Odisha Govt To Hold National Workshop To Prepare Roadmap For Implementation Of NEP

Bhubaneswar: In another step towards implementation of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in Odisha, the state government will hold a three-day national workshop.

To be inaugurated in presence of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Manjhi and Union Education Minister Dharmedra Pradhan, the workshop has been scheduled to be held from January 21 to 23. The workshop deliberation will sensitise the state teams and develop a roadmap for phase-wise implementation of NEP.

Earlier, the state government had announced phased intervention of NEP 2020 from academic year 2025-26. In the first phase of the implementation, Department of School and Mass Education on January 15 announced implementation of National Education Policy in the state and adoption of National Curriculum Frameworks with local contextualisation as the State Curriculum Frameworks.

As part of the initial steps for policy implementation, Nipun Odisha was launched in September 2024, in alignment with the national policy guidelines underlining the commitment to universal acquisition of foundational literacy and numeracy. PM Shri schools are being set up as model schools aimed at demonstrating the vision outlined by the policy.

Admission Age For Grade I revised

The government has revised the age for enrollment for Grade I from 2025-26 academic year. The student has to be to be of 6+ years as on 1st September of the academic year.

Besides, all primary schools will open an additional pre-school class called “Sishu Vatika”, where children in the age group of 5-6 years will be admitted.

The revision in the State Curriculum Frameworks will be initiated in a phased manner from academic year 2025-26 with the National Curriculum Framework Foundational Stage (NCFFS) being adopted in the first phase along with local contextualisation for the state.

As per the NEP 2020, the first 15 years of a child’s education will be modified phase-wise to the 5+3+3+4 structure covering ages 3-18. The academic structure envisaged under the NEP comprises Foundational stage (5 years) spanning from 3-8 years, corresponding to 3 years of pre-school and 2 years of Grades I and II, Preparatory Stage (3 years) spanning from 8–11 years, corresponding Grades III to V, Middle Stage (3 years) spanning from ages 11-14, corresponding Grades VI to VIII, and Secondary Stage (4 years) spanning from ages 14-18, corresponding Grades IX -XII.

The State in its initial phase of the policy implementation is focusing on modification in the foundational stage and will roll out implementation for the preparatory, middle and secondary stages in subsequent phases.

The government has also constituted a high-level Task force under the chairpersonship of Development Commissioner to suggest measures to be taken up for implementation of NEP 2020. Subsequently, a State Steering Committee was constituted to develop the State Curriculum Frameworks, chaired by Prof Nityanand Pradhan, former Principal of RIE, Bhopal.