Parliament Question: Smart Classrooms in Schools

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 196 ANSWERED ON 01/12/2025 Smart Classrooms in Schools 196. Smt. Shambhavi: Dr. D. Purandeswari: Dr. Lata Wankhede: Shri Rajesh Verma: Shri Atul Garg: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government is taking steps to introduce smart classrooms in schools located in rural and semi-urban areas in the country; (b) if so, the details thereof State/UT-wise including Bihar particularly in Khagaria & Samastipur, Andhra Pradesh particularly in Rajahmundry, Madhya Pradesh particularly in Sagar and Uttar Pradesh, particularly in Ghaziabad Parliamentary constituencies to enhance digital learning infrastructure, if so, the details thereof; (c) the details of the initiatives undertaken, including funding allocations, technology integration plans, teacher training, and partnerships with State, authorities and private organisations for setting up smart classrooms in these areas; (d) whether the Government has encountered any challenges or identified hindrances, such as lack of internet connectivity, electricity, technical expertise, or community awareness—in implementing smart classrooms in rural districts in the country; (e) if so, the nature and extent to hence challenges, State/UT-wise; and (f) the details of action plan proposed/being implemented by the Government to address and overcome such difficulties in the States including timelines, infrastructural upgrades, capacity- building measures and collaboration with local bodies to ensure the successful rollout of smart classrooms? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SH. JAYANT CHAUDHARY) (a) to (c): The Department of School Education and Literacy is implementing Samagra Shiksha – an Integrated Scheme for School Education from 2018-19. It is an overarching programme envisaging the ‘school’ as a continuum from pre-school to Grade 12, running in the country including rural and semi-urban areas. The vision of the scheme is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education in accordance with the National Education Policy 2020.Smart Classroom component of Samagra Shiksha covers Government and Aided schools having classes VI to XII. Under this component financial assistance is provided to States/UTs, including in rural and semi-urban areas for establishing Smart Classrooms in schools which includes interactive Digital Board/display unit, Operating System (OS), LCD/LED/plasma screen, printer, scanner, laptops/tablets/desktops etc. Financial Provisions: The non-recurring grant for Smart Classrooms (2 smart classrooms per school) is of Rs.2.40 lakh and the recurring grant is Rs.38000/- (including E Content and Digital Resources, Charges for Electricity). The States/UTs-wise details of Smart Classrooms approved is at Annexure. The details of Smart Classrooms in East Godavari district (includes Rajahmundry Parliamentary constituency) in Andhra Pradesh, Khagaria & Samastipur districts in Bihar, Sagar district in Madhya Pradesh and Ghaziabad district in Uttar Pradesh is as under: - State Name District Name Smart Classroom Andhra Pradesh East Godavari 211 Khagaria 135 Bihar Samastipur 386 Madhya Pradesh Sagar 275 Uttar Pradesh Ghaziabad 122 Source: UDISE+ 2024-25 Under Samagra Shiksha, teacher capa city building for digital education is being supported through the Digital Inf rastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA), which provides e-content and digital learning resources. The Department has also implemented NISHTHA (National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement) as an integrated teacher training programme on DIKSHA, covering modules on digital pedagogy, use of ICT tools and technology-enabled learning. Further, NCERT, SCERTs, DIETs, BRCs and CRCs undertake development of resource material, digital content, training programmes and workshops to strengthen teachers’ preparedness for digital education. (d) to (f): Education is in the Concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools are under the administrative control of respective State Government and UT Administration. Central Government provides funds for digital initiatives component including Smart Classrooms under Samagra Shiksha, on the basis of requirement communicated by them in the Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP&B).The key challenges or limitation faced in implementing digital interventions such as Smart Class are of Capacity Building of teachers, Infrastructure setup, Uninterrupted internet connectivity etc. Based on the UDISE+ data and funds approved in Project Approval Board’s (PAB) meetings to States/UTs for the year 2025-26, there were gaps identified in saturating smart classrooms and other components in Secondary and Senior Secondary Schools in States/UTs. To address this gap, a supplementary PAB was conducted for the saturation of these facilities in 32 States/UTs, including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. 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 areas by BSNL in a phased manner. Based on feasibility, BSNL has identified 16,071 schools that are less than 500m from Optical Line Terminal (OLT) which are eligible in Phase-1 for high-speed internet connectivity. The State/UT Governments have been advised to act based on the situation prevailing at every place to meet the demands of students and teachers for providing them with the digital access required for teaching learning digitally. The National Education Policy 2020 calls for investment in digital infrastructure, online teaching platforms and tools, virtual labs, digital repositories, online assessments, technology and pedagogy for online teaching-learning etc., for which various initiatives have been taken. For school education, digital literacy programs have been extended to students, teachers and all stakeholders with necessary funding mechanisms under Samagra Shiksha for all States/UTs, in alignment with NEP 2020. *****ANNEXURE ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 196 FOR REPLY ON 01ST DECEMBER, 2025 ASKED BY HON’BLE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT SMT. SHAMBHAVI, DR. D. PURANDESWARI, DR. LATA WANKHEDE, SHRI RAJESH VERMA AND SHRI ATUL GARG REGARDING SMART CLASSROOMS IN SCHOOLS Smart Classrooms Approved States/UTs Approval Andaman and Nicobar Islands 49 Andhra Pradesh 6840 Arunachal Pradesh 345 Assam 7146 Bihar 11586 Chandigarh 186 Chhattisgarh 10771 D&D - DNH 192 Delhi 5696 Goa 87 Gujarat 7155 Haryana 3556 Himachal Pradesh 2858 Jammu and Kashmir 4428 Jharkhand 2459 Karnataka 4099 Kerala 752 Ladakh 165 Lakshadweep 0 Madhya Pradesh 12573 Maharashtra 6006 Manipur 565 Meghalaya 25 Mizoram 244 Nagaland 712 Odisha 11776 Puducherry 152 Punjab 3928 Rajasthan 16891 Sikkim 301 Tamil Nadu 9832 Telangana 6248 Tripura 1162 Uttar Pradesh 34533 Uttarakhand 2829 West Bengal 581 Total 176728 Source: PRABANDH Portal (as on 10.11.2025)