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Public disclosures of student learning outcomes can incentivise performance, enhance parental choice and make schools more transparent and accountable
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India’s education system has primarily been shaped by an input-oriented approach. A school’s quality is often judged by visible cues, such as infrastructure, orderly classrooms, availability of teachers, and for higher levels, perhaps even the existence of a computer lab. While these facilities matter, they do not ascertain how fluently its children can read text or solve basic mathematical problems. Although learning data is collected through surveys such as the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) or PARAKH, aggregated at the district, state and national level, it does not give any information to parents on the quality of schools in and around their neighbourhood.
Board exams, the only standardised exams at school level, only cover about 20 percent of the schools. Hence, it is not possible to frame school quality through these exams. In any case, board pass percentages hardly reflect the everyday learning experiences and progress of younger students from their starting point.
If schools, both government and private, openly shared foundational literacy or grade-level proficiency annually, it would make learning visible, offering information to ask questions or exert choice to parents.
If schools, both government and private, openly shared foundational literacy or grade-level proficiency annually, it would make learning visible, offering information to ask questions or exert choice to parents. This kind of transparency is not a radical proposal, but a practice already common in many countries, and sectors. With National Education Policy’s (NEP) call for an independent regulator focused on quality and disclosure, school education in India is also inching toward this shift.
Poor learning outcomes have been an enduring challenge in the Indian education system, and progress over the past several years has been flat. According to recently released PARAKH data, 36 percent of children in Grade III cannot read a basic text, and 40 percent cannot solve basic mathematical problems. While not directly comparable, the findings in the National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 and 2017, also revealed that at least one in three children lacked the minimum required learning competencies (see Figure 1).
Source: Prepared by the author using PARAKH 2024, NAS 2021, and NAS 2017
This stagnation of learning outcomes occurs despite increasing government and household expenditure on education. Allocations for the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL) have been consistently rising, except for 2021–22 (COVID year), as shown in Figure 2:
Figure 2: Allocations and expenditure of DoSEL
Source: Rana, Kapur, and Tamang, Foundation for Responsive Governance, 2025
The Comprehensive Modular Survey (CMS, 2025), part of the 80th round of the National Sample Survey (NSS), reveals that the average household expenditure per student is INR 8,382 in rural areas and INR 23,470 in urban areas. While government schools are affordable, costing INR 2,639 per student in rural and INR 4,128 in urban settings, private schools impose heavier burdens, to the tune of INR 19,554 in rural and INR 31,782 in urban areas. Increasing reliance on private coaching adds additional expenses. About 30 percent students at middle and secondary stages take tuitions, with an average expenditure of INR 4,584 in rural areas, and INR 9,950 in urban areas, at the senior secondary level.
Several countries have implemented and reaped benefits from public disclosures on learning outcomes. It includes the United Kingdom's (UK) Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) online reports, Australia’s ‘My School Website’ and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s Knowledge and Human Development detailed reports on school quality. There is also evidence from the United States (UN) that the ‘No Child Left Behind’ Act increased average achievement in schools. Moreover, in India as well, the National Education Policy (NEP, 2020) has also advanced policy potential by proposing a State School Standards Authority (SSSA), which will serve as an independent regulator across schools. Section 8.5 (c) of NEP seeks a certain minimal quality standard on basic parameters, which shall be transparently and publicly self-disclosed for public oversight and accountability. Section 8.7 further states that public disclosure through school and SSSA websites should include overall student outcomes on standardised evaluations for both public and private schools. NITI Aayog rolled out the School Education Quality Index (SEQI) at the state level to sharpen the focus on learning outcomes and provide insights into the strengths and weaknesses of each state.
Evidence on the impact of public disclosure of learning outcomes has been mixed. An Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) study found little impact of accountability measures on educational outcomes in high-income countries. However, it displayed some positive effects in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) on academic performance in reading, mathematics, and science.
When teachers see the learning profiles of their students in a clear, structured way, they can adjust their teaching strategies, and, when Principals see grade-level trends, they can support targeted training or invest in specific resources.
In India, a pilot programme in Rajasthan saw significant improvements in private school students' test scores when households received information on inter- and intra-school quality. While public schools couldn't control structural issues such as teacher choice or resource allocation, these disclosures created market competition across schools and led to better outcomes the next academic year.
High-income countries' experiences reveal unintended consequences that need to be guarded against. For instance, public disclosures can lead to academic segregation, where teachers focus on retaining high-performing students or emphasize only tested subjects. Some studies show schools dodging accountability by reclassifying low-performing students into test-excludable categories like special education.
Therefore, models are not perfect, and India does not need to copy them blindly. However, they demonstrate offering schools incentives for improvement, informing parents and communities on learning acquisition and at the macro level - makes it harder for the system to hide behind input metrics alone. Therefore, India can learn and adapt from experiences of western countries on public disclosure of learning outcomes, integrating fair assessments that are not about policing or naming and shaming schools, but about building trust. Done right, transparency also strengthens the school’s internal culture too. When teachers see the learning profiles of their students in a clear, structured way, they can adjust their teaching strategies, and, when Principals see grade-level trends, they can support targeted training or invest in specific resources. Overall, public disclosures can be a resource-effective way to boost learning outcomes, school accountability, and parental choice.
Public disclosures can pose several risks. Teachers may be blamed for poor results, parents might misinterpret the data, and schools could engage in unhealthy competition, leading to potential manipulation of assessments. These concerns are important to address. One possible solution could be to avoid ranking schools altogether. Initially, reports can be shared with schools, block officers and State officials without making them public. So, if a school’s report suggests that Class 3 students are struggling with reading, a diagnostic follow-up should identify whether the causes are pedagogical or systemic, and then provide targeted support accordingly. Display scores include trends over time rather than one-off scores, so the focus is on improvement trajectories and not an individual year’s rank.
One possible solution could be to avoid ranking schools altogether. Initially, reports can be shared with schools, block officers and State officials without making them public.
Further, assessments themselves must also be carefully designed. Overly narrow tests lead to rote preparation. Broad-based assessments that measure comprehension, reasoning, and application can reduce the temptation to teach for the purpose of examinations. Results can be reported in bands (like emerging, developing, or outstanding), rather than precise ranks. Reporting of outcomes should be simple and available as easy-to-read dashboards.
It is essential to establish equity safeguards and monitor outcomes by gender and social group to determine whether disclosure is widening or narrowing gaps. Additionally, it is important to provide extra financing and support to schools serving the poorest communities. From time to time, studies should assess the impact of public disclosure on teacher morale and parental choices. These will help India avoid the traps of public disclosure observed in the high-income countries.
Before going national, India could pilot school-level public disclosure in a few states or districts, through phased, steady, carefully implemented changes. At its heart, the idea of schools publicly sharing learning outcomes is not about measurement, but the notion that learning data is a public good and a diagnostic tool that can drive better outcomes and enable demand for quality as well as informed school choice for parents. If equity safeguards are built in from the start, and disclosure is consistently paired with support rather than punitive consequences, a school-level transparency framework can become a tool for collaborative improvement rather than blame. Such a model, tested and refined through pilots, can offer India a credible, realistic pathway to a learning-focused accountability system.
Arpan Tulsyan is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for New Economic Diplomacy, Observer Research Foundation.
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Arpan Tulsyan is a Senior Fellow at ORF’s Centre for New Economic Diplomacy (CNED). With 16 years of experience in development research and policy advocacy, Arpan ...
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