A two-day State-level residential orientation programme on the Performance Grading Index (PGI) began on Monday at the Dr. MCR HRD Institute here.The programme, scheduled for July 20 and 21, brings together seven-member teams from each district to strengthen understanding of the PGI framework, indicators, data requirements and planning for school education. Each team comprises the District Education Officer (DEO), District Quality Coordinator, District Planning Coordinator, Assistant Statistical Coordinator, one Mandal Educational Officer, one School Complex Headmaster and one Cluster Resource Person.Secretary (Education) Yogita Rana inaugurated the programme virtually, and said Telangana improved its national PGI ranking from 28th in 2024-25 to 18th in 2025-26 and called for coordinated efforts to achieve a single-digit national rank in the next assessment.She asked district officials to focus on data collection, verification and validation, review indicator-wise performance, and prepare district action plans. She also stressed implementation of the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Mission and regular monitoring of schools. Ms. Rana appreciated Jangaon and Mancherial districts for securing the top positions in Telangana under the District PGI framework and encouraged other districts to study, contextualise and adopt their best practices.Director of School Education, E. Naveen Nicolas said DEOs are responsible for the quality of data submitted under the PGI process. He asked districts to organise orientation programmes on PGI indicators and data management.The two-day programme includes sessions on analysing district performance, identifying gaps, studying practices from other districts, and preparing action plans for learning outcomes, infrastructure, governance and monitoring. Published - July 20, 2026 07:21 pm IST