The Ministry of Education recently announced that Odisha has agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Centre to implement the PM SHRI school initiative. With the coastal state agreeing to adopt the scheme, West Bengal, Kerala, and Delhi are the only states that have not signed an MoU with the Union Ministry of Education to establish such schools.
“The Odisha government has taken a far-reaching decision to sign an MoU with the Ministry of Education, Government of India, to implement the PM SHRI Scheme. PM SHRI are NEP 2020 exemplar schools,” the Ministry of Education wrote on X. The state will sign the MoU before the 2024-25 academic year begins. According to the statement, the partnership between the Odisha government and the Ministry of Education represents stronger Center-state relations.
The Ministry of Education further added, “We enthusiastically support this initiative as it reflects our collective dedication to strengthening school education and ensures the comprehensive development of students in Odisha.”
The PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme targets upgrading 14,500 schools and serving 1.8 million students. It also aims to ensure these schools serve as model institutes and encapsulate the spirit of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. In the first round, the Union government selected 6,448 schools from 28 states and union territories to be upgraded.
Earlier this month, the Tamil Nadu School Education Department announced signing an MoU with the Union Education Ministry to launch the PM SHRI initiative in the state.
