Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan presented a four-point action plan to enhance Odisha’s education system during a review meeting in Bhubaneswar. The meeting concentrated on implementing the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the state’s readiness for new textbooks in line with the national curriculum. Pradhan emphasized the importance of initiatives like NIPUN Bharat and FLN, urging officials to prioritize foundational literacy and numeracy.
Pradhan also recommended promoting mother-tongue-based education up to Class V, enhancing the PM-POSHAN scheme for student nutrition, and expanding the 10 bagless school days per year for Classes VI to X as per NEP 2020. Odisha is developing 55 new textbooks for Classes I to VIII, aligned with NEP 2020 and reflecting local needs and culture. SCERT has translated and contextualized these textbooks, set to be introduced in schools from the academic year 2026–27.
To facilitate the rollout, 1,000 Master Resource Persons have been trained in four zones of the state. These individuals will subsequently train over 1.66 lakh primary teachers from relevant departments at the district level, ensuring effective implementation of the new curriculum.
