Odisha to merge BSE & CHSE into single Board, to develop SCERT on NCERT lines

In a key decision to strengthen and streamline school education, the Odisha Government has decided to merge the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) and the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) into a single board.

The proposal was discussed and approved in a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi.

The CM also announced that while students from Class I to VIII are already receiving free textbooks, from now on, all students of Class IX and X will also be provided textbooks free of cost. Earlier, free textbooks in these classes were limited to SC/ST students only.

Recognising the importance of health along with education, the government will now appoint ANMs or multipurpose health workers in hostels, at the ratio of one ANM for every 300 students. Further, approval of new private schools will now be done entirely through an online process.

The Chief Minister also stressed the importance of mother tongue-based education for tribal children, which would help in better communication and improve learning outcomes. To support this, a multilingual education centre will be set up in Koraput with the support of SCSTRTI.

For inclusive education, regular teachers with B.Ed in special education will be appointed as resource persons across clusters for differently-abled children. The state also decided to develop SCERT on the lines of NCERT, and to strengthen the Directorate of Textbook Publication and Marketing.

The meeting was attended by School & Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond, Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja, Chief Minister’s Principal Secretary Shashwat Mishra, Finance Secretary Sanjeev Mishra, School & Mass Education Secretary Shalini Pandit, OSEPA Director Ananya Das, and other senior officials.