• Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development (PARAKH) is India's first national assessment regulator.
• PARAKH was established in 2020 as a standard-setting body in line with the National Education Policy (NEP).
• It will create standards and criteria for student assessment and evaluation for all nationally recognized educational boards.

It aims to help remove disparities in scores of students enrolled with different State boards.

PARAKH

The establishment of a national regulator called PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development) by the Union government is intended to create a benchmark framework for evaluating secondary and higher secondary pupils.

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 includes PARAKH.

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About parakh

• The National Achievement Survey (NAS) and State Achievement Surveys are two examples of periodic learning outcome examinations that will be administered by the planned regulator, which will also serve as a constituent unit of the NCERT.
• Leading assessment professionals with in-depth knowledge of the educational systems in India and around the world will make up its team.
• With a mandate to support learning assessment in all forms, both nationally and, where appropriate, internationally, it will eventually become the country's one-stop shop for all assessment-related information and expertise.
• According to the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, it will try to stop emphasizing rote learning.
• For all recognized school boards in India, it would "establish norms, criteria, and recommendations for student assessment and evaluation, encouraging and assisting school boards to move their assessment patterns toward fulfilling the skill requirements of the 21st century."
• Leading evaluation professionals with in-depth knowledge of the educational systems in India and abroad will make up the PARAKH team.

Objectives

Setting uniform criteria and principles for student assessment and evaluation across all authorized Indian school boards,

Improve the assessment process:

• It will encourage and support school boards in changing their assessment practices to match the 21st-century skill requirements.
• Reduce Evaluation Disparity: It will bring consistency across the state and central boards, which currently use diverse standards of evaluation and produce significant score differences.
• Benchmark Assessment: As envisioned by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the benchmark assessment framework aims to do away with the emphasis on rote learning.

Suggestions

• Standardized Procedures & Rules: Hold Board Exams Twice
• The NEP's proposal to conduct board tests twice a year, including one to help students improve their scores, has received support from a number of states.
• Two kinds of math exams: States have also agreed on the idea of offering two different mathematics exams: one to measure basic proficiency and the other to measure higher-level proficiency.

Significance

• Reduce Fear: This will increase learning among pupils and lessen their fear of math.
• It would assist in addressing the issue of some state board students being at a disadvantage during college admissions when compared to their classmates in CBSE schools.
• Innovative Evaluation: It will create and put into practise technical standards for test design, administration, scoring, and reporting at all levels of schooling.

Way Forward

• PAREKH aims to facilitate an inclusive, participatory, and holistic approach to education that takes into account field experiences, empirical research, stakeholder feedback, as well as lessons learned from best practices. It also levels the playing field and reduces disparity among various state boards.
• It is a gradual turn toward a more scientific method of teaching.
• The recommended structure will aid in accommodating the child's abilities, including phases of cognitive growth and social and physical awareness.

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