Telangana improves rank in national learning survey 2024
Telangana's rank improved in PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024, formerly the National Achievement Survey, conducted by NCERT. The State ranked 26th in grades 3 and 6 and 17th in grade 9, against 36th in grade 3 in 2021. Jangaon was the only Telangana district among the country's 50 high performing districts, while Wanaparthy, Bhadradri Kothagudem and Mulugu were among the 50 low performing ones. The survey covered 3,342 schools in 33 districts on December 4, 2024.
Source
Jangaon — jobs · read the original report ↗
Desk check · compared with the source
What the desk checked (5)
- Telangana ranked 26th in grade 3 and grade 6 and 17th in grade 9, against 36th for grade 3 in 2021. — Figures appear in the source, attributed to the PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan report.
- Jangaon was the only Telangana district among the 50 high performing districts; Wanaparthy, Bhadradri Kothagudem and Mulugu were among the 50 low performing districts. — Stated in the source as report findings; no separate documentation cited.
- Over 21 lakh students in 781 districts across 28 States and eight UTs were assessed; Telangana's assessment covered 3,342 schools in 33 districts on December 4, 2024. — Numbers and date appear in the source text as survey details.
- Telangana has exited the bottom-10 performing States for all classes, with a 10 percentage point improvement in class 3 language and mathematics. — Directly quoted from School Education director E. Naveen Nicholas's statement.
- Teacher promotions, transfers, capacity building, monitoring and Foundational Literacy and Numeracy work contributed to the improvement. — Attributed to unnamed School Education Department officials.
Analysts’ view opinion
Telangana's jump from 36th to 26th in grade 3 is a real governance signal, but it is a move from the bottom band to the middle of the pack rather than an arrival. The department's own explanation — teacher promotions and transfers enabling rational deployment, capacity building, close monitoring and the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy push — is notable because these are administrative fixes rather than new spending headlines, which is usually where learning-outcome gains come from. The district spread, with only Jangaon among the country's 50 high performers and three districts among the 50 lowest, shows the State average is hiding wide internal inequality that a State-level rank cannot address.
- The headline gain is at the foundational stage — a reported 10 percentage point improvement in class 3 language and mathematics — which is where remediation policy is cheapest and compounds the most.
- Exiting the bottom-10 across all classes is a meaningful floor-raising outcome, but not being in the top-10 means the improvement is catch-up, not leadership.
- That State-managed government schools reportedly outperformed private and Central government schools in class 3 core subjects cuts against the common assumption that public schooling is the weak link, though the story gives no breakdown of student intake or sample composition.
- The one-high-performer, three-low-performer district split points to the classic Indian implementation problem: the policy exists statewide, the delivery capacity does not, so the next round of effort has to be district-targeted rather than uniform.
- Comparability is imperfect by design — 2021 tested grades 3, 5 and 8 while 2024 tested 3, 6 and 9, so the trend should be read as directional rather than a like-for-like scoreboard.
What to watch — Watch whether the State converts this into a district-differentiated plan for Wanaparthy, Bhadradri Kothagudem and Mulugu, and whether the class 3 gains hold at grade 6 and 9 in the next survey cycle three years on.
The story does not establish actual scores, the size of the gap to top-performing States, or any causal proof that the cited administrative measures — rather than other factors, including test design and sampling changes — produced the improvement.
Deep dive
Research brief · 8 facts · 3 dates · exam-readyThe brief
Context
PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan, formerly the National Achievement Survey (NAS), is a nationwide learning assessment conducted every three years by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). It tests learning competencies of students in grade 3 (foundational stage), grade 6 (preparatory stage) and grade 9 (middle stage). The 2024 edition assessed over 21 lakh students across 781 districts in 28 States and eight Union Territories. Telangana's results, released in July 2025, show the State moving out of the bottom-10 performing States across all assessed classes.
Key facts
- Telangana ranked 26th in grade 3 and grade 6, and 17th in grade 9, in PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024.
- Telangana was ranked 36th for grade 3 in the previous national survey of 2021, which covered grades 3, 5 and 8.
- Jangaon was the only Telangana district among the country's '50 high performing districts' across grades 3, 6 and 9.
- Wanaparthy, Bhadradri Kothagudem and Mulugu figured among the 50 low performing districts.
- In Telangana the assessment was held on December 4, 2024, in 3,342 schools across 33 districts.
