The education budget of Rs 1.20 lakh crore was allocated in the interim budget 2024, which was tabled on February 1. This amount was Rs 9,091 crore, or 7.26 percent, less than the revised projection of Rs 1,29,718 crore for 2023–24.
From Rs 72,473 crore (updated estimate) in 2023–2024 to Rs 73,008 crore (budgeted estimate) in Union Budget 2024-25—a pitiful 0.7% increase in allocation has been made for schooling.
Budget 2024 For the Education Sector
Educationists anticipate a large boost in funding for the education sector, with a focus on research, in Modi 3.0’s first union budget, which Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to announce later this month.
They have demanded increased funding for research to promote innovation and stay up with technological breakthroughs worldwide, arguing that bolstering these capacities is essential to India’s progress in science, technology, and other vital fields.
There must be a major increase in financing for research and education in the Indian budget for 2024–2025. India is ranked third in the world for scientific research, but its 40th-place placement in innovation is concerning.
What did Educationists say?
“This investment must be increased because R&D spending only makes up 0.65% of GDP, which is much less than the 1.8% global average and the BRICS average,” stated V Ramgopal Rao, a former director of IIT-Delhi and vice-chancellor of the BITS Pilani Group of Institutions.
He stated that the National Research Foundation (NRF) should be key in closing these gaps. There is an urgent need for more programs that are tailored to collaborations between academia and industry.
The dean of Sharda School of Business Studies, Dr. Kapil Pandla, believes that funds for higher education institutions should be significantly increased in Education Budget 2024 India to improve overall quality, research capacity, and infrastructure.
Through the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0, the government provided Rs 12,000 crore to train about 10 million youth. This time, he argued, it deserves a better, larger allocation.
India Budget 2024 For Specific Funds
The government’s main initiative for pre-primary to upper secondary schools, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, received Rs 37,500 crore in the interim budget for 2024—a 12.76 percent increase over the Rs 33,000 (updated projections) in 2023–2024.
The Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), Teacher Education (TE), and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) programs are merged into the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan.
Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), public technical institutes controlled by the Union government, were allocated a budget of Rs 10,324 crore (estimate) for FY 2024-25, compared to Rs 10,384 crore (RE) for FY24.
The amount spent on education has been varying between 2.5 and 3 percent over the past few years. Raising the amount allotted to education to the more ideal 6% and above would be positive. That means that by promoting the establishment of new institutions, particularly K–12 schools, we as a nation must be ready to spend more on education than the previously allotted Rs 1.32 lakh crore, according to Kanak Gupta, Group Director of Seth MR Jaipuria Schools.
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 goals and the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) have accelerated school planning, he continued, and the finance minister should support chances for cutting-edge learning platforms in classrooms in the budget.
“The secret to realizing the potential of AI in the classroom is more money. About 29% of disabled children in India were not enrolled in school as of 2023; studies also show that 1 in 68 pupils there struggle with specific learning issues. I anticipate concentrating on the same thing as well,” Gupta continued.
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