The Odisha government will introduce pre-school class facilities in every primary school named ‘Sishu Vatika’.
The state government has planned to implement the National Education Policy 2020 in a phased manner from the academic year 2025-26. By September 1 of the academic year, children aged 6 and above will get the opportunity to enrol in class 1.
Children between the ages of 5 and 6 will be provided with pre-school class facilities in every primary school. It has been named ‘Shishu Vatika’. Children of 5 to 6 years will study there.
The School and Mass Education Department issued a notification in this regard on Monday. As per the government decision, the revision of the state curriculum will be started in a phased manner from the academic year 2025-26, in the first phase, the initial phase will be adopted with state contextualization in the framework of the national curriculum.
According to the National Education Policy 2020, the first 15 years of a child’s education (3-18 years) will be converted to a 5+3+3+4 basis in a phased manner. The initial phase (in two parts, i.e. 3 years in Anganwadi, 2 years in primary school, first and second Grade, age 3 to 8 years), the Preparatory stage (three years i.e. grade 3 to grade 5, age 8 to 11 years), Middle stage (three years i.e. grade 6 to 8, age 11 to 14 years), Secondary stage (four years i.e. grade 9 to grade 12, age 14 to 18 years).
In the first phase of the policy implementation, the state will focus on transforming the early stage of education and in the next phase, implementation will be started for preparatory, middle and second stages.
Earlier, the Odisha government had constituted a high-level task force under the chairmanship of the Development Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary. This task force suggested steps to be taken to implement the National Education Policy in the state.
A State Steering Committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of Professor Nityananda Pradhan, former Chairman, of the Regional Institute of Education, Bhopal. This steering committee will prepare the State Curriculum Framework as per the National Curriculum Framework in the local context.
