New Delhi, October 21: India’s national school assessment body PARAKH has proposed a structured system of monthly classroom interventions and competency based assessments to help schools address learning gaps identified in the PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan (PRS) 2024. The initiative aims to move beyond measuring students’ academic performance and establish a continuous process for improving their understanding of core subjects.
The Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development (PARAKH), an assessment unit under the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), presented its intervention framework to more than 600 state and district education officials representing all states and Union Territories during workshops held in New Delhi between September 18 and 30. The framework seeks to translate national assessment findings into practical steps that teachers and local education authorities can implement in classrooms.
The proposed approach follows concerns over declining academic performance as students advance through different stages of schooling. Results from PRS 2024, released in July 2025, showed that average mathematics scores dropped from 60 per cent in Class 3 to 37 per cent in Class 9. Language performance also weakened as students progressed to higher grades.
The survey assessed more than 21.15 lakh students across 74,229 schools in 781 districts, covering Classes 3, 6 and 9. Its findings provided a broad picture of student competencies and highlighted the need for more focused teaching strategies.
PARAKH has emphasised that the survey results should be treated as indicators of areas requiring improvement rather than as final judgments on students, teachers or schools. The proposed framework encourages district authorities to identify specific competencies where learners are struggling and develop targeted plans suited to local requirements.
Monthly monitoring to guide classroom teaching
The framework outlines a five-stage monthly cycle designed to connect assessment results with everyday classroom practices.
The process begins with identifying weak competencies through an examination of national, state and district-level survey reports. Education officials and academic teams would then select priority learning areas and prepare intervention plans specifying objectives, responsibilities, timelines and methods for monitoring progress.
Teachers would implement the plans through focused lessons, additional practice, remedial exercises and learning materials adapted to students’ needs. At the end of each monthly cycle, students would undergo assessments designed to determine whether they had developed the targeted skills.
Schools would subsequently submit their results through standardised Google Forms circulated by district officials. State education authorities and State Councils of Educational Research and Training would review the information to assess progress and identify areas requiring further support.
The proposed assessment structure includes 18 questions covering six competencies for the preparatory stage and 30 questions addressing 10 competencies for the middle stage. Each competency would be assessed through three questions.
This system is intended to help teachers distinguish between students who have memorised information and those who can apply concepts independently. Regular assessments could also allow schools to identify persistent difficulties before they affect learning in subsequent grades.
Different strategies for different age groups
PARAKH has recommended that classroom interventions reflect students’ developmental stages instead of relying on a uniform teaching method across all classes.
At the foundational stage, covering pre-primary education through Class 2, the emphasis would be on developing literacy and numeracy through play-based activities, multisensory exercises and practical learning experiences. Small-group instruction could provide additional support to children who need more time to understand basic concepts.
The framework also encourages parental participation through take-home reading and numeracy activities. Such engagement could help children practise basic skills outside school and strengthen the connection between classroom learning and their home environment.
For Classes 3 to 5, suggested interventions include guided reading, vocabulary development, comprehension exercises and mathematics lessons focused on understanding concepts. Inquiry-based science activities, peer-assisted learning and age-appropriate digital resources could further support classroom participation.
At the middle stage, covering Classes 6 to 8, the framework recommends critical-reading discussions, research-based writing, logical reasoning and the application of mathematics to real-life situations. Coding, engineering projects, data interpretation, debates and digital-literacy exercises are also proposed as ways to develop analytical abilities.
The broader objective is to help students develop the confidence to explain ideas, solve unfamiliar problems and apply classroom knowledge in practical settings.
Role of district authorities and teachers
The framework assigns an important role to district education officers, block-level officials, teacher-training institutions and academic experts. These stakeholders would coordinate the identification of priority schools, support the preparation of intervention plans and monitor their implementation.
District teams are expected to review assessment findings alongside administrative information, including school infrastructure and teacher-related indicators. This could help authorities examine whether particular learning difficulties are associated with gaps in teaching support, learning resources or other school-level conditions.
The monthly review process is also intended to make interventions more responsive. If students demonstrate improvement, successful teaching practices could be continued or extended to additional schools. Where progress remains limited, authorities could revise the teaching approach or provide more intensive assistance.
PARAKH has also outlined medium- and long-term measures, including the development of an intervention handbook, a dynamic question bank and technology-supported learning resources. Policy briefs and online platforms for educators are among the proposed tools for sharing effective practices and informing future curriculum development.
Turning assessment into measurable improvement
The framework represents an effort to establish a closer relationship between student assessment and teaching decisions. Instead of treating survey results as isolated data, schools would use the findings to determine what students need to learn next and how their progress should be measured.
Its effectiveness will depend on whether teachers receive adequate training, schools have sufficient learning materials and education authorities use the collected data to provide meaningful support. Regular testing alone may not resolve learning difficulties unless the results lead to appropriate classroom changes.
The proposed model could give schools a clearer method for identifying weaknesses in mathematics, language and other subjects while enabling education officials to monitor progress at the district level.
The central challenge will be translating the framework into consistent classroom practice across schools with different levels of staffing, infrastructure and academic support. If implemented effectively, the monthly intervention cycle could help make assessment a practical tool for improving learning outcomes rather than simply recording student performance.