Parliament Question: Policy for Computer Literacy in School

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3514 ANSWERED ON 11/08/2025 Policy for Computer Literacy in School

3514. Shri Eswarasamy K:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has any specific policy to ensure computer literacy among school children in the country, State/UT-wise;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government has undertaken any survey of computer literacy among school children, State-wise; and

(d) if so, the details of the findings of such studies/surveys, with particular reference to the State of Tamil Nadu ? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

(a) to (d) Education is part of the Concurrent List of the Constitution and majority of the schools are under the administration of the respective State Governments. The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 in its Chapter 23 and 24 lays utmost emphasis on Online and Digital education and its equitable use including foundational contemporaneous digital literacy for achieving the overall goal of quality education for all. NEP is the first education policy of the 21st century and envisions transformation of the education sector into a more holistic, flexible and multidisciplinary one, suited to 21st century needs.

The Ministry of Education implements ICT and Digital initiatives under Samagra Shiksha to enhance digital learning in Government schools across the country. The initiatives aim to enhance the quality of education by integrating technology into learning and teaching processes.

The State of Tamil Nadu has informed that ICT Labs have been established in all Government Middle, High and Higher Secondary schools – comprising 6,995 schools under Elementary Education and 6,223 schools under Secondary Education, Smart Classrooms have been set up in 22,931 Government Primary, High and Higher Secondary schools, Internet Connectivity has been provided to 21,350 Government Primary schools, 6,995 Middle schools and 6,223 High and Higher Secondary schools.

A comprehensive initiative called PM eVidya was initiated as part of ‘Atma Nirbhar 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. States/Union Territories (UTs) collaborate with NCERT to utilise, monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of these initiatives as per their requirements. PM eVidya includes 200 DTH TV Channels allotted to States/UTs/Autonomous Bodies (ABs)/OtherMinistries 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. As a participant in DIKSHA, States/UTs/ABs have generated and contributed over 3.69 lakh content in local/regional languages. Overall, 564.05 crore learning sessions have been completed on DIKSHA by students, teachers and other stakeholders. The stakeholders have access to more than 300 Virtual Labs on DIKSHA.

The Union Budget 2025 includes a provision under the BharatNet project to extend broadband connectivity to government secondary schools in rural areas in a phased manner, through BSNL.

As per the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Scheme of Studies, students can opt to study computer-based subjects from Classes IX to XII. In Classes VI to VIII, foundational exposure to digital skills is provided through vocational education. Under this, students may study any of the six modules to enhance their computer literacy namely, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Coding, Information Technology, Augmented/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) and Digital Citizenship. States/UTs through their respective boards have added computer-based subjects as part of their curriculum.

The PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024, conducted by NCERT’s National Assessment Centre under the Ministry of Education, assessed over 21 lakh students across Grades 3, 6, and 9 nationwide, which was not focused specifically on computer literacy, however, it gathered contextual data on

digital access that can be accessed from https://dashboard.parakh.ncert.gov.in/en. ***************