Lok Sabha Question No. 1561 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-09
Subject: Functional Computer Labs and Internet in Government Schools
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Karti P Chidambaram, Adv. Adoor Prakash, Shri Anto Antony, Shri K Sudhakaran, Shri Benny Behanan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

## DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-1561

ANSWERED ON 09.02.2026

## Functional Computer Labs and Internet in Government Schools

1561. Shri Karti P Chidambaram:

Adv. Adoor Prakash:

Shri Anto Antony:

Shri K Sudhakaran:

Shri Benny Behanan:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  total  number  of  Government  schools  currently  equipped  with  functional  computer  labs  and internet  connectivity  in  the  country  along  with  the  total  number  of  operational  Government  schools, State/UT-wise;
- (b) the number of Government schools that have introduced Artificial Intelligence (Al) or digital literacy modules into their curriculum, State/UT-wise;
- (c) whether the Government has issued any national guidelines or pedagogical standards for integrating Al education at the school level, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (d)  the  number  of  Government  school  teachers  trained  in  Al-related  instruction  and  whether  subjectspecific capacity building is part of such training, if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise;
- (e)  whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  learning  outcome  assessments  to  evaluate  the effectiveness of Al or digital literacy modules, if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) the manner in which the Government plans to prevent the deepening of digital divides arising from uneven digital infrastructure and teacher training in the country?

## ANSWER

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

- (a): As per UDISE+ (Unified District Information System for Education Plus), State/UT wise number of government schools from class VI and above and percentage of these schools having computer labs and internet facility for the year 2024-25 are available at  https://www.education.gov.in/en/parl\_ques.
- (b) to (d): The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has emphasized the importance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its role in school curriculum. Para 4.24 of the policy mentions that " concerted curricular and pedagogical initiatives, including the introduction of contemporary subjects such as Artificial Intelligence, Design Thinking, Holistic Health, Organic Living, Environmental Education, Global Citizenship Education (GCED), etc. at relevant stages will be undertaken to develop these various important skills in students at all levels."

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has constituted a Textbook Development Team to develop syllabi and textbooks of Al for Grades 11 and 12. NCERT has also included a project on Animation and Games in the vocational education textbook for Grade 6. This project includes the use of AI tools. The existing NCERT textbooks of Computer Science class XI (Chapter 3, https://ncert.nic.in/textbook.php?kecs1=ps-11) and Informatics Practices class XI (Chapter  2,  https://ncert.nic.in/textbook.php?keip1=ps-8)  talks  about  AI,  IoT  and  other  emerging technologies.

The Government of India has launched the SOAR (Skilling for Al Readiness), a national initiative in alignment  with  the  objectives  of  NEP  2020,  the  National  Programme  on  AI  (NPAI)  Skilling Framework and Viksit Bharat 2047 vision of digital empowerment. SOAR is aimed at embedding Al awareness  and  foundational  competencies  among  school  students  (Classes  6-12)  and  building  Al literacy  among  educators.  The  SOAR  curriculum  comprises  four  progressive  National  Skills Qualification  Framework  (NSQF)-aligned  modules.  For  students  of  classes  6  to  12,  three  distinct micro-credentials: (i) Al to be Aware, (ii) Al to Acquire, and (iii) Al to Aspire, are offered, each of 15 hours  duration,  amounting  to  45  hours  in  total.  These  cover  fundamental  Al  concepts,  practical programming,  ethical  and  responsible  AI  usage,  and  career  opportunities  in  technology.  For educators, a 45-hour module titled Al for Educators provides comprehensive training in Al concepts, pedagogical strategies, and practical classroom application.

The Ministry of Education is implementing a National Mission to improve learning outcomes at the School Education level through an integrated teacher training programme called 'National Initiative for School Heads' and Teachers' Holistic Advancement' (NISHTHA). Through NISHTHA, National Resource Groups are trained in Education Technology and Digital Teachers are certified.

Furthermore, to prepare students for emerging technologies such as AI, the Ministry of Education has undertaken several initiatives as following: -

- Implementation of the NEP 2020 which emphasizes multidisciplinary, technology-integrated learning  with  a  strong  focus  on  coding,  Al,  data  science,  design  thinking,  computational thinking, and experiential learning from the school level onward.
- Nation-wide  capacity-building  programmes  for  teachers  and  students  through  online  AI Series,  workshops,  and  training  initiatives  in  collaboration  with  industry  and  technical agencies.
- Organizing regular capacity building/consultation  workshops  with stakeholders. These workshops are aimed at identifying innovative, education-specific Al solutions and understanding  best  practices  in  responsible  Al  deployment.  The  DIKSHA  team  is  also continuously working on incorporating new Al-based features and tools to support teachers in classroom instruction, assessment, and personalized learning.
- Teacher sensitization/ orientation sessions help teachers and academic teams understand Al capabilities,  limitations,  ethical  considerations,  and  safe-use  guidelines,  enabling  them  to integrate Al tools responsibly into their pedagogical practices.

(e):  The  Government  of  India  conducts  periodic  large-scale  assessments  to  measure  learning  and educational outcomes across the country. In this regard, the PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 was  undertaken  by  the  National  Assessment  Centre-PARAKH,  NCERT  under  the  aegis  of  the Department of School Education  &  Literacy.  To  gain  a  comprehensive  understanding  of  students' educational backgrounds and to enable a more comprehensive interpretation of assessment findings, information on various contextual variables was also collected as part of the survey exercise. Such contextual variables included access to digital devices and the internet at home and school.

National,  State  and  District  level  reports  from  PARAKH  Rashtriya  Sarvekshan  2024,  providing insights on achievement of stage-specific competencies and contextual variables affecting performance, are available at https://dashboard.parakh.ncert.gov.in/en, a dedicated dashboard designed to disseminate the findings of the assessment.

(f):  A  comprehensive  initiative  called  PM  eVidya  was  initiated  as  part  of  'Atmanirbhar  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  under  the  aegis  of  National  Education Policy (NEP) 2020. States/Union Territories (UTs) collaborate with NCERT to utilise, monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of these initiatives as per their requirements in mother tongue/local/regional languages. PM  eVidya includes 200 DTH  TV  Channels allotted to States/UTs/Autonomous  Bodies  (ABs)/Other  Ministries  in  Government  of  India  and  400  Radio channels  to  enable  them  to  provide  supplementary  education  as  per  their  requirement  in  various Indian languages for classes 1-12.

Digital  Infrastructure  for  Knowledge  Sharing  (DIKSHA)  is  the  Nation's  One  Nation,  One  Digital platform  for  providing  quality  e-content  for  school  education  in  States/UTs  along  with  QR  coded Energised Textbooks (ETBs) for all grades. States/UTs/ABs have generated and contributed over 3.7 lakh content in mother local/regional languages enabling multilingualism. DIKSHA Offline supports areas  with  limited  or  no  internet  connectivity.  The  stakeholders  have  access  to  more  than  450+ Virtual Labs and 100 Virtual skill labs on DIKSHA.

As per PRABANDH portal, till date, 1,79,153 ICT Labs and 1,76,738 Smart Classrooms have been sanctioned to State/UT Governments. Additionally, 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.

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