Indian Govt education budget

2. Introduction
Education Budget 2022 grows by 11.86%: major areas of union budget
allocation, schemes covered, & new plans. The education budget as
announced is up to 11.86 percent from last year. The major areas of
education budget allocation, major schemes covered, and new
education development plans are listed here:-
• On February 2nd, 2022, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
presented the Budget 2022, with the education budget focusing
primarily on digital education, the establishment of a digital university,
job creation, agricultural universities, programmers' skill development,
and so on.
• The education budget for 2022 has been set at Rs1,04,278 crore,
which is up by Rs11,054 crore from last year. The education budget
allocation for 2021-22 was Rs93,223 crores, a 6 percent decrease from
the previous year. The new estimate came in at Rs88,00, 002 crore.

3. • The most common request from education experts this year was for an
increase in overall funding, which the government has granted with an
increase of 11.86 percent.
•But do you all believe it's enough?
• Budget for education in 2022 is nowhere near 6% of GDP. The National
Education Policy for 2020 (NEP) calls for a public education investment of
6% of GDP. This figure has never been reached in India's education budget.

4. Department of Higher Education
•Rs40,810.34 crore (revenue) and Rs18.01 crore
(capital) are allocated to higher education (Last
year, it was Rs38,350.65 crore while the revised
estimate was Rs36,031.57 crore) which is
Rs7454.97 crores
• Allocated to the scheme Non-Scheme funds: Rs.
33,373.38 crores.

5. Schemes
• Union Budget 2022: Budget allocation for major education schemes
• The Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, also known as the National Education
Mission, is India's largest school education programme. Last year's
budget allocation for this scheme was drastically reduced.
• Despite a more than Rs 6000 crore increase, this year's allocation was
unable to return to the level of 2020-21.
• The Asian Development Bank has provided a loan of USD 500 million
to fund the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan and the establishment of
"exemplar schools.”

6. • Budgetary allocation for fiscal year 2022-23: Rs 37,383.36 crores
Budget allocation for the fiscal year 2021-22: Rs 31,050.16 crores
• The budget for 2020-21 is Rs 38,750.50 crores.

7. Digital education
• The pandemic exposed India's vast digital divide, and better digital
infrastructure was a major demand in this year's union budget.
• Millions of people were unable to attend school and lacked access to
mobile phones, laptop computers, or consistent internet connectivity
to continue their online education.
• While thousands of remote and rural schools remained closed due to
a lack of resources and the Covid-19 safety protocols, many students
trekked through forests, climbed mountains, and sat on the side of
the road to gain internet access on smartphones.

8. • According to the education budget announcements, a digital
university will be developed to provide students with access to world-
class quality education that meets ISTE standards.
• In her budget speech, Sitharaman stated, "The best public universities
and institutions in the country will collaborate as a network of hub-
spokes." The announcement of the Vibrant Villages Programed, which
will provide DTH access to Doordarshan and educational channels to
villages along the northern border, will help to improve digital
infrastructure in rural areas.
• Other budget proposals, such as the Bharatnet optical fiber network
project and the 5G spectrum auction, will also aid in the promotion of
digital education.

9. Focus on skill development and vocational
education
• The education budget for 2022 places a strong emphasis on skilling
programs, which is a boon for the country given the Covid-19
pandemic's devastation in this field.
• According to the announcements, the MOE and MSDE's Skill Hub
Initiative will be launched in 5000 skill centers over the next year. ITIs
will begin skill-building courses. The DESH-Stack e-portal for Digital
Ecosystem for Skilling and Livelihood will be launched to assist youth
in skilling, upskilling, and reskilling.
• The e-portal will also offer API-based trusted skill credentials,
payment, and discovery layers to help users find relevant jobs and
business opportunities.

10. • The skill sector will be reoriented to promote continuous skilling
opportunities, sustainability, and employability, and the National Skill
Qualification Framework (NSQF) will be aligned with changing
industry needs. In science and mathematics, 750 virtual labs will be
created.
• For simulated learning environments, 75 skilling e-labs will be
developed.

11. E-learning in regional languages
oThe Covid-19 pandemic resulted in significant learning loss for Indian
students. During this time, approximately 1.5 million schools and 1.4
million ECD/Anganwadi centres were closed. Since last year's
pandemic waves, most schools have closed and reopened several
times. As a result, nearly 247 million children were unable to attend
school for more than a year.
oAccording to the education budget announcements :-
• the PM eVIDYA's 'One class, one TV channel' programme will be
expanded from 12 to 200 TV channels for all states to be able to
provide supplementary education in regional languages for Classes 1
to 12 to compensate for the loss of formal education due to the
Covid-19 pandemic, particularly for students from rural areas, weaker
sections, and SC-ST communities.

