By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, July 2, 2016 : In a significant development to provide Odia education to people Odishans living abroad or outside the state, the Odisha government has decided to facilitate a certification courses on online for the benefit of Non-Resident Odias (NROs) globally and for the students residing outside Odisha starting 2017.

The proposal mooted by the Department of School & Mass Education was approved by the state government on Friday and it will make learning mother tongue would become easier for the NROs, chief minister Naveen Patnaik said.

The proposal allows the Odias residing overseas to get a certificate, which is equivalent to Class-VII. The NROs can attend examination online after getting a six-month course of Odia.
On the request of the Odisha Society of The Americas, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had directed the department to prepare a system for the NROs so that they can easily get education in their mother tongue.

Department Minister Debi Prasad Mishra had asked the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) to prepare an Odia curriculum and Lower Odia Test for overseas students.

“For this the Odisha Society of Americas (OSA) and other organizations had made an appeal to me earlier. This will benefit the second generation of Odia children living outside the country and will carry forward the grand legacy of our language,” said Naveen.

The curriculum of the lower Odia test will be equivalent to Class-VII standard Odia and it will be conducted by Odisha’s Board of Secondary Education (BSE), said a notification from the chief minister’s office.

The examination would be conducted once or twice a year. While the examination fee for students living abroad will be 100 USD, the fee for students living outside Odisha will be Rs 1500, the notification added.

The examination would carry a total of 70 marks (30 marks for short answer, 10 marks for translation from English to Odia, 20 marks for translation from Odia to English and 20 marks for essay.