Context: 

Recently, the Education Ministry organized a workshop with the aim of unifying a network of 60 school examination Boards of various States and Union Territories under one umbrella. 

• The main component of this plan is PARAKH.
• A workshop on PARAKH will act as a common platform for interaction of all stakeholders concerned in order to develop a holistic approach that ensures a fair assessment system which promotes equity in performance and equivalence in assessment of students.

About PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development):

• It is the National Assessment Centre, which has been set up as an organization under the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
• Mandate: 
  1. To develop and validate standards of assessment for all school stages and curricular areas of school education, based on New Education Policy 2020.
  2. To provide technical guidelines and inputs for boards to design, develop, and implement state-wide systems for measuring student learning aligned with state and national curricular standards.
  3. To support examination boards regarding new assessment patterns (both for internal and external assessment), evaluation process, and practices, result in calculation and compilation, post-result practices, and the latest research.
  4. To manage India’s participation in international assessments like the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), or Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS).

News Source: The Hindu