Budget 2023: Sector cheers at the highest education share ever

Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharamanrsquos Budget 202324 saw a significant increase for the education sector The Budget has allocated Rs 11289897 crore to the Ministry of Education mdash the highest ever midday spoke to educationists and sector experts about whether this lsquorecovery completersquo budget as it is being touted can aid the pandemichit education systemThe national education budget has two parts based on two principal departments of the ministry of educationmdash the department of school education and literacy and the department of higher education According to Budget documents the school education departmentrsquos outlay is Rs 6880485 crore while the higher education department has been allocated Rs 4409462 croreThe education budget has been consistently increasing over the past four years The total allocation in 202223 was Rs 10427772 crore with the allocation for school education and higher education seeing a 22 per cent and 13 per cent increase over the preceding yearrsquos revised estimates This year the same allocations show an increase of 8 per cent and 79 per cent respectively while the total allocation is an 826 per cent increaselsquoFocus on skills NEP futurersquoPrasad Pardeshi dean RBK Educational Institutions Mumbai said ldquoThe Budgetrsquos emphasis on addressing learning loss and providing a superior education for young people was critical and longoverdue The finance minister has championed the utilisation of digital pedagogy to mitigate the learning disruption caused by the pandemic The National Digital Library for children and the promotion of physical libraries at various levels is commendablerdquoAlso Read Budget 2023 Experts welcome health budget but add may need more fundsProf Madhushree Sekher dean School of Vocational Education Tata Institute of Social Sciences TISS Mumbai said ldquoWe embrace the emphasis on cultivating skills in accordance with the National Education Policy NEP and economic initiatives for generating employment opportunities for the younger generation The nationwide apprenticeship programme and the PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana PMKVY 40 will empower and inspire young people to sharpen their skills This Budget also brings cheer to teachers as they will be trained using innovative teaching methods curriculum transformation continuous professional development and the implementation of ICT Information and Communications Technology The establishment of an additional 30 Skill India International Centres offering programmes in fields such as coding Artificial Intelligence AI mechatronics drones and the enhancement of various soft skills is a phenomenal initiativerdquoDr Shuchi Gautam IC director Thakur Global Business School Kandivli said ldquoThe National Digital Library will foster a culture of knowledge acquisition and reading The emphasis on digitisation will enhance the efficacy of the Indian higher education system Prioritising PMKVY 40 skill development job creation and industryaligned curriculum will enable the workforce to meet the demands of future employment thereby bridging the divide between education and employment opportunities The budget has given impetus to the fundamental principles of the NEP There is a need to empower private selffinanced institutions with more flexible policies as they play a significant role in increasing the gross enrolment ratio nationallyrdquolsquoNeeded this for NEP successrsquoDr Swati Popat Vats director of Podar Jumbo Kids and President of the Early Childhood Association and Association for Primary Education and Research said ldquoI think everyone in the education fraternity should celebrate as it is a great Budget The increase in the allocation is not just a nominal one We needed a good Budget for teacher training to ensure the NEPrsquos success which has become a reality Besides it ensures education outreach for tribal students and newage technology research and development A large chunk of the education budget has been allocated to Samagra ShikshardquoRajesh Bhatia founder and CEO of Treehouse Education amp Accessories Ltd said ldquoFor me the prioritisation of the edtech sector was key and I am glad that the budget advocates lsquoMake AI in India make AI work for Indiarsquo It reenvisions teachersrsquo training through innovative pedagogy I am also glad that Centres of Excellence for AI will be initiated in top educational institutions and leading industry players will conduct interdisciplinary research I hope cuttingedge applications are also developed for the education sector It is also heartening that the Budget promotes the culture of readingrdquoOther takeways Around 100 labs for developing apps using 5G services will be set up in engineering institutions These labs will cover apps like Smart Classrooms Precision Farming Intelligent and Transports Systems In the next three years 38000 teachers and support staff are to be recruited for 740 Eklavya Model Residential Schools serving 35 lakh tribal students National Child Trust Childrenrsquos Book Trust and other sources are to be encouraged to provide and replenish noncurricular titles in regional languages and English collaboration with NGOs working in literacy Facilities in select ICMR labs for research by public and private medical college faculty and private sector research teams for encouraging collaborative research and innovation A total of 157 new nursing colleges will be established in core areas