Scheme Primer
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ngo-practitioners
Samagra Shiksha — India's Unified School Education Programme, From Pre-School to Class 12
Last verified: May 2026 · 8 min read · JaBaSu Knowledge Commons
At a Glance
| Parameter |
Detail |
| Full Name |
Samagra Shiksha — An Integrated Scheme for School Education |
| Launched |
2018-19 (integrated SSA + RMSA + Teacher Education) |
| Nodal Ministry |
Ministry of Education, Dept. of School Education and Literacy |
| Status |
Active — approved for 2021-22 to 2025-26; renewal expected under 16th FC |
| Total Outlay (2021-26) |
Rs. 2,94,283 crore (Central share: Rs. 1,85,398 crore) |
| Odisha State Support |
Rs. 475 crore (state share, 2024-25 budget) |
| Cost Sharing |
60:40 Centre:State (general states); 90:10 (NE and special category states) |
| Coverage |
Pre-school (Balvatika) to Class 12; all government and government-aided schools |
| Implementation in Odisha |
Odisha School Education Programme Authority (OSEPA) |
| Official Portal |
samagra.education.gov.in |
| Odisha OSEPA |
osepa.odisha.gov.in |
What Is It?
Samagra Shiksha is India's overarching school education programme — a single integrated framework that replaced three separate centrally sponsored schemes: Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA, for elementary education), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA, for secondary), and Teacher Education (TE). The integration, announced in the Union Budget 2018-19, treats school education as a seamless continuum from pre-school through Class 12 — ending the artificial administrative boundary between elementary, secondary, and senior secondary that had created gaps in quality, funding, and accountability.
The scheme is fully aligned with the National Education Policy 2020 — making it simultaneously a historical scheme (continuing the work of SSA since 2001) and the implementation vehicle for NEP 2020's most ambitious school-level reforms: foundational literacy and numeracy (NIPUN Bharat), Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) at government schools, vocational education from Class 6, school-based assessments through PARAKH, and teacher development through remodelled DIETs.
Samagra Shiksha is the financial spine of Odisha's entire government school system. Every state-level school education programme — teacher salaries top-up, infrastructure grants, scholarship schemes, free textbooks, KGBV hostels for girls, ICT labs, library books, inclusive education for children with special needs — is ultimately funded through the Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWPB) that Odisha's OSEPA submits and the Project Approval Board (PAB) of the Ministry of Education approves each year.
What Samagra Shiksha Funds — The Seven Pillars
1. Access and Infrastructure
Opening, upgrading, and strengthening schools from primary to senior secondary level. Construction of additional classrooms, school buildings, toilets (including for girls separately), boundary walls, drinking water, and ramps for children with disabilities. Composite School Grants ranging from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 1 lakh per school per year for basic maintenance and learning materials.
For Odisha specifically: Samagra Shiksha funds include construction of PVTG hostels under PM-JANMAN convergence (Rs. 24,217 lakh approved for 100 hostels in 2023-24), and hostels under the new Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan for uncovered ST populations — making Samagra Shiksha an active implementer of tribal education infrastructure across Odisha's tribal districts.
2. Quality Interventions
The largest and most reform-heavy component. Includes: NIPUN Bharat FLN implementation (see the separate NIPUN Bharat primer); learning outcomes assessment through PARAKH and National Achievement Surveys; Vidya Samiksha Kendra (VSK) real-time data dashboards (Odisha has a VSK); school leadership development; Shaala Siddhi school quality evaluation; and the Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan (RAA) for STEM promotion in secondary schools.
3. Equity — Girls' Education and Social Inclusion
The Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) — residential schools for girls from SC/ST/OBC/minority communities at upper primary level — is funded through Samagra Shiksha. KGBVs have been upgraded from Class 6-8 to Class 6-10 (Type II) and Class 6-12 (Type III) in Odisha. Transport allowance for girls where schools are distant. Stipend for girls with special needs (Rs. 200/month for 10 months). For tribal girls in Odisha's remote districts, KGBVs are the critical access bridge to secondary education.
4. Inclusive Education — Children with Special Needs
Samagra Shiksha covers over 18.50 lakh children with special needs nationally from pre-primary to Class 12. Odisha data (2023-24) shows home schooling and financial assistance to CwSN. Transport, aids and appliances, resource rooms, and specialist support teachers are all funded through this component.
5. Teacher Development
Upgrading District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) into "DIETs of Excellence." All 613 DIETs nationally are being strengthened through Samagra Shiksha at an estimated cost noted in the Year End Review 2024. NISHTHA teacher training (for FLN/NIPUN) is a specific sub-programme. Academic Resource Persons for career counselling at Block Resource Centres (BRCs) — one per block — were sanctioned from 2023-24.
