The Indian government has allocated Rs 84,952 crore to the education sector, inclusive of basic, secondary, and higher education. This is around Rs 20,675 crore more in comparison to 2021-22 when Rs 64,277 was allocated.
Central government’s budget is increased by 18 % over the previous year, to around GBP 10 billion, with increases in both primary and higher education spending as well as funding for several key initiatives in the education sector including
- Distance and online learning,
- Critical thinking and vocational skills,
- Reforms to transnational education
as part of the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City project.
Budget 2022 for Education:
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for the financial year 2022-23 in the Lok Sabha today February 1, 2022. For the new financial year starting April 1 this year, like various other sectors, the government’s social infrastructure, The Finance Minister has also made many important announcements for the education sector under the Employment and Human Development Department. These include the establishment of a digital university, expanding one class channel to 200 channels, establishing a digital university, establishing a digital DESH e-portal, courses related to urban planning through AICTE, and courses on financial services and technology, etc.
Referring to the education sector in this budget, the finance minister said that due to the closure of schools due to the Covid-19 pandemic, our children, especially those from the rural and backward classes of the country, have to be saved. Covid is causing a lot of problems. Children spend two years of their schooling at home.
Important announcements for the education sector in the budget
- One Class One TV channel program will be expanded to 200 TV channels under PM EVidya Abhiyan.
- A digital university will be established to promote e-content. High-quality e-content will be developed in all spoken languages for distribution through the internet, mobile phone, TV and radio, and digital teachers.
- World-class universities will be allowed to offer financial services and technology courses free of cost without Indian regulations.
- AICTE will be given the responsibility to take the initiative to improve the urban planning curriculum.
- Five educational institutes will be made centres of excellence for urban planning.
- The institutes will get a grant of Rs 250 crore each
- A competitive mechanism will be created to equip teachers with digital teaching tools and promote quality e-content to ensure better educational outcomes.
- The curriculum of agricultural universities will be revised to meet the needs of modern agriculture.
The government’s effective capital expenditure is estimated at Rs 10.68 lakh crore in 2022-23, about 4.1% of GDP. The outlay for capital expenditure is to be stepped up sharply by 35.4% from Rs 4.54 lakh crore to Rs 7.50 lakh crore in 2022-23.
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