BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Saturday said Odisha has set an ambitious vision to transform itself into India’s “knowledge capital” by implementing sweeping reforms in the education sector.
Addressing a two-day national workshop on the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 at Lok Seva Bhawan, Majhi said education is not merely academic learning but the foundation of societal progress. He called for a “revolutionary transformation” in the state’s education ecosystem to make students industry-ready and globally competitive.
Reiterating the state government’s commitment, he said an allocation of Rs 41,273 crore has been made for the education sector in the 2025-26 fiscal year. The launch of the Godabarish Mishra Adarsha Vidyalaya initiative aims at establishing modern schools in all 6,794 gram panchayats with an investment of Rs 12,000 crore, he said.
The chief minister also said the state has introduced 11.25 per cent reservation for SEBC students in higher education and financial support schemes to reduce dropout rates among ST students. The government has signed an MoU with Indira Gandhi National Open University to promote technical and higher education in the Odia language.
Union Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan praised the state’s unique blend of culture and education. “Odisha’s educational institutions should not remain confined merely to providing traditional education but should become an ideal model for the entire country through autonomy, innovation and research. Based on the NEP-2020, universities should initiate such best practices that will not only address local problems but also emerge as a national model in building a developed India,” Pradhan said.
He said, “As India prepares to assume global leadership as a knowledge-based society, we must leverage modern technology and digital mediums to increase enrolment in higher education in Odisha. We will need to prepare foreign language education and contemporary curricula, through which Odisha’s youth can empower and skill themselves to compete at the global level.”
Pradhan also stressed the importance of skill-based education and called for a drive to increase the gross enrolment ratio (GER) from 23 per cent to above the national average of 29 per cent by 2036.
During the event, Majhi unveiled the Chief Minister’s Internship Guidelines and inaugurated the ‘ShaktiShree’ mobile app for the empowerment of youth and female students.
