Lok Sabha Question No. 4989 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-23
Subject: Teacher Training Programmes under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Tharaniventhan M S, Dr. Kirsan Namdeo

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO:- 4989

ANSWERED ON-23/03/2026

## Teacher Training Programmes under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan

## 4989. Dr. Kirsan Namdeo: Shri Tharaniventhan M S:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) the details of current status of digital classroom infrastructure and types of teacher training programmes available for teachers under the Samagra Shiksha scheme and the manner in which the Government ensured that teachers are equipped with modern teaching methodologies;

(b)  the  details  of  the  number  of  teachers  trained  under  the  said  scheme  and  the  impact  on teaching quality;

(c) the details on the content and methodologies used in the teacher training programmes under Samagra Shiksha Scheme;

(d) the details of the measures being taken by the Government to ensure that teachers in rural and remote areas have access to quality training programmes under Samagra Shiksha Scheme;

(e) whether any budgetary allocations has been made and utilised during the last three financial years under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, if so, the details of portion of the Samagra Shiksha budget allocated for teacher training programmes and whether there has been any increase in funding for these programmes during the last three years and the current year and if so, the details thereof; and

(f)  whether  the  Government  has  made  any  assessments  of  the  impact  of  these  training programmes on teaching quality and student learning outcomes achieved under the said scheme and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (f): Education being a subject in the Concurrent List of the Constitution, the majority of schools in the country are under the administrative control of the respective State Governments and Union Territory Administrations. The Ministry of Education implements ICT and Digital initiatives under Samagra Shiksha to enhance digital learning in Government and Governmentaided  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 concerned State submitted in their respective Annual Work Plan & Budget (AWP&B).

Till date 1,79,153 ICT Labs and 1,76,738 Smart Classrooms have been sanctioned to State/UT Governments. Based on the UDISE+ data and funds approved in Project Approval Board's (PAB) meetings to States/UTs for the year 2025-26, gaps were identified in saturating ICT Labs and Smart Classrooms in Secondary and Senior Secondary Schools in States/UTs. To address this gap, 22,618 ICT Labs and 29,920 Smart Classrooms in States/UTs were approved for the saturation of these facilities in the year 2025-26.

A comprehensive initiative called PM eVidya was initiated as part of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan on 17th May, 2020, unifying 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. A key component of PM eVidya is 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 I-XII.

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).  To  promote  crucial critical thinking skills and to give space for creativity, more than 614 Virtual Labs and 100 Virtual skill labs (50 each in Hindi and English) have been created and made available on the DIKSHA platform. DIKSHA Offline supports areas with limited or no internet connectivity.

Strengthening of teacher training and education programmes is supported under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha in alignment with the recommendations of the National Education  Policy  (NEP),  2020.  The  scheme  supports  strengthening  of  Teacher  Education Institutions (TEIs), including support to State Councils of Educational Research and Training (SCERTs)  for  curriculum  development,  research  and  academic  activities  aligned  with  the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE), capacity building of District Institutes  of  Education  and  Training  (DIETs),  and  continuous  academic  support  to  schools through Block Resource Centres (BRCs) and Cluster Resource Centres (CRCs).

Financial assistance is provided under the scheme, based on State-specific proposals, for inservice training of teachers, school heads, teacher educators, master trainers, resource persons and  education  administrators,  including  induction  training  of  newly  recruited  teachers  at elementary and secondary levels, including those in rural and remote areas. These training programmes are implemented through SCERTs and DIETs as nodal agencies. Under Samagra Shiksha, funds are approved for teacher training as part of the Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP&B) of States/UTs. The funds approved for teacher training programmes during the last three  financial  years  are  ₹41,063.11  lakh  in  2023-24,  ₹63,943.50  lakh  in  2024-25  and ₹72,456.26 lakh in 2025-26, indicating a progressive increase in allocation towards teacher capacity building. (Source: PRABANDH)

Under Samagra Shiksha, teacher capacity building for digital education is being supported through the DIKSHA platform, 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, which includes modules related to the use of ICT and technology in teaching and 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. Till date, cumulatively over 63 lakh teachers and school heads across all States/UTs and central organisations have undergone Continuous Professional Development through NISHTHA.

The  content  and  methodologies  used  in  teacher  training  programmes  are  aligned  with  the provisions  of  NEP  2020  and  focus  on  learner-centric  pedagogy,  experiential  learning, competency-based  assessment  and  inclusive  education  practices.  These  programmes  are developed by NCERT and other academic institutions and are contextualised by States/UTs as per their requirements.

To ensure access to quality training for teachers in rural and remote areas, training is delivered through both online and face-to-face modes, supported by decentralised academic institutions such  as  SCERTs,  DIETs,  BRCs  and  CRCs,  along  with  digital  platforms  to  enable  wider outreach.

Further, the Government has decided to develop all functional DIETs as Centres of Excellence under  Samagra  Shiksha  in  a  phased  manner.  Accordingly,  financial  assistance  has  been approved for upgradation of 125 DIETs in FY 2023-24 and 121 DIETs in FY 2025-26, with the objective of strengthening institutional capacity for teacher training and academic support.

In addition, in pursuance of NEP 2020, the Government has released the National Professional Standards  for  Teachers  (NPST)  and  the  Bluebook  on  the  National  Mission  for  Mentoring (NMM), which define teacher competencies and provide a framework for mentoring of inservice teachers. Further, the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) has notified ITEP, a 4-year integrated dual-major bachelor degree in Education as well as a specialized subject in arts, science, physical education etc. for pre-service teachers. Being digitally literate and skilled to leverage technology for improving teaching-learning and assessment processes is one of the capacities sought to be developed by all student-teachers under ITEP.

The impact of teacher training programmes is monitored through mechanisms such as pre- and post-assessment of training programmes, feedback from participants, classroom observations and large-scale assessments such as the PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan (last conducted in December 2024), which help in assessing improvements in teaching practices and learning outcomes.

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