Parliament Question: Promotion of Digital Education in Rural Areas

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2324 ANSWERED ON 04/08/2025 Promotion of Digital Education in Rural Areas 2324. Smt. Geniben Nagaji Thakor: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has taken concrete steps to promote digital education in rural and remote areas of the country; (b) if so, the details of such initiatives launched during the last three years; (c) the number of schools in rural India that have access to functional internet and digital infrastructure; (d) whether there are plans to provide training for teachers in the use of digital teaching tools and platforms; and (e) the timeline by which the Government aims to ensure 100 percent digital access in rural Schools? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY) (a) to (e) Education is part of the Concurrent List of the Constitution and most of the Government schools are under the administration of the State Government and its bodies. The Ministry of Education implements ICT and Digital initiatives under Samagra Shiksha to enhance digital learning in Government schools across the country, including rural areas. 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 requirements of the 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. 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 are also aligned towards enhancing digital literacy and include 200 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, 12 DTH channels have been expanded to 200 PM eVidya DTH TV channels and 400 Radio channels to enable all States/UTs to provide supplementary education in various Indian languages for classes 1-12. The channels have been allocated to the States/UTs and Autonomous Bodies. States/UTs are empowered to create and disseminate content in regional/local languages. Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA) is the Nation’s digital infrastructure for providing quality e-content for school education in States/UTs and QR coded Energised 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. To promote crucial critical thinking skills and to give space for creativity, more than 300 Virtual Labs have been created and made available on the DIKSHA platform. To saturate all secondary and higher secondary schools with ICT Labs and Smart Classrooms, a Supplementary Project Approval Board (PAB) meeting was held on 28th May 2025. A total of 20,456 ICT Labs and 29,896 Smart Classrooms have been approved, with financial approval of Rs. 911.13 crore for ICT Labs and Rs. 630.38 crore for Smart Classrooms under Samagra Shiksha, in addition to earlier approval of 1,56,213 ICT Labs and 1,46,040 Smart Classrooms. Also, the Union Budget 2025 includes a provision under the BharatNet project to extend broadband connectivity to government secondary schools in rural areas in a phased manner through BSNL. NCERT, has been actively conducting webinars and online training to enhance teachers’ competencies in using digital technology and ICT for teaching, learning, and assessment. Since 2020, over 1,146 webinars have been held, focusing on digital tools, ICT integration, and cyber safety. Online training series on NEP 2020’s recommendations on ET and ICT, and the development of e-content are also conducted. Regular monthly training on Cyber Safety has been conducted since October 2021, benefitting over 8 lakh learners between 2022 and 2025. Additionally, Continuous Professional Development (CPD) courses for teachers and educators through the DIKSHA platform are offered, which are aligned with NEP 2020. The Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education has also launched a National Initiative to improve learning outcomes at the elementary level through an Integrated Teacher Training Programme called NISHTHA – National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement under the centrally sponsored scheme of Samagra Shiksha. *****