Lok Sabha Question No. 2590 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-17
Subject: Integrate Technology with Education
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Dr. Shashi Tharoor

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2590 ANSWERED ON 17/03/2025

## Integrate Technology with Education

## 2590. Dr. Shashi Tharoor

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) the number of schools and colleges that have digital classrooms across the country following the initiative of the Government to integrate technology with education;

(b) whether the Government has any data regarding the availability of digital education devices (mobile phones, tablets, laptops, etc.) with school children on national level and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government has any plan to provide digital devices to those students who don't have such devices towards the aim of the Government to provide broadband connectivity for rural schools and if so, the details thereof; and

(d) whether the Government tracks the percentage of improvement in student performance and vocational training enrolments as a result of these digital initiatives under the National Education Policy (NEP) and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SH. JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

(a) to (d): 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 for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class XII and aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of school education. Samagra  Shiksha  is implemented in partnership with all the States and UTs and financial assistance is provided for various  components  including  Smart  Classrooms.  Till  date,  1,31,548  Smart  Classrooms  have been sanctioned to State/UT Governments.

Education is in the concurrent list of the constitution and majority the schools are under the  administrative  control  of  the  respective  State/UT  Governments.  The  Government  of  India has  been  implementing  a  programme  of  sample  based  National  Achievement  Survey  (NAS) aimed at classes III, V, VIII and X with a cycle period of three years. The NAS 2021 was held on  12.11.2021  and  has  covered  (a)  Government  Schools  (Central  Government  and  State Government); (b) Government Aided Schools; and (c) Private Unaided Schools. The NAS 2021, data on 'Percentage of Students having access to Digital Devices at State Level' is placed at Annexure.

The  Government  does  not  provide  digital  devices  to  students  under  Samagra  Shiksha. However,  the  Government  provides  digital  devices  to  teachers  based  on  proposal  from  the States/UTs. As on date, digital device as teaching resource package has been given to 15.72 lakh teachers.

To achieve the objectives of NEP 2020 and to bridge the digital divide in education, a comprehensive  initiative  called  PM  e-VIDYA  is  in  place  which  unifies  all  efforts  related  to digital/online/on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education, with a target to benefit nearly 25 crore school going children across the country. The key components of this initiative are  DIKSHA  -  the  nation's  digital  infrastructure,  200  PM  e-VIDYA  DTH  TV  Channels  to provide  supplementary  education  in  various  Indian  languages  for  classes  1-12,  ePathshala initiative  to  disseminate  Digital  Books  and  eContents,  eJaadui  Pitara  is  a  digital  app  to supplement and a complement to the physical Jaadui Pitara, a vertical on Virtual Labs created on DIKSHA platform where Virtual Labs for Science and Mathematics for subjects Class 6 th to 12 th have been made available.

The above digital initiatives of Department of School Education & Literacy especially 'ICT  and  Smart  Classroom  component'  provide  basic  infrastructure  to  the  students  and transform the classroom into tech-driven class. Students engage more with multimedia content and  interactive  activities,  while  accessing  a  wider  range  of  resources.  This  fosters  deeper understanding, collaboration, and digital literacy for students, enriching their overall educational experience.

There  is  currently  no  provision  in  place  to  track  the  percentage  of  improvement  in student performance and vocational training enrolments resulting from these digital initiatives, as  they  serve  as  supplementary  mechanisms  to  school  training.  However,  students  learning outcome are evaluated periodically. The most recent survey, conducted on 4 th December 2024, by the National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review and Analysis of  Knowledge  for  Holistic  Development).  The  survey  is  a  baseline  study  to  understand  the achievement of the stage specific competencies at the end of foundation, preparatory and middle stages as per NEP 2020. It covers the entire spectrum of schools across the country.

## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2590 FOR REPLY ON 17 TH  MARCH, 2025 ASKED BY HON'BLE MP DR. SHASHI THAROOR REGARDING INTEGRATE TECHNOLOGY WITH EDUCATION

The Statement showing State/UT-wise percentage of students having access to digital devices as per NAS 2021 data

|   Sl. No. | State/UT                |   %of students in class 3 having access to digital devices |   %of students in class 5 having access to digital devices |   %of students in class 8 having access to digital devices |   %of students in class 10 having access to digital devices |
|-----------|-------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Jammu &Kashmir          |                                                         67 |                                                         69 |                                                         61 |                                                          79 |
|         2 | Himachal Pradesh        |                                                         87 |                                                         90 |                                                         71 |                                                          90 |
|         3 | Punjab                  |                                                         92 |                                                         94 |                                                         76 |                                                          96 |
|         4 | Chandigarh              |                                                         91 |                                                         95 |                                                         77 |                                                          96 |
|         5 | Uttarakhand             |                                                         77 |                                                         79 |                                                         69 |                                                          82 |
|         6 | Haryana                 |                                                         77 |                                                         83 |                                                         69 |                                                          85 |
|         7 | Delhi                   |                                                         88 |                                                         91 |                                                         73 |                                                          94 |
|         8 | Rajasthan               |                                                         62 |                                                         65 |                                                         61 |                                                          78 |
|         9 | Uttar Pradesh           |                                                         57 |                                                         61 |                                                         55 |                                                          68 |
|        10 | Bihar                   |                                                         52 |                                                         55 |                                                         53 |                                                          68 |
|        11 | Sikkim                  |                                                         80 |                                                         84 |                                                         70 |                                                          93 |
|        12 | Arunachal Pradesh       |                                                         52 |                                                         67 |                                                         62 |                                                          85 |
|        13 | Nagaland                |                                                         65 |                                                         74 |                                                         66 |                                                          87 |
|        14 | Manipur                 |                                                         62 |                                                         69 |                                                         64 |                                                          81 |
|        15 | Mizoram                 |                                                         74 |                                                         79 |                                                         69 |                                                          88 |
|        16 | Tripura                 |                                                         59 |                                                         61 |                                                         57 |                                                          76 |
|        17 | Meghalaya               |                                                         52 |                                                         60 |                                                         53 |                                                          75 |
|        18 | Assam                   |                                                         52 |                                                         58 |                                                         55 |                                                          73 |
|        19 | West Bengal             |                                                         55 |                                                         65 |                                                         55 |                                                          73 |
|        20 | Jharkhand               |                                                         57 |                                                         59 |                                                         56 |                                                          71 |
|        21 | Odisha                  |                                                         57 |                                                         62 |                                                         59 |                                                          79 |
|        22 | Chhattisgarh            |                                                         61 |                                                         64 |                                                         60 |                                                          78 |
|        23 | Madhya Pradesh          |                                                         60 |                                                         66 |                                                         60 |                                                          79 |
|        24 | Gujarat                 |                                                         69 |                                                         75 |                                                         65 |                                                          82 |
|        25 | Daman &Diu              |                                                         82 |                                                         86 |                                                         71 |                                                          89 |
|        26 | Dadra &Nagar Haveli     |                                                         77 |                                                         75 |                                                         72 |                                                          81 |
|        27 | Maharashtra             |                                                         74 |                                                         77 |                                                         66 |                                                          86 |
|        28 | Andhra Pradesh          |                                                         63 |                                                         66 |                                                         62 |                                                          76 |
|        29 | Karnataka               |                                                         66 |                                                         69 |                                                         64 |                                                          80 |
|        30 | Goa                     |                                                         92 |                                                         93 |                                                         75 |                                                          97 |
|        31 | Lakshadweep             |                                                         87 |                                                         92 |                                                         70 |                                                          94 |
|        32 | Kerala                  |                                                         94 |                                                         95 |                                                         76 |                                                          97 |
|        33 | Tamil Nadu              |                                                         64 |                                                         64 |                                                         64 |                                                          81 |
|        34 | Puducherry              |                                                         72 |                                                         79 |                                                         72 |                                                          91 |
|        35 | Andaman &Nicobar Island |                                                         77 |                                                         83 |                                                         66 |                                                          89 |
|        36 | Telangana               |                                                         67 |                                                         75 |                                                         64 |                                                          82 |