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PARAKH has been launched as part of the implementation of the  National education policy 2020 that envisaged a standard-setting body to advise school boards regarding new assessment patterns and latest research, and promote collaborations between them.

About

▪️It will act as a constituent unit of the NCERT.

▪️It will also be tasked with holding periodic learning outcome tests like the National Achievement Survey (NAS) and State Achievement Surveys.

▪️It will work on three major assessment areas: large-scale assessments, school-based assessment, and examination reforms.

Objective:

▪️Uniform Norms & Guidelines: Setting norms, standards and guidelines for student assessment and evaluation for all recognized school boards of India.

▪️Enhance Assessment Pattern: It will encourage and help school boards to shift their assessment patterns towards meeting the skill requirements of the 21st century.

▪️Reduce Disparity in Evaluation: It will bring uniformity across the state and central boards which currently follow different standards of evaluation, leading to wide disparities in scores.

▪️Benchmark Assessment: The benchmark assessment framework will seek to put an end to the emphasis on rote learning, as envisaged by the  National Education policy 2020