shiv2002

Education is one of the most important parts of Gov. social sector spending in any Middle-Income country like India. Education, not only enhances the employability of individuals but also helps them to break the vicious cycle of poverty and social marginalization. National Education Policy(NEP),2020 was a major policy shift of Gov. to cater to the needs of the education sector of 21st-century India.

Union Budget 2023-24 comes at a time when recovery from Covid-19 is almost completed and the immense importance of technology was realized in the education sector. In Union Budget 2023-24 Centre has provisioned for Rs.1,12,899.47 cr for the fiscal year 2023-24 as compared to Rs.1,04,277.72 cr in the year 2022-23 (8.3% increase y-o-y). Gov said it is the highest-ever allocation to the Education sector which will Transform India into a Knowledge-based economy.

Key points:

SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY DEPARTMENT

1. PM POSHAN or Mid day meal scheme allocation has hiked by 13.3% which will give a push to GER(Gross Enrollment Ratio).
2. The Budget of the School Education department gets a hike of 16.5% to achieve the aspirations mentioned in NEP 2020.
3. Three Centre of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence has to be set up.
4. A National Digital Library for children and adolescents will be set-up to cope up with difficulties faced by children during the time of the pandemic.
5. National Book Trust, Children’s Book Trust, and other sources will be encouraged to provide and replenish non-curricular titles in regional languages and English to the physical libraries.
6. Teachers’ training will be re-imagined through innovative pedagogy, curriculum transaction, continuous professional development, dipstick surveys, and ICT implementation.
7. STARS has increased by Rs. 250.00 cr a hike of 45.45% as compared to 2022-23.STARS provides an assessment of school learning assessment systems, strengthens classroom instruction and remediation, facilitates school-to-work transition, and strengthens governance and decentralized management.STARS Scheme is aided by the World bank.
8. States will be encouraged to build physical libraries at panchayat and ward levels.

HIGHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

1. Scheme of PM SHRI has increased by Rs. 2200.00 cr.
2. 100 labs for developing apps using 5G services will be set up in HEIs., to realize the new range of opportunities, business models, and employment potential.
3. Prime Minister Research Fellowship (PMRF) an amount of Rs. 400 Crores has been allocated as compared to Rs 200 Crores in BE 2022-23 i.e. 100% increase.
4. In Budget Estimate 2023-24 Grant or UGC has been hiked by 9.37% i.e. an increase of 459 crores.
5. A research and development grant for indigenous production of Lab Grown Diamond (LGD) seeds and machines will be given to one of the IITs for 5 years as proposed by FM.
6. Fund Allocation for FY 2023-24 inSamagra Shiksha Scheme introduced in 2018 has increased by Rs. 70.11 cr.

Areas Missed by Budget

• The official declaration by the Ministry of Education in NEP 2020, Suggests Public investment in the education sector should be 6% of GDP but it has merely around 2.8-2.9% of GDP from FY16.
• No separate funds are allocated for the Library project in the Budget.
• FM didn’t specify whether Gov. plans to extend the Plan to extend the National Digital Library Scheme(2018) for Children and adolescents.

Union Budget 2023-24 gives an outline to achieve both NEP 2020 objectives and SDGs Goal 4 of Quality Education. Proper implementation and minimizing loopholes will prepare India to become a knowledge-based economy in AMRIT KAAL(2022-2047).

Budget 2023-24 (Education sector) - Click Here