Parliament Question: Learning loss among students in Odisha

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO- 2135 ANSWERED ON- 11/03/2026 Learning loss among students in Odisha 2135 Smt. Sulata Deo: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) whether the Ministry has conducted any assessment of learning loss among students in tribal and rural districts of Odisha post-pandemic; and (b) if so, the details thereof and corrective measures taken? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY) (a) & (b): The Government of India, undertakes large-scale assessments to measure learning outcomes in schools across the country from time to time. The National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 was conducted after schools reopened post-COVID to evaluate learning levels of students across Classes III, V, VIII and X, in Language, Mathematics, Environmental Studies (EVS), Science, Social Science and Modern Indian Language (MIL). NAS 2021 covered over 34 lakh students from 1.18 lakh schools, including Govt. schools, from across 720 districts in India, and served as a key diagnostic tool to identify changes in learning outcomes vis-à-vis previous rounds of NAS. National, State and District level reports from NAS 2021 are available at https://parakh.ncert.gov.in/nas-dashboard . More recently, PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 was conducted 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 under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in development of competencies among students at the end of the Foundational, Preparatory and Middle Stages (Grades 3, 6 and 9 respectively) of schooling. The report of PRS 2024 is available at https://parakh.ncert.gov.in/sites/default/files/2025- 07/REPORT_India_IND.pdf 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 key components of PM eVidya includes 200 DTH TV Channels. 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 and 400 Radio channels to enable all States/UTs to provide supplementaryeducation 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. Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA) the Nation’s digital infrastructure for providing quality e-content for school education in States/UTs and QR coded Energized Textbooks (ETBs) 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. The stakeholders have access to more than 300 Virtual Labs on DIKSHA. Also, the Union Budget 2025 includes a provision under the BharatNet project to extend broadband connectivity to government secondary schools in a phased manner. National Curriculum Framework for the Foundational Stage (NCF-FS) 2022 and National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023 integrate the mental well-being of students in different aspects such as syllabi development, development of content in learning and teaching material, pedagogical practices etc. Besides the above, ‘Manodarpan’, an initiative of the Ministry of Education (MoE) under the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, implemented and monitored by NCERT, aims at creating a safe and supportive environment for students to thrive both academically and emotionally. Several activities are undertaken through Manodarpan to promote mental health and well-being amongst students in schools. Additionally, 'Sahyog' sessions are conducted from Monday to Friday, offering live interactions with practicing counsellors for students in classes VI-XII. These are supplemented by 'Paricharcha' webinars on Fridays, featuring experts discussing mental health and well-being, which are broadcasted through PM e-Vidya channels and the NCERT Official YouTube Channel. In order to address stress, anxiety etc. among students, various initiatives such as sensitisation through talks in morning assembly, adolescence education programmes, yoga, games and sports, scouts and guides, NCC, Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat, Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan, Provision of 10 Bagless days for students and Kala Utsav etc. are also taken up by many schools. Students are also involved in setting up School Nutrition Gardens (SNGs) through which they learn life skills and remain connected to nature. Hon’ble Prime Minister conceptualised a unique interactive programme – ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha (PPC)’ wherein students, parents, teachers across the Nation and also from overseas interact with the Hon’ble Prime Minister to discuss and overcome the stress emerging from examinations in order to celebrate life as an Utsav. ****