Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Thursday inaugurated the three-day state-level children’s festival ‘Suravi-2026’ at the Unit-3 Capital High School ground here, unveiling a series of initiatives to strengthen school education, promote the Odia language and equip students with emerging technological skills.
The festival, organised by the School and Mass Education Department from November 12 to 14, has brought together more than 2,500 students and accompanying teachers from across Odisha. Over 1,000 government officials and employees are also participating in the event.
On the occasion, Majhi presented the Chief Minister Education Awards to outstanding teachers, students and educational institutions, besides recognising Nabarangpur, Kataka and Kalahandi districts for their contributions to the education sector. A total of 375 individuals and institutions from the combined award lists for 2024 and 2025 were honoured. The scheme has provided financial incentives of around Rs 138.97 crore from the block to state levels.
The Chief Minister also distributed the Chief Minister Odia Language Scholarship to meritorious students and felicitated 10 outstanding students and four CHSE toppers at the inaugural ceremony. Under the scheme, 7,350 students across the state are being awarded an annual scholarship of Rs 7,500 each for their performance in Odia.
In another major initiative, Majhi launched the ‘Nipun App’ to strengthen foundational literacy and numeracy among primary schoolchildren. He also inaugurated robotics laboratories in 807 schools across the state at an investment of Rs 164.33 crore.
The laboratories, equipped with four robots each, robotics kits, computers and 3D printing facilities, will provide students from Classes VI to X exposure to robotics, coding, artificial intelligence, machine learning and other emerging technologies. The facilities are expected to enable students to undertake more than 100 innovative projects, particularly helping bridge the digital divide between rural and urban schools.
Addressing students, teachers and parents, Majhi said Suravi was much more than a children’s festival, describing it as a platform reflecting the dreams, creativity, talent and immense potential of young minds.
Recalling his earlier experience as a teacher, the Chief Minister said he attended the programme not only in his capacity as the head of the government but also as a teacher, adding that his teaching instincts came to the fore whenever he visited schools or student-related programmes.
Emphasising the formative importance of childhood, he said parents and teachers had a responsibility to shape children into responsible citizens through education, guidance, discipline and values.
Advising students to adapt to changing times, Majhi cautioned them against the misuse of mobile phones and said digital devices should primarily serve as tools for acquiring knowledge rather than entertainment. He also urged students to move beyond the conventional pursuit of government jobs and high marks, stressing that skills, competence and capabilities were more important in securing employment.
Referring to Odisha’s rapid industrialisation, he said the state’s emerging economic opportunities would generate lakhs of jobs in the coming years and called upon students to prepare themselves to benefit from them. Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, he underlined that the future of the nation depended on its children.
This year’s Suravi carries the theme ‘Samruddha Bhasha, Samruddha Odisha’ (Prosperous Language, Prosperous Odisha), with a focus on promoting pride in the mother tongue, literary appreciation and creativity while encouraging respect for the state’s linguistic and cultural diversity.
Under the Chief Minister Odia Language Scholarship scheme, students from Odia-medium schools securing the highest marks in the subject in the annual High School Certificate examination are selected for financial assistance. The selection is made at different administrative levels, including 20 students from each block, 20 from each municipal corporation, 10 from each municipality and five from each Notified Area Council.
The Chief Minister also highlighted several initiatives being undertaken to implement the National Education Policy in the state. These include the establishment of Shishu Vatika centres for early childhood education, setting up Godavarish Mishra Adarsh Primary Schools in every panchayat, extending the mid-day meal programme to students of Classes IX and X and providing free education from KG to PG.
The Nipun Odisha mission, supported by the newly launched application, is aimed at ensuring that every child acquires foundational reading, writing and numeracy skills by the end of Class III through classroom monitoring and individual learning assessments.
School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond said Suravi played an important role in nurturing children’s abilities beyond classroom learning by providing opportunities in literature, culture, art, music, dance, debate, quizzes and creative activities.
He said the government’s vision was to build an Odisha where every child had access to education in the mother tongue, every language received due recognition and the state’s cultural heritage was preserved for future generations. As Odisha moves towards the centenary of its formation in 2036, education, language, culture and youth creativity would remain key drivers of its development, he added.
Bhubaneswar-Ekamra MLA Babu Singh, Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the School and Mass Education Department N. Thirumala Naik and OSEPA State Project Director (In-charge) Sangita Behera were among those present.
The three-day festival will feature competitions and activities in debate, essay writing, speech, creative writing, quizzes, drawing, music, Odia handwriting, dictation, PM-Poshan-related painting and handicrafts, besides group cultural performances.
