In a glaring revelation that underscores the deep-rooted challenges in Gujarat’s public education system, a dismal 1% of government schools—only 524 out of a staggering 40,298—managed to secure an A+ grade under the state’s much-publicised school accreditation initiative, Gunotsav 2.0.
This marginal uptick from the previous year’s tally of 413 A+ schools does little to mask the broader inadequacies plaguing the sector. The paltry number includes 383 government primary schools and ashram shalas—newly introduced schools for tribal children in the academic year 2024-25—and only 141 secondary and higher secondary institutions.
The new accreditation method has reportedly blurred key quality benchmarks. In 2023-24, the framework was tweaked to include state schemes like Gyan Setu and Gyan Sadhana. Their weightage jumped from 17% to 30%. Meanwhile, core areas such as teaching, co-curriculars, and management were reduced to less than half.
The decision to inflate the influence of these schemes was defended by Prakash Trivedi, director of the Gujarat Council of Educational Research and Training (GCERT), who explained to a national daily that the inclusion was justified since the Common Entrance Test (CET) for these schemes was conducted by the State Examination Board (SEB), a body that he described as a form of third-party evaluation. According to him, this gave the process added legitimacy.
The broader outcome of this recalibration is revealing. While there was little improvement in the top-performing A+ category, schools graded A (a notch below A+) more than doubled—from 2,558 in 2023-24 to 5,864 in the current academic year. Under the new 30% weightage regime, schools are assessed based on metrics such as the number of CET forms submitted, students who passed the CET, and those who made it to the merit list. Notably, these schemes cater to students from both government and private institutions, ranging from Classes VI to XII for Gyan Setu, and Classes IX to XII for Gyan Sadhana.
Originally launched in 2009 by then Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Gunotsav was envisioned as a comprehensive mechanism to assess government schools and their students. It underwent a transformation into Gunotsav 2.0 in 2019-20, expanding its scope and integrating digital tools. Four rounds of accreditation for primary schools and two for secondary and higher secondary schools have been conducted so far. Schools now receive their accreditation report cards online, ostensibly in a move towards transparency.
In 2023-24, school inspectors conducted external evaluations. This follows the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 guidelines. Efforts are also on to make accreditation results publicly accessible.