- Nationally, over 21 lakh students were assessed in 781 districts of 28 States and eight Union Territories.
- School Education Director E. Naveen Nicholas said the results show Telangana has exited the bottom-10 performing States for all classes.
- The statement noted a clear 10 percentage point improvement in language and Mathematics scores for class 3 students.
Timeline
- 2021Previous national survey (NAS) conducted for grades 3, 5 and 8; Telangana ranked 36th in grade 3.
- December 4, 2024PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan assessment conducted in Telangana in 3,342 schools across 33 districts.
- July 09, 2025Report of Telangana's improved ranking published, with statement from the Director of School Education.
Who has a stake
- NCERT — Conducts the PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan every three years to assess learning competencies at foundational, preparatory and middle stages.
- Telangana School Education Department — Credited with teacher promotions, transfers, capacity building and monitoring that officials say improved outcomes; must sustain gains.
- Students of grades 3, 6 and 9 in Telangana — Their literacy and numeracy levels are measured; class 3 showed a 10 percentage point gain in language and Mathematics.
- Government schools under State management — Performed better than private and Central government schools in core subjects in class 3, per the department's note.
- Districts such as Jangaon, Wanaparthy, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Mulugu — Jangaon's high performance and the three districts' low performance mark intra-State learning disparities needing targeted support.
Why it matters
Large-scale learning surveys are the main evidence base for judging whether school systems are actually delivering literacy and numeracy, beyond enrolment numbers. Telangana's exit from the bottom-10 States, and a 10 percentage point jump in class 3 language and Maths, suggests administrative measures such as teacher deployment and Foundational Literacy and Numeracy work can shift outcomes. At the same time, three districts in the national bottom-50 show that State averages can hide sharp internal gaps.
UPSC angle
Prelims pointers
- PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan is the renamed National Achievement Survey (NAS), conducted by NCERT every three years.
- 2024 survey assessed grades 3 (foundational), 6 (preparatory) and 9 (middle stage) — aligned to the new stage-wise school structure.
- Coverage: over 21 lakh students, 781 districts, 28 States and 8 Union Territories.
- Telangana 2024 ranks: 26th (grade 3), 26th (grade 6), 17th (grade 9); was 36th in grade 3 in 2021.
- Telangana assessment date: December 4, 2024; 3,342 schools in 33 districts.
- Jangaon in top-50 districts; Wanaparthy, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Mulugu in bottom-50 districts.
Mains framing
Telangana's improvement in PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 — from 36th to 26th in grade 3 and 17th in grade 9 — illustrates how systemic school-administration reforms can translate into measurable learning gains. Departmental officials attribute the shift to teacher promotions and transfers that allowed appropriate teacher deployment, teacher capacity building, close monitoring, and implementation of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy and district-level academic support initiatives. Notably, State-managed government schools outperformed private and Central government schools in core class 3 subjects, questioning the assumption that private provision automatically means better learning. Yet the State remains neither in the top-10 nor the bottom-10 group, and while class 6 shows "encouraging signs of academic recovery", the department itself concedes that continued effort is needed to sustain gains and strengthen basic literacy and numeracy. The presence of Wanaparthy, Bhadradri Kothagudem and Mulugu among the country's 50 low performing districts, against Jangaon's top-50 showing, points to the way forward: district-differentiated interventions, sustained teacher support and periodic assessment-based course correction rather than reliance on aggregate State ranks.
Key terms
- PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan
- National learning survey, formerly the National Achievement Survey, held every three years to assess student learning competencies.
- NCERT
- National Council of Educational Research and Training, the body that conducts the national achievement survey.
- Foundational, preparatory and middle stage
- School stages assessed in the 2024 survey through grades 3, 6 and 9 respectively.
- Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN)
- Initiative to build basic reading and arithmetic skills in early grades, cited as contributing to Telangana's improvement.
- High/low performing districts
- Lists of the 50 best and 50 weakest districts nationally in the grades 3, 6 and 9 assessment.
Practice questions
- Large-scale learning assessments like PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan have shifted the focus of Indian education policy from access to learning outcomes. Discuss with reference to recent State-level findings.
- Telangana's government schools outperformed private and Central government schools in class 3 core subjects in the 2024 survey. What does this suggest about the drivers of learning outcomes in Indian schooling?
- Wide intra-State district disparities persist even where State ranks improve. Suggest measures to address district-level learning gaps in school education.
Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.