CDS (I) 2023 General Knowledge · Question 60 of 120

Correct — C, NCT of Delhi. The Ministry of Education released the Performance Grading Index for 2020-21 on 3 November 2022, and seven States and Union Territories reached Level II, the score band of 901 to 950 and the highest level any State or UT attained that year: Kerala, Punjab, Chandigarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. No one reached Level I. Three of the four names in this question — Kerala, Punjab and Chandigarh — are on that list, and the NCT of Delhi is not, which is what the key turns on. Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh were new arrivals in that top band, against four States and UTs in 2019-20 and none at all in 2017-18.

• (a)Kerala — Kerala is on the Level II list and had been among the strongest performers on this index from the start, so it is not the exception the question is looking for.
• (b)Punjab — Punjab is also at Level II in 2020-21, and was one of the small group that had already reached that band the previous year.
• (d)Chandigarh — Chandigarh reached Level II too. It is easy to discount because it is a small Union Territory, but on a normalised index a compact, well-resourced UT tends to score well.

The Performance Grading Index grades every State and Union Territory on the school education system, out of a thousand points spread across two broad heads — outcomes, and governance and management — and then places them in ten bands rather than publishing a rank order. Level 1 is above 950 and Level 10 is below 551. Because it is a graded index rather than a league table, the honest way to read it is by band: a State either reached the top attained band that year or it did not.

The stem asks for the 'top five', which is looser than the report itself is, since the Ministry publishes grade bands and not a ranked list of five. On any reading, though, the question resolves cleanly. Kerala, Punjab and Chandigarh all reached Level II and Delhi did not, so Delhi is the odd one out whichever way the top of the table is drawn. A wider point about this index is worth carrying: it measures the school system a government runs, not the wealth of the State, which is why Chandigarh and Punjab sit alongside Kerala, and why Ladakh's jump of 299 points in a single year — from Level 8 to Level 4 — was the headline finding of that edition. Since 2021-22 the index has been rebuilt, with revised indicators and new grade names, so the levels of this edition are not directly comparable with later ones.

• Seven States and UTs reached Level II (901-950) in 2020-21: Kerala, Punjab, Chandigarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.
• No State or UT reached Level I, which requires more than 950 of 1,000 points.
• Four States and UTs had been at Level II in 2019-20, and none in 2017-18.
• Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh were the new entrants to the top band in 2020-21.
• Ladakh improved by 299 points in one year, moving from Level 8 to Level 4 — the largest single-year gain in the index.

• Assuming Delhi must be at the top because of its spending on schools. It did not reach the top band in this edition.
• Treating the index as a rank order. It is a set of graded bands, and several States share the top band.
• Carrying a level from one edition to another. The index was restructured after 2020-21.

As an odd-one-out among top performers, as a question on which body publishes the index, or as a statement item on its grade bands.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Performance Grading Index for States and Union Territories is published by which Ministry?

  • (a)Ministry of Education
  • (b)Ministry of Home Affairs
  • (c)NITI Aayog
  • (d)Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

  Answer(a) Ministry of Education — the index grades school education systems out of 1,000 points and places States and UTs in graded bands.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  In the Performance Grading Index 2020-21, the highest level actually attained by any State or Union Territory was

  • (a)Level I
  • (b)Level II
  • (c)Level III
  • (d)Level V

  Answer(b) Level II — seven States and UTs scored in the 901 to 950 band, and none crossed 950 into Level I.