Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala which was among the best performers in the country in terms of the educational achievements, has started to lose its positions as per the annual Education Development Index (EDI) for 2012-13. The state, which was ranked first in 2007, is now ranked 14 among the states.
EDI is prepared by the National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA) on the basis of the statistics from the District Information of School Education (DISE). In 2011-12, Kerala was ranked seventh.
One of the findings of the EDI was that the southern states were well ahead of their northern counterparts in terms of implementation of Right to Education (RTE) Act. States are ranked in the EDI based on four parameters: access, infrastructure, teachers and outcome.
As per the index released in Delhi earlier this month, Kerala has lagged behind while its southern counterparts have gone up in the ranking.
Lakshadweep was ranked first followed by Puducherry which was second and Tamil Nadu in third place while Karnataka was fourth.
Sikkim is ranked fifth. Among the northern states, Punjab has recovered a lot of ground occupying the sixth position, a remarkable recovery from its 13th rank in 2011-12.
This composite Educational Development Index 2012-13 is based on the data collected from across 1.5 million schools, from 662 districts spread over 35 states and Union Territories.
This is the second time that the achievements of the State Government in the educational field has been found to be lagging. Earlier, the report on the mid-day meal programme prepared by the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) had also found that the State had only been able to utilize less than 50 percent of the money allotted during the first quarter of the present fiscal.
The report had found that the state had failed to effectively utilize the funds for MME (Management, Monitoring and Evaluation), transportation assistance, setting up of kitchen-cum-stores while procurement of kitchen devices were under utilized by the state.
