The Union Budget receives praise for its efforts to digitalize education and make it more accessible to people at the grassroots level. Nonetheless, many people believe that more could have been done to improve the quality of education.
The leading names in the country’s higher education community welcomed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement of the Union Budget 2022 on February 1. The sector praised the budget for being in line with promoting human capital through digital tools such as the PM e-Vidya scheme’s “one class, one TV channel” programme.
It laid out the Government’s progressive vision for capitalizing on India’s demographic advantages by proposing a digital university, creating a conducive environment for inter-university collaborations, and implementing a number of skill development programmes.
The Department of School Education and Literacy has been allocated Rs 63,449.37 crore in the Union Budget 2022-2023, an increase of approximately 6.6% (Rs 9,000 crore) over the current fiscal years. It lays a straight road for the government to achieve its long-term goal of increasing the employability of the country’s youth through promoting upskilling, reskilling, and a variety of learning initiatives that provide them with new-age skills.
DilipPuri, Founder & CEO of the Indian School of Hospitality, appreciated the gesture saying, “We welcome the new initiatives introduced by the Government in the Union Budget 2022 to revive and boost our economy. The Government has recognized areas that require financial assistance and support, and a clear focus is laid on the education sector. The establishment of digital universities is a progressive move by the Government – by reaching out to every student in the remote corners of our country, they will give them access to education by collaborating with world-class educators and institutes.
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Shishir Jaipuria, Chairman of FICCI Arise and Chairman of the Seth AnandramJaipuria Group of Educational Institutions, praised the government for its efforts to align budget provisions with the progressive elements of National Education Policy 2020.
Shishir Jaipuria stated, “The Union Budget 2022 takes forward the perspective of universalizing quality education as established in the National Education Policy 2020. The decision to expand the PM e-VIDYA scheme to 200 TV channels and to also construct high-quality e-content in all spoken languages will benefit the students of grades 1 to 12, who suffered learning loss because of the closure of schools during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Niranjan Hiranandani, Provost of HSNC University, praised the government’s formation of a well-rounded budget that promotes equal access to education and a growth mindset among students of all backgrounds.
Hiranandani stated, “The industry applauds and welcomes the push into the digital ecosystem while focusing on building and upgrading digital infrastructure for quality education. The establishment of digital universities will enhance the availability of education to the rural students following the hub and spoke model. With easy access to education in regional language, each and every student will get the opportunity to empower and equip themselves”.
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Bikram Agarwal, CFO of the Seth AnandramJaipuria Group of Educational Institutions, praised the budget offerings, recognising the need for skill-based education.
Agarwal stated, “The most important takeaway from the Union Budget 2022 is the slew of decisions made to empower the country’s digital learning ecosystem. The establishment of a Digital University, as well as the initiative to create high-quality e-content in all Indian languages, will make learning accessible to all.
While many praised the government’s actions, some felt it could have done more. Budget critics felt that this year’s budget saw fewer investments and initiatives for promoting quality education across all strata of society than the previous year’s budget.
“The Finance Minister has mentioned supplementary teaching through additional TV channels (PM eVidya) to make up for the education loss of the last two years,” said Professor Tarun Jain, Associate Professor of Economics, IIM Ahmedabad, in response to the budget. Given the tremendous learning loss that our children have suffered, this is insignificant. Significant investments in improving school quality are required to ensure that our demographic dividends are realized. This has to be balanced against the fact that only 8% of rural students attend college and 23 percent of urban students have access to the Internet.
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Even when students have access to the Internet, the quality of online education remains low. We must compare budget commitments to the aspirations of the Indian people. High-quality education is both a critical component of what young people hope for and one of the most profitable investments in the economy. As a result, the government should seriously consider increasing its investments in public education.
Overall, the Union Government received positive feedback on its budgetary recommendations to promote skill-based learning enabled by digitalization. From short-term skilling programmes to upskilling, reskilling, apprenticeships, and lifelong learning, a wide range of training opportunities have been established to provide a diverse range of training opportunities.
The budget guaranteed that the government’s focus on skill development would continue to make youth employable, contributing to the country’s growth and economic health.
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