12. • Teachers will be encouraged to create high-quality e-content in a variety of
languages and subjects so that any teacher or student can benefit from it
from anywhere. To ensure empowered teachers and curious students, a
competitive mechanism will be developed to encourage the development
of high-quality e-content by teachers.
• The concept of digital teachers will be developed in all spoken languages.
Learner-facing e-content will be developed in innovative teaching formats
so that all content can be made available simultaneously through various
mediums such as online, TV, and radio.
• The concept of digital teachers will be developed in all spoken languages.
Learner-facing e-content will be developed in innovative teaching formats
so that all content can be made available simultaneously through various
mediums such as online, TV, and radio.

13. Job creation
Unemployment has been a major concern for India's youth.
According to the education budget announcements:
• Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the government's goal for
Aatmanirbhar Bharat was to create 60 lakh jobs in 14 sectors through
PM Gati Shakti and the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme.
• Animation, gaming, and comics could all see an increase in
employment. A task force to promote animation, visual effects,
gaming, and comics (AVGC) will also be established, which is a very
welcome step. This will also help with hands-on learning.
• Startups will be encouraged to facilitate 'Drone Shakti' and Drone-As-
A-Service, which will result in job creation.

14. Mental health of students
• Another noteworthy aspect is the announcement in Budget 2022 of
the National Tele Mental Health programmed in recognition of how
the Covid-19 pandemic affected not only physical health but also the
mental health of people of all ages, including students.
• The program will include a network of 23 excellence tele mental
health centers.
• Nirmala Sitharaman stated, "NIMHANS will be the nodal centre, and
IIIT Bangalore will provide technological support for the mental health
programme.”

15. • "The E-Health Research Center at IIITB has been working with
NIMHANS, National Health Mission, Govt of Karnataka, on e-Manas, a
first-of-its-kind software platform for mental health management,"
explains Prof TK Srikanth, Head of the E-Health Research Center at IIIT
Bangalore. "This has been deployed by the Karnataka government
and is being expanded to monitor the DMHP programed as well as
psychiatric rehabilitative services." Now, the IIITB will assist in the
integration of eManas with tele-health services, resulting in a
comprehensive platform for mental health care that can be scaled up
nationally," he adds.

16. CONCLUSION
• After all, the government has allocated Rs 8,195.00
crore to Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) for 2021-
22, up from Rs7,536.02 crore.
• A total of Rs1,700 crore has been allocated to world-
class institutions or institutes of eminence. Each
public institution receives financial assistance of up to
Rs1,000 crore over a 5-year period under the IOE
scheme.

17. • The already dire state of India's education system has worsened since the
outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Schools have been closed for about 20
months due to the pandemic, resulting in poor learning outcomes for children,
particularly the poor and disadvantaged.
• The Lockdown Caused a Significant Loss to the Disadvantaged: During the 20
months of school closures, the vast majority of the total number of children
enrolled in preschool and school did not have meaningful structured learning
opportunities. They've lost fundamental literacy and numeracy skills, as well as
the habit of learning. Due to a lack of contact with teachers, millions of students
have dropped out of school. In anticipation of the Omicron wave, schools were
once again rushed to close, bucking all international trends.

18. AFTERALL,
• A Multi-Pronged Approach to Reviving the Education System: The disaster
caused by the Covid-19 pandemic may provide an opportunity to reverse India's
chronic underfunding of the public education system. The education system now
requires not only a multi-year infusion of resources, but also a stronger focus on
the needs of poor and disadvantaged children, who are most likely to be
negatively impacted by such educational crises. However, increased government
spending is a necessary but not sufficient condition for addressing all of the
issues. It is also necessary to consider what public funds are being spent on, as
well as to keep track of how effectively the resources are being used.

19. • Expectations for the Next Budget: In this day and age, it is astonishing that public
expenditure data on the education sector are not easily accessible. The opacity of
expenditure data presents an opportunity for the upcoming Budget to clear up
any confusions about the additional funds that the principal departments will
allocate for different levels of education in 2021-22. The budget must also include
a provision for funds to address the issue of education emergency faced by
children who have been denied learning opportunities.

20. However, the government only spent Rs 1,369.30 crore on all projects until
February 2021. Arun Jaitely announced the IoE scheme in 2016, and the
first set of institutions designated as IoEs was announced in 2018.
Name of the Instition 2019-20 (in Rs Cr) 2020-21(in Rs Cr) 2021-22(in Rs Cr) 2022-23(inRs Cr)
UGC 4600.66 4693.20 4693.20 4900.91
IIT 6329.95 7182 7536.02 8195
NIT/IIEST 3787.05 3885 3935 4364
Central Universities 6843.40 7643.26 7643.26 9420
IoE 1,710 500.00 1710 1700