6. Digital Education and ICT
Smart classrooms, digital boards, ICT labs, and DTH-based educational content through PM eVidya. Odisha's ICT labs and Smart Classes data from 2020-21 to 2024-25 are tracked through Indiastat. Odisha's VSK provides real-time dashboards on school performance indicators.
7. Vocational Education
Integration of vocational skills with general education from Class 6 onwards under NEP 2020. Samagra Shiksha funds the curriculum integration, teacher training, and industry linkage for vocational subjects in government secondary schools.
Odisha-Specific Provisions
Multilingual Education: Samagra Shiksha specifically funds Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) and bridge courses for tribal children — directly relevant to Odisha's 62 Scheduled Tribe communities and the core of NIPUN Bharat implementation in tribal blocks. The bridge course programme is among the most important interventions for first-generation school-going children in PVTG areas.
KGBV Network: Odisha has a significant network of KGBVs covering tribal and backward districts. Type II and Type III upgrades (to Class 10 and Class 12 respectively) are ongoing under Samagra Shiksha, extending the residential school safety net for tribal girls further into secondary education.
PM SHRI Schools: Odisha has PM SHRI (PM Schools for Rising India) schools funded through Samagra Shiksha at Rs. 25 crore in the 2024-25 Odisha budget. PM SHRI schools are model schools in every block that implement NEP 2020 comprehensively — piloting the pedagogy, assessment, and infrastructure changes that are then replicated across government schools in their cluster.
National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS): One lakh scholarships nationally (1 lakh fresh per year in Class 9) at Rs. 12,000/year for economically weaker section students, specifically to prevent dropout at Class 8. Implemented through the National Scholarship Portal.
What NGOs Need to Know — the Practical Reality
1
Samagra Shiksha is the financial gateway — everything else is a sub-programme. For an NGO wanting to work in government school quality, KGBV strengthening, tribal education, or children with special needs: understanding Samagra Shiksha's Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWPB) process is essential. The AWPB is submitted by OSEPA each year and approved by the MoE's PAB. NGOs that engage with OSEPA during the AWPB preparation can ensure that community-identified gaps are reflected in the state's approved plan.
2
NGOs can be formally partner organisations in specific Samagra Shiksha components. The MTB-MLE programme, community mobilisation, School Management and Development Committees (SMDCs), and alternative schooling for out-of-school children all have provisions for NGO engagement. In Odisha's tribal blocks, NGOs with tribal language expertise are the primary source of MTB-MLE material development capacity.
3
The KGBV system needs NGO welfare support. KGBVs are residential schools — which means the full welfare of girls (health, safety, psychosocial support, grievance redress, life skills) needs to be ensured. NGO partners who can provide counselling, health camps, and life skills sessions to KGBV girls fill a gap that the government teaching staff alone cannot cover.
4
CwSN home schooling support is a specific entry point. The home schooling component for Children with Special Needs — where children who cannot attend school receive education at home with a visiting teacher — is an area where NGOs with disability expertise can formally engage with OSEPA and district education officers to provide specialist support that government special educators alone cannot deliver.
5
The VSK data is public — use it. Odisha's Vidya Samiksha Kendra (VSK) provides real-time school-level data on enrolment, attendance, learning outcomes, and infrastructure. NGOs working in specific blocks can use VSK data to identify the weakest-performing schools in their geography and target support specifically, rather than spreading resources uniformly.
6
The AWPB submission window is the advocacy moment. Each year, OSEPA prepares and submits the AWPB to the MoE PAB. The submission process typically happens between October and February. NGOs with documented community-level data on school quality, tribal education, or CwSN access gaps can formally submit evidence to OSEPA during this window — requesting that specific interventions or geographic focus areas be included in the approved plan.
How JaBaSu Helps NGOs Connect Their Communities
OSEPA interface
JaBaSu's Government Interface team maintains working relationships with OSEPA's programme officers in Bhubaneswar. For partner NGOs seeking to engage in the AWPB process, submit evidence for specific district-level interventions, or access KGBV partnership opportunities, JaBaSu facilitates the formal engagement with OSEPA.
MTB-MLE material development support
For NGOs with specific tribal language expertise — Sora, Gondi, Bonda, Juang, Saura, Kuvi — JaBaSu connects them with SCERT Odisha's MTB-MLE team, creating a formal pathway for NGO language materials to enter the government school curriculum.
KGBV welfare partnerships
JaBaSu helps NGOs with counselling, health, and life skills capabilities to formally register as KGBV support partners through the District Education Officers in tribal districts — ensuring that KGBV girls access the welfare services that residential schools require.
Block Education Officer interface
JaBaSu's network of relationships with Block Education Officers (BEOs) and Block Resource Centre (BRC) Coordinators across Odisha's tribal blocks enables partner NGOs to coordinate their community-level school support activities with the government's OSEPA implementation structure.