<span style="color: #222222;">Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has said that India's preparation for the Programme for International Student Assessment, PISA 2021 exam is in full swing. <br />''<br />''The Minister hoped that India will perform its best on international platforms. He was interacting with Division Head and Coordinator of the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment, PISA, Andreas Schleicher in New Delhi today. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Mr. Nishank said students of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti and Union Territory of Chandigarh will represent India in this examination. He said, India represents around 18 percent of the world population, therefore no global target can be achieved without India. He said the examination is an important platform to bring global recognition to Indian talent. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Mr. Nishank said, there is no dearth of competence, discipline and talent among Indian students, but the need is that they get the right direction and guidance. He expressed his gratitude towards OECD help for PISA preparations. The Minister urged Director PISA to make exam bilingual so that participants from other countries can also perform better on the world level. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Mr. Nishank said that the PISA examination is not far now, so its preparation should be on war footing mode. He directed Ministry officials for periodic review at a higher level for better monitoring of PISA preparations so that India can perform excellent in the competition.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> <br />'' It was the first-ever meeting of HRD Minister with PISA coordinator to discuss the preparations of INDIA for PISA 2021. An officer from the World Bank and senior officials of Ministry were also present during the meeting.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"><br />'' Mr. Andreas Schleicher reviewed the preparations of India towards PISA 2021 and appreciated India's efforts in this direction. He expressed happiness over India's enthusiasm and hard work for the PISA examination. He also expressed satisfaction on various initiatives being taken by Ministry and CBSE in introducing reforms in the examination system and march towards competency-based learning. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">He promised HRD Minister to provide OECD help in the preparations for PISA competition. He said that India has a very good environment for the development of education and all the relevant stakeholders are doing great in this direction. He said that India has a great potential to perform better in upcoming PISA 2021 examination. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">During the meeting, Mr. Schleicher pointed out that for the betterment of education in any country, teachers, parents and media should be more aware and responsible. He said that these three groups can change the scenario of education in any country. He offered his assistance for teachers training and to help in providing special tools which can assess the quality of teachers. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">He also offered HRD Minister to send a team to Paris to understand the whole exam process of PISA and ensured support of OECD to help the team. While talking about the PISA examination, he said that there is need to change the old patterns of exams. He said, promoting rote learning should be avoided and emphasized the need to ask more practical questions in exams, especially in Math and Science.</span><br />''