said it was the “result of secret friendship” between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh.

He had said PM Modi had “showered his blessings” on Amarinder with the report ahead of the 2022 polls. Sisodia had also questioned Delhi’s lower ranking despite claiming that schools in the national capital were superior to those in Punjab.

Punjab again figured among the top-performing states for 2021-22. The report was released in November 2022, months after AAP came to power in Punjab.

Delhi was again outperformed by Punjab even as the AAP government led by chief minister Bhagwant Mann was aggressively implementing the “Delhi model of education” in Punjab.

Most AAP leaders remained silent and did not publicly celebrate Punjab’s performance, drawing criticism from the Opposition, especially the Congress, which accused the AAP of being unable to acknowledge achievements made during the previous Congress tenure.

AAP leaders, including Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, had also termed Punjab’s top rankings in national surveys as “fake”.

Then education minister and now AAP MP Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer had said such reports were based on “fudged figures” and that the “ground reality in Punjab was totally different and schools were in shambles”.

However, after 2022, the AAP government has regularly celebrated Punjab’s top rankings in national surveys, including PARAKH (previously NAS), PGI, and NITI Aayog reports, describing them as achievements of the government and proof of its “transformational school education policies”.