Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan hails the record budgetary allocation of Ministry of Education of Rs. 104277.72 cr in the FY 2022-23

New Delhi: Union Minister for Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Shri Dharmendra Pradhan has lauded the Union Budget 2022 as being inclusive, forward looking and aspirational, laying foundation for the Amrit Kaal of the next 25 years. The Education Minister hails the record budgetary allocation to Ministry of Education of Rs. 104277.72 cr in the FY 2022-23. The budgetary allocation witnessed the jump of 11.86% which is 11053.41 cr from FY 2021-22, he added.

Expressing his gratitude to Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, he said that the Budget has made several direct interventions like announcing the setting up of a Digital University, allowing foreign universities to run courses in GIFT City, launch of DESH-Stack e-portal and aligning Skill Qualification Framework with industry requirements. These interventions will improve and strengthen the education and skilling ecosystems in the country.

Shri Pradhan highlighted the efforts of the Ministry to universalize quality education which will gain strength with the setting up of a Digital University and expansion of One Class-One TV Channel programme of PM e-VIDYA from 12 to 200 TV channels. He said that the digital university will be built on a networked hub-spoke model, with the collaboration of best public universities and institutions in the country and it will provide access to students across the country, to world-class quality universal education at their doorsteps in different Indian languages. Expansion of one class-one TV channel programme will enable all states to provide quality supplementary education in regional languages for classes 1-12, he added.

The Budget 2022 has announced that 750 virtual labs in science and mathematics, and 75 e-labs for skilling with simulated learning environment, are to be set-up in 2022-23.

Extensive use of technology will be vital in providing access to quality education for all children. Integration of technology in teaching learning process will be the game-changer in future as it will empower teachers, provide them autonomy, and promote innovative pedagogies that will ultimately lead to improvement in learning outcomes of children. Teachers are required to be abreast and hands-on with technological tools. For this purpose, and to augment their capacities, teachers will be encouraged to develop quality e-content in different languages and different subjects so that any teacher or student can access the content from anywhere and get benefitted. A competitive mechanism to promote development of quality e-content by the teachers will be created to ensure empowered teachers and curious students.

In order to ensure stimulating learning environment and appropriate resources conducive to learning, the concept of digital teachers in all spoken languages will be developed. Learner facing e-content will be developed in innovative teaching formats such that all content is coherent with all devices, that is, the same content can be made simultaneously available through online, on TV and on radio. As we are celebrating 75 years of independence and looking forward to build a future generation equipped with 21st century skills, the digital teachers in all languages and through all possible digital modes (internet-based, mobile-based. TV, radio) will ensure equitable access to the highest-quality education for all learners regardless of their socio-economic background. The Digital teacher concept will also help in creating a digitally empowered society.

In connection with the focus on expanding digital education, the minister also welcomed the emphasis that the Budget 2022 has placed on enhancing digital infrastructure in rural areas and the announcement of Vibrant Villages Programme under which DTH access will be provided to Doordarshan and educational channels for villages in the northern border areas.

The announcement for setting up of an animation, visual effects, gaming, and comic (AVGC) promotion task force to realize the potential of this sector is also a very welcome step. In addition to promoting the industry, this will also help in experiential learning.

Similarly, the decision to developfive existing academic institutions in different regions as centres of excellence in urban planning is a very forward looking step. These centres will be provided endowment funds of Rs 250 crore each for developing India specific knowledge in urban planning and design. AICTE will take the lead to improve syllabi, quality and access of urban planning courses in other institutions.

The Budget 2022 has also announced that world-class foreign universities and institutions will be allowed in the GIFT City to offer courses in various subjects like Financial Management, FinTech, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

The skilling sector is poised for major transformation, and the Budget 2022 will give fillip to this process by improving employability of our students. The skill sector is to be reoriented to promote continuous skilling avenues, sustainability, and employability, and the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) will be aligned with dynamic industry needs.

The launch of Digital Ecosystem for Skilling and Livelihood – the DESH-Stack e-portal– will empower citizens to skill, reskill or upskill through on-line training. It will also provide API-based trusted skill credentials, payment and discovery layers to find relevant jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities. Promoting start ups to facilitate ‘Drone Shakti’ and for Drone-As-A-Service will create many employment opportunities. To prepare our youth for this, the required courses for skilling, will be started in select ITIs, in all states,

The emphasis on PM Gati Shakti programme and PLI programmes in the Budget 2022 is especially welcomed as these will create huge job opportunities for our youth. 60 lakh new jobs are expected to be created under the productivity linked incentive scheme in 14 sectors. This will pave the way for young India to realize its aspirations. The education ecosystem will also be prepared to help this initiative by developing necessary curriculum. In this direction the Skill Hub Initiative of MoE and MSDE will be launched in 5000 skill centres during the next year.

Highlights of Budget 2022-23 – Department of School Education & Literacy

· There has been an overall increase of Rs. 8575.71 cr (15.63%) in the Budget