Parliament Question: Digital Education in Schools

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2414 ANSWERED ON 03/08/2026 Digital Education in Schools 2414. Shri Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka: Shri Brijendra Singh Ola: Shri Ramasahayam Raghuram Reddy: Dr. Rajkumar Sangwan: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) whether it is a fact that the Government has allocated budget through various schemes to promote digital education in school education in the line with the National Education Policy, 2020 since the year 2018-19, if so, the details of the allocation and expenditure made in this regard, year-wise; (b) the total number of operational schools and the number of schools having access to computers, internet connectivity, smart classrooms and other digital learning infrastructure in schools functioning in rural and urban areas, State/UT-wise including Uttar Pradesh; (c) the number of teachers trained in digital pedagogy/digital teaching methodology and use of technology since 2018-19 as on date, State/UT-wise and year-wise; (d) whether the Government has taken additional steps or is aware of the existing digital divide in access to digital devices and internet connectivity/access among school students, particularly in rural and remote areas, if so, the actions taken to address the divide; and (e) whether the Government has conducted any assessment of the impact of digital education such PM e-Vidya, DIKSHA and other digital education initiatives on learning outcomes and if so, the details of the findings and future action plan in this regard? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY) (a): The Government has been promoting digital education in school education through various initiatives under Samagra Shiksha, in alignment with the objectives of the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020. Financial assistance is provided to States and Union Territories (UTs) under Samagra Shiksha for ICT infrastructure, including ICT Labs and Smart Classrooms, based on their Annual Work Plan & Budget (AWP&B) approved by the Project Approval Board (PAB). In addition, digital education initiatives such as DIKSHA and PM eVidya are implemented by the Ministry to provide equitable access to quality digital learning resources. The year-wise details of budget approved and expenditure under Samagra Shiksha for ICT Labs, Smart Classrooms and digital education initiatives since FY2018-19 are provided: (Rs. in crore) Year Approved Budget Expenditure* 2018-19 381.1 333.7 2019-20 267.3 150 2020-21 743.3 358.3 2021-22 1726.5 512.5Year Approved Budget Expenditure* 2022-23 1675.6 1679.9 2023-24 1468.7 1529.5 2024-25 1488.9 527.6 2025-26 3221.1 2714.1 *Expenditure includes Spillover progress (b): The number of operational schools along with the number of smart classrooms, computers and internet connectivity in Government schools across all States/UTs including Uttar Pradesh covering both urban and rural areas is annexed as Annexure 1. (c): The number of teachers trained in digital pedagogy/digital teaching methodology and use of technology is annexed as Annexure 2. (d): Ministry of Education implements ICT and Digital initiatives under Samagra Shiksha to enhance the quality of education by integrating modern technology into teaching and learning processes. Under the scheme, funds are provided for setting up ICT Labs and Smart Classrooms in Government and Government Aided Schools having classes VI to XII including those in rural and remote areas, according to the requirements of the State submitted in the Annual Work Plan & Budget (AWP&B). A comprehensive initiative called PM eVidya was initiated as part of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan on 17th May, 2020, which unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education across the country. States/UTs collaborate with NCERT to utilise, monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of these initiatives as per their requirements. NCERT also provides regular guidance/ feedback to States/UTs on the quality of these initiatives. The PM eVidya initiative includes 200 DTH TV channels and 400 Radio channels to enable all States/UTs to provide supplementary education in various Indian languages for Classes 1-12. Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA) is a One Nation, One Digital platform for providing quality e-content for school education in States/UTs along with QR coded Energised Textbooks (ETBs) for all grades. The platform supports both online and offline access, enabling learners to download content and continue learning without internet connectivity, ensuring equitable access for students. The Government of India, in the Budget 2025, has announced provision of broadband connectivity to all Government Secondary schools in rural areas, under the ‘BharatNet’ project to enhance digital infrastructure in remote and rural areas by BSNL in a phased manner. e): The PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 (formerly National Achievement Survey) was undertaken by the National Assessment Centre-PARAKH, NCERT under the aegis of the Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education to understand the baseline performance in development of competencies among the students at the end of the Foundational, Preparatory, and Middle stages (Grades 3, 6, and 9 respectively) of schooling. Nationwide