Odisha to Restructure School Education with Unified Board, Free Textbooks for Class IX & X

Bhubaneswar: In a sweeping reform aimed at overhauling the state’s education system, the Odisha government on Thursday announced the merger of the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) and the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) into a single board.

The decision, taken at a review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi at Lok Seva Bhawan, is expected to streamline curriculum planning, examinations, and administration from Class I to XII under one umbrella body. Officials said the move will eliminate duplication and ensure better coordination in school-level education.

Currently, the BSE manages classes up to Class X, while the CHSE handles Classes XI and XII. “A unified board will improve efficiency and bring much-needed coherence to the education framework in the state,” an official present at the meeting noted.

The Chief Minister also unveiled a series of student welfare measures. From this academic session, all Class IX and X students will be provided free textbooks, a facility earlier restricted to SC/ST students. With this, every student from Class I to X will now be covered under the free textbook scheme.

Health support in hostels will also be strengthened, with the government deciding to appoint Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) or multipurpose health workers at a ratio of one for every 300 students. Approval of new private schools will meanwhile shift to a fully online process, aimed at ensuring transparency and efficiency.

Majhi underlined the importance of promoting mother tongue-based learning among tribal children. To support this, a multilingual education centre will be established in Koraput with assistance from SCSTRTI.

The government also announced that teachers with B.Ed in special education will be deployed as resource persons across clusters to assist differently-abled children. Plans are also in place to develop the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) on the lines of NCERT and to upgrade the Directorate of Textbook Publication and Marketing.

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