Bihar has registered one of the sharpest improvements in the Centre's latest Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0, moving from 507 to 564.8 points in 2025-26 and entering the Akanshi-1 grade despite continuing challenges in school infrastructure.
Released by the Department of School Education and Literacy under the Ministry of Education, the PGI report for 2025-26 evaluates states and Union Territories on 70 indicators using data from UDISE+, Parakh Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024, PM Poshan and other government portals.
According to the Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0 report, Bihar improved its overall performance even though Infrastructure and Facilities remained its weakest-performing domain.
The state recorded strong performances in equity, access to education and teacher education, while also scoring higher than several states in the Learning Outcomes and Quality domain.
What Is The Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0?
The Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0 is an evidence-based assessment framework developed by the Ministry of Education to evaluate the performance of school education systems across states and Union Territories.
The index was first introduced in 2017 and revamped in 2021 to align with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
PGI 2.0 measures the performance of states and Union Territories using 70 indicators grouped under two broad categories—Outcomes and Governance & Management—which are further divided into six domains. States and Union Territories are scored out of 1,000 points and placed in one of 10 performance grades, ranging from Daksh, the highest category, to Akanshi-3, the lowest.
Learning is assessed under the Learning Outcomes and Quality domain, one of the six domains of the Performance Grading Index. The assessment is based on data from government platforms, including the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+), PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024, PM POSHAN Portal, PRABANDH Portal and the Vidyanjali Portal.
What Helped Bihar Improve Despite Poor School Infra?
Bihar's strongest performance came in the Equity domain, where it scored 221.5 out of 260 points and secured the Uttam-1 grade. The report says the state substantially narrowed performance gaps between boys and girls, rural and urban students, and general and scheduled categories.
The state also secured the Uttam-3 grade in Access to Education, scoring 54.7 out of 80 points, and in Teacher Education and Training, scoring 67 out of 100 points. The report also shows Bihar performing better than Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the Learning Outcomes and Quality domain.
What Is Holding Bihar Back?
Infrastructure and Facilities remains Bihar's weakest-performing domain in the Performance Grading Index. The state scored 64.8 out of 190 points and received the Prachesta-3 grade. The report highlights shortages of ICT computer labs, smart classrooms and specialised infrastructure for Children with Special Needs (CWSN).
Bihar's education budget has increased from Rs 4,366 crore in 2005 to Rs 77,690 crore in 2025. However, data from the National Family Health Survey between 2005 and 2021 show that the state has consistently ranked at or near the bottom on indicators such as female school attendance and child malnutrition.
The report also notes that Bihar recorded the lowest score among Indian states in the UNDP Human Development Index 2022.
What Does the Report Say About the Future?
Nationally, Chandigarh was the only state or Union Territory to reach the Uttam-3 category. No state or UT entered the top three tiers- Utkarsh, Uttam-1 or Uttam-2 - indicating that school education across the country still has considerable room for improvement.
Reacting to the findings, Bihar Education Minister Mithilesh Tiwari told The Indian Express, "It's heartening to see that we're doing well with learning outcomes and equity, but we're aware of concerns over infrastructure and governance. We're planning to send our teams to some states to learn best practices. In the coming year or so, one should see a marked change in the Bihar education system."