over 21.15 lakh students and 2.70 lakh teachers and school leaders from more than 74,000 schools, in 781 districts participated in the assessment. To gain a comprehensive understanding of students’ educational backgrounds and to enable a more comprehensive interpretation of assessment findings, information on various contextual variables was also collected as part of the survey exercise. Such contextual variables included access to digital devices and the internet at home and school. National, State and District level reports from PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024, providing insights on achievement of stage-specific competencies and contextual variables affecting performance, are available at https://dashboard.parakh.ncert.gov.in/en, a dedicated dashboard designed to disseminate the findings of the assessment. ******ANNEXURE 1 ANNEXURE 1 REFERRED TO IN REPLY OF PART (B) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2414 RAISED BY SHRI SAPTAGIRI SANKAR ULAKA, SHRI BRIJENDRA SINGH OLA, SHRI RAMASAHAYAM RAGHURAM REDDY AND DR. RAJKUMAR SANGWAN HON’BLE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT ANSWERED ON 03.08.2026 REGARDING “DIGITAL EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS”. Number of Operational schools and schools with availability of Smart classroom, Computer facility and Internet connectivity with urban and rural divide. State/UT Total Smart classroom Computer Internet number of Facility connectivity operational Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural schools India 1466682 37941 285822 63280 609498 59006 575245 Andaman & Nicobar 411 25 116 33 264 29 180 Islands Andhra Pradesh 60843 2567 19311 3548 26994 4645 39091 Arunachal Pradesh 3159 70 441 126 806 68 576 Assam 55333 981 10807 1905 40162 1977 41798 Bihar 95285 777 8115 1977 26776 4093 65714 Chandigarh 208 116 0 116 0 116 0 Chhattisgarh 57036 1116 11151 2210 26645 2568 35180 Daman & Diu and Dadra 426 30 260 32 321 32 321 & Nagar Haveli Delhi 5643 1940 0 2687 0 2688 0 Goa 1473 20 93 41 165 111 660 Gujarat 53425 2671 22354 3146 30696 3164 30659 Haryana 23479 1116 5522 1807 12351 1328 9529 Himachal Pradesh 17064 367 8011 455 11943 334 8639 Jammu & Kashmir 24228 361 2422 644 5559 577 7973 Jharkhand 44378 532 5061 1544 28302 1082 19898 Karnataka 74578 1886 8842 3764 17336 3071 14936 Kerala 15750 688 2752 938 3857 861 3485 Ladakh 883 20 336 28 450 22 373 Lakshadweep 34 0 33 0 34 0 34 Madhya Pradesh 119694 1950 11358 4343 53317 2640 31219 Maharashtra 108139 4557 42993 5264 43254 4979 39241 Manipur 4662 96 289 156 628 120 693 Meghalaya 11462 30 136 78 576 119 1922 Mizoram 3965 168 151 619 1603 503 1187 Nagaland 2715 133 494 234 1541 147 864 Odisha 61594 1373 15365 2271 38972 2190 37503 Puducherry 770 137 183 177 242 177 242 Punjab 27233 1826 15526 1990 17192 1847 15492 Rajasthan 106445 1518 15729 2351 26940 2781 42763 Sikkim 1213 26 539 28 739 25 348 Tamil Nadu 57566 5066 26255 5975 31543 5957 31285 Telangana 41762 2104 7753 4939 20490 3917 15535 Tripura 4964 146 863 248 2794 156 1534 Uttar Pradesh 265278 2047 35403 4590 109194 2813 55699 Uttarakhand 22437 699 5092 1128 13987 830 9902 West Bengal 93147 782 2066 3888 13825 3039 10770 Source: UDISE+ FY2025-26ANNEXURE 2 ANNEXURE 2 REFERRED TO IN REPLY OF PART (C) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2414 RAISED BY SHRI SAPTAGIRI SANKAR ULAKA, SHRI BRIJENDRA SINGH OLA, SHRI RAMASAHAYAM RAGHURAM REDDY AND DR. RAJKUMAR SANGWAN HON’BLE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT ANSWERED ON 03.08.2026 REGARDING “DIGITAL EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS”. Number of teachers trained in digital pedagogy/digital teaching methodology and use of technology since FY2020-21, State/UT-wise State/UT 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023- 2024- 2025-26 24 25 Andaman & Nicobar Islands 3613 5448 717 376 4553 7144 Andhra Pradesh 106278 31385 9035 9605 8753 14275 Arunachal Pradesh 6324 1811 2110 141 1755 1644 Assam 5779 58117 25599 416 7034 11044 Bihar 306449 291074 9748 372 97042 74189 Chandigarh 5351 4241 2426 140 8836 8097 Chhattisgarh 115630 58297 7196 398 9836 15064 Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar 144 675 1360 65 1838 1257 Haveli Delhi 57592 20556 4634 1840 38122 54668 Goa 478 14724 526 4177 16392 32945 Gujarat 118391 150072 1187 606 21489 27417 Haryana 72102 42864 3299 874 107489 56223 Himachal Pradesh 5403 24663 7455 293 16435 14107 Jammu & Kashmir 97141 84882 1483 401 6443 7890 Jharkhand 96740 61137 1513 313 69370 53116 Karnataka 166774 17323 20214 3733 22844 33288 Kerala 7812 2915 1713 2135 40647 50100 Ladakh 55 3951 78 989 628 956 Lakshadweep 14 667 16 24 146 127 Madhya Pradesh 263154 179574 12937 1652 31438 25477 Maharashtra 68397 41259 69644 1853 91029 79857 Manipur 11652 11742 1012 108 1861 1748 Meghalaya 22041 6698 418 300 1809 1520 Mizoram 2473 3814 245 141 721 4018 Nagaland 1430 8415 3235 188 8564 931 Odisha 181806 25033 75725 1066 10090 9238 Puducherry 3581 2567 94 61 2364 2146 Punjab 10673 5260 7143 1549 63242 63061 Rajasthan 190070 228998 25424 665 85714 102007 Sikkim 413 8537 435 260 3552 1854 Tamil Nadu 6687 2453 2334 1992 48488 30452 Telangana 2980 75735 31273 448 16618 22519 Tripura 17494 196 138 74 1049 1272 Uttar Pradesh 536722 183649 3469 1899 62845 75298 Uttarakhand 4522 64896 931 709 11776 24591 West Bengal 10850 6284 1545 551 14602 10613 Total 2507015 1729912 336311 40414 935414 920153