Bhubaneswar: Development Commissioner (DC) Anu Garg Friday highlighted the importance of creating an IT-enabled monitoring system to track every child’s educational journey from Shishu Vatika (pre-primary) through to Class XII. Garg suggested while addressing the second State Task Force meeting on the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The meeting reviewed the coordinated efforts made by various departments across the state for the systematic rollout of NEP 2020, and focused on several key initiatives. The DC also stressed the importance of outcome-based strategies, the establishment of a comprehensive IT monitoring system, and the promotion of Multilingual Education (MLE).
During the meeting, various participating stakeholders were informed that collaborative training programmes for teachers engaged in Shishu Vatikas were successfully conducted with the support of NCERT and RIE, Bhubaneswar. These efforts were complemented by the development and statewide distribution of new workbooks and teacher handbooks. The Directorate of Teacher Education and the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) are also being strengthened to play a more significant role in curriculum design, textbook development, and teacher training from the pre-primary level through Class XII, in alignment with NCERT guidelines.
Additionally, a special house-to-house survey campaign launched in May 2025 aims to identify school dropouts and children with special needs (CwSN) and assess multilingual education requirements. The objective is to prevent dropouts and re-engage out-of-school children in accordance with NEP 2020 mandates. The introduction of the Holistic Progress Card (HPC) for students from Class I to VIII, set to begin in the 2024–25 academic year, will focus on assessing creativity, critical thinking, and life skills. Odisha has made significant progress in foundational education, establishing over 45,000 pre-primary Shishu Vatika classrooms.
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Initiatives such as the ‘Sikhayan Sopan’ Assessment Register and technology-enabled learning through platforms like the e-Jaadui Pitara app, along with the provision of teaching-learning materials, teacher handbooks, and workbooks, are being actively implemented. The state is also promoting flagship education schemes, including PM SHRI and the Godabarisha Mishra Adarsha Prathamik Vidyalaya model schools.
