Bhubaneswar, Apr 2 (UNI) Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday launched Shishu Batika (Pre-Nursery) for pre-primary children to begin their education under the National Education Policy 2020.

Majhi visited Badagarh School,in the capital city,where he held the hands of young children and taught them their first alphabet lesson by writing 'Ma' as the first letter.

As a former teacher, Majhi engaged with the children, drawing from his teaching experience. He interacted with them by asking their mother’s and father’s names and other simple questions, fostering an emotional connection.

Following this, the Chief Minister served midday meals to students of ninth and tenth grades and flagged off the awareness chariot for Pravesh (Entrance Ceremony) and Khadi Khara (Learning the Alphabet).

On this occasion, Majhi distributed learning material kits to the children and visited various stalls displaying literacy learning materials, numeracy learning materials, and creative learning tools. He also observed the reading methods used in nursery classes.

The Chief Minister stated that this initiative has been designed considering the needs of young children and aims to strengthen the primary education sector in the state.

Notably, under the National Education Policy 2020, nursery or pre-primary education has officially begun across the state from Wednesday.

From the academic year 2025-26, one Shishu Batika or nursery school will be established in all primary schools, providing preschool education to children aged 5 to 6 years.

The children will receive learning material kits and will be introduced to education through entertainment-based learning programs.

The primary objective of this initiative is to strengthen the foundation of primary education.

The program, organized by the School and Mass Education Department, was attended by MLA Ekamra Bhubaneswar Babu Singh, MLA Khurda Prashant Jagdeb, Bhubaneswar Mayor Sulochana Das, social worker Jagannath Pradhan, and other dignitaries.

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