State-owned schools will be monitored in Jharkhand on quality parameters of different aspects as part of a comprehensive evaluation aimed at holistic improvement in school and academics.

The assessment would be done through Project IMPACT (Institutional Development Mentoring for Perfect Amenities and Child Behaviour Transformation).

“Schools had been asked to comply with Project IMPACT last year itself. However, the monitoring of the project began on March 14. We have constituted a 20-member team which will be assessing the schools based on parameters set in the Project IMPACT,” said state director Jharkhand Education Project Council (JEPC) Aditya Ranjan.

Incidentally, Aditya Ranjan had started Project IMPACT and Project RAIL (Regular Assessment for Improved Learning) while he was the deputy commissioner of Koderma in Jharkhand which made the district top the matriculation and intermediate exam chart.

This would be the first instance when all the government schools in Jharkhand would be assessed on quality parameters since the state was carved out of Bihar in 2000.

“This is a self-comprehensive evaluation campaign. In this, schools have to fill the form given by JEPC for self-evaluation based on several parameters. Some of the parameters include regular conduct of cleanliness of the campus, reconstruction, green campus, sports infrastructure and activities, quality of education, attendance of teachers, school-level committees, daily morning meetings, discipline in the class, maintenance of the school, cultural and extra-curricular activities and tagging school activities with villages,” said a JEPC official.

It will also assess innovative methods and study materials used by teachers for students and also assess students reaching school in time and in uniform and general civic manners and upkeep of students.

“Both these campaigns not only improved the educational system of government schools of Koderma but also saw an increase in the enrollment of children in schools and are being replicated across the state,” said the official.

“A spirit of competition will be awakened within government schools through Project Impact. Each school will try to score better marks than other government schools and will try to meet all the standards set in this direction. This campaign will be reviewed every quarter and government schools performing excellently will also be encouraged," said Aditya Ranjan.