Parliament Question: Digital Learning

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 7 ANSWERED ON 21/07/2025 Digital Learning Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has any vision or plan to introduce digital learning in schools of the country including Tamil Nadu; (b) if so, the details thereof; and (c) the extent to which the Government proposes to move in this direction? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (Shri Jayant Chaudhary) (a) to (c) National Education Policy (NEP) (para 4.23) mentions that certain subjects, skills, and capacities should be learned by all students including digital literacy, coding, and computational thinking which are promoted through various digital initiatives. 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 including the State of Tamil Nadu. The PM eVidya initiative is supported through budget allocated under Samagra Shiksha scheme and implemented with the support of NCERT. The components of these initiatives are available to all the students across all the States/UTs free of cost. Since education in in the concurrent list, all States/UTs including the State of Tamil Nadu collaborate with NCERT to utilise, monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of these initiatives including digital learning as per their requirements. NCERT provides regular feedback on quality of these initiatives. The key components of PM eVidya are also aligned towards enhancing digital literacy and include: • DTH TV Channels: These channels were launched on 9th March 2024 by Hon’ble Education Minister. As per the Union Budget announcement for Financial Year 2022-23, the 12 DTH Channels have been expanded to 200 PM eVidya DTH TV Channels to enable all States/UTs to provide supplementary education in various Indian languages including for classes 1-12. The channels have been allocated to the States/UTs and Autonomous Bodies under an MoU with NCERT and are operational. The State of Tamil Nadu has been allocated 5 channels (Ch No. 158 to 162) to offer high quality education content in Tamil/local regional languages, however the State is yet to sign Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NCERT to utilise these allocated channels. A dedicated Tamil language TV channel as part of the PM eVidya initiative (Channel no. 34) has been launched to facilitate learning Indian languages on July 29, 2024. Further, on 6th December 2024, in consonance with the NEP 2020 recommendation for promotion of Indian Sign Language (ISL) and to ensure extensive reach of the teaching learning material in ISL to awider audience, Hon’ble Minister of Education launched a dedicated initiative promoting inclusive education through accessible learning resources for the hearing-impaired community through a dedicated PM eVidya DTH Channel (Channel no. 31). Special e-content for visually and hearing impaired developed on Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY) and in sign language on NCERT/NIOS website and YouTube channels. One hour of content on Digital Literacy is broadcasted by NCERT daily on DTH Channels and YouTube to enhance the digital literacy of students and teachers in rural areas. • DIKSHA the nation’s digital infrastructure for providing quality e-content for school education in States/UTs and QR coded Energised Textbooks for all grades (One Nation, One Digital platform). Overall 564.05 crore learning sessions have been completed on DIKSHA by students, teachers and other stakeholders. Further, the courses on Computer Sciences on DIKSHA platform for Class XIth and Class XIIth include Digital Literacy components. In keeping with the recommendation of the NEP 2020, 117 Indian Language Primers have been released with a focus on enabling young learners and adults to access education in their mother tongue, including one Primer for Tamil. To promote crucial critical thinking skill and to give space for creativity, more than 300 Virtual Labs have been created and made available on DIKSHA platform. Education is part of Concurrent List of the Constitution and most of the Government schools are under the administration of the State Government and its bodies. Ministry of Education implements ICT and Digital initiatives under Samagra Shiksha to enhance digital learning in Government schools across the country, including rural areas in Tamil Nadu. The initiatives aim to enhance the quality of education by integrating technology into teaching and learning processes. Under the initiatives, funds are provided for setting up ICT Labs and Smart Classrooms according to the requirement of State submitted in the Annual Work Plan & Budget (AWP&B). The ICT scheme offers two options: 1. Option I: Schools without prior ICT facilities can choose ICT labs or smart classrooms. Schools with over 700 students may get an additional ICT lab. States/UTs can procure hardware, software, tablets, laptops, and training resources, supporting digital boards, virtual classrooms, and DTH channels. 2. Option II: Schools with existing ICT facilities can access smart classrooms or tablets under the scheme norms. ICT Coverage in Tamil Nadu: 1. ICT Labs have been established in all Government Middle, High, and Higher Secondary Schools - comprising 6,995 schools under Elementary Education and 6,223 schools under Secondary Education. 2. Smart Classrooms have been set up in 22,066 Government Primary Schools through State fund. 3. Smart Classrooms have also been established in 865 Government High and Higher Secondary Schools, sanctioned under fund from MoE. 4. Internet Connectivity has been ensured across 21,350 Government Primary Schools, in addition to all 6,995 Middle Schools and all 6,223 High and Higher Secondary Schools. ************