West Bengal ranks first among larger states in primary education

The honour for the state came a day after the UNESCO added the state's Durga Puja to its 'Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity', a first of its kind in Asia.

According to an official release, West Bengal topped the chart while Bihar languished at the bottom in the 'large states' category in the 'Index on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy' -- an indicator of literacy among children below 10 years. In the 'small states' category, Kerala grabbed the top spot and Jharkhand was adjudged the worst performer in the index.

Congratulating the parents and the teachers of the state, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted: "Great news for West Bengal! We have secured the top rank among larger states on the Foundational Literacy & Numeracy Index. I congratulate all teachers, guardians and members of our Education Department for this outstanding achievement!"

There were four categories in which the regions were divided -- large states, small states, Northeast and Union Territories. The report on the 'Index on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy' was prepared by the 'Institute for Competitiveness'.

The index includes five pillars comprising 41 indicators. The five pillars are -- educational infrastructure, access to education, basic health, learning outcomes, and governance. The statement said that out of the five pillars, it has been observed that states have performed particularly poorly in governance.

"More than 50 per cent of the states have scored below the national average, i.e. 28.05, the lowest across all pillars," the statement said.

"The top-scoring regions are Kerala (67.95) and West Bengal (58.95) in small and large states category, respectively," the EAC-PM statement said.

Lakshadweep (52.69) and Mizoram (51.64) are top-scoring regions in the Union Territory and Northeast state category, respectively. 

As far as worst performers are concerned, Ladakh has featured at the bottom of the list of UTs, while Arunachal Pradesh came last in the Northeast category.