The government of Odisha is planning to introduced the online certificate courses in Odia for the benefit of Non-Resident Odias (NROs) across the world and students residing outside, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced.

“I would like to announce that the government of Odisha has decided to facilitate Odia Certification Courses on online basis for the benefit of Non-Resident Odias (NROs) globally and for the students residing outside Odisha from 2017," CM Naveen Patnaik said.

The scheme is scheduled to be launched next year. The Board of Secondary Education (BSE) will conduct the lower Odia test, which will be equivalent to Class 8 standard Odia.

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

The introduction of Odia curriculum and lower Odia test would benefit the children of the Odia families residing overseas, said School and Mass Education Minister Debi Prasad Mishra.

The BSE will conduct the online test once or twice a year by the BSE.  The Odia curriculum for the certificate course has been developed and uploaded to the BSE website.

According to the minister, the NRO students will have to pay $100 to appear in the examination, while the students residing outside the state will need to pay Rs 1,500 for the examination.

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Nandini