A government survey conducted by the Ministry of Education in 2021 has found that the performance of Delhi students in classes 3 and 5 in Language, Mathematics and Environmental Science was below the national average.

The performance of Delhi students of classes 8 and 10 was better than the national average, according to the National Achievement Survey (NAS).

The NAS was conducted throughout the country for classes 3, 5, 8 and 10 on November 12 last year.

About 34 lakh students of 1.18 lakh schools in both rural and urban areas in 720 districts participated in the survey. The last NAS was held in 2017.

The national mean score for all levels (classes 3, 5, 8 and 10) and subjects was also found to be lower than that of the previous National Achievement Survey conducted in 2017.

The NAS covered government, government-aided and private schools. The subjects covered were language, mathematics and EVS for classes 3 and 5; language, mathematics, science and social science for class 8 and language, mathematics, science, social science and english for class 10.

The achievement tests along with the questionnaires — pupil questionnaire, teacher questionnaire and school questionnaire — were developed and translated in 22 different languages by NCERT.

This nationwide survey was administered by the CBSE in one single day at the same time. The survey was managed through the technology platform designed and developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC).

The survey report highlighted that the average performance of students in all subjects declined as they progressed from class to class. For instance, the average performance of students at the national level was 306 (in scaled score out of 500) in Mathematics in class 3. It declined to 284 in class 5; 255 in class 8; and to 220 in class 10.

The average performance of students at the national level in language stood at 323 (in scaled score out of 500) in class 3. It declined to 309 in class 5, and 302 in class 8. In class 10, the language section was divided into two parts, modern Indian Languages and English, for which the national average remained 266 and 277, respectively.

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