In a significant move to enhance educational standards, the state of Uttar Pradesh is rolling out a comprehensive, fully digital system for evaluating its government-run basic and secondary schools. Announced on Thursday, this new framework aims to shift the focus from punitive inspections to supportive guidance and continuous development.
A Paradigm Shift in School Assessment
Additional Chief Secretary for Basic and Secondary Education, Partha Sarthi Sen Sharma, detailed the initiative at a state-level workshop in Lucknow. He emphasized that the School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Framework (SQAaF) is designed not to discourage schools but to empower them. "This framework is not merely an assessment document, but one that guides schools to establish themselves in line with global quality standards," Sharma stated. The system aligns with the principles of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Core Components: Standards and Digital Mechanism
The SQAaF model is built on two fundamental pillars. The first is the 'mechanism,' which ensures the entire assessment process is transparent, digital, and user-friendly. This digital approach is intended to remove compliance hurdles for schools.
The second pillar is 'standards.' These are crafted to provide clear evaluation parameters that are easily understood by all stakeholders involved in a child's education.
The key stakeholders include:
- School Principals
- Teachers
- Students
- Parents
Focus on Holistic Development
The evaluation under SQAaF will be broad and multifaceted, moving beyond just academic scores. It will scrutinize several critical areas to ensure the all-round growth of students.
The assessment parameters will cover:
- Curriculum and teaching processes
- School-community participation and social impact
- Co-curricular activities
This holistic approach is designed to measure the complete learning ecosystem of a school.
Echoing the supportive spirit of the framework, Director General of School Education, Monika Rani, highlighted the importance of a positive learning environment. She reinforced that teachers are guides, not just instructors, and assured that SQAaF would be implemented with a sensitive and collaborative approach. The two-day workshop inaugurated on Thursday aims to train and prepare educationists for the smooth adoption of this new digital evaluation system across Uttar Pradesh.
