CHENNAI: By mid-March, the State Education department will know how Tamil Nadu has fared, in comparison to other States of India, in education. The State's Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) wing has appointed two independent consultants to review progress in education. The first draft will be ready in a month's time.

The two consultants R. Akila and R. Vidyasagar, who are assimilating data, will interpret the information and evaluate strategies employed currently. The review is part of a larger study commissioned by `Education for All' (EFA), a movement initiated by the UNESCO.

At the world conference on `Education for All' held in Thailand in 1990, delegates from 155 countries agreed to universalise primary education and increase levels of literacy. In April 2000, representatives from about 160 countries gathered in Dakar, Senegal, for the World Education Forum. They affirmed their commitment to the cause of `Education for All' by 2015.

Six primary goals were identified and the deadline for achieving them was set as 2015. The goals were: expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care, free access to good primary education, ensuring that learning needs of all young people and adults were met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programmes, achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy, gender equality and improving all aspects of the quality of education. In this EFA mid-decade assessment, each State would be reviewed independently. The results would be put together to assess the country's performance.

The UNICEF has been supporting the EFA effort of the State SSA wing. UNICEF'S project officer Aruna Rathnam said while Tamil Nadu was doing very well in improving access to education, being quality-conscious from the beginning would help. Sustenance of quality throughout middle school and high school was also vital. However, "The goals are imminently achievable for us," she said.

In the EFA Development Index (EDI) calculated in 2004 for about 125 countries, India was ranked 99th among other `Low EDI countries'. Performance in universal primary education, adult literacy, quality of education and gender equality were the parameters considered then.

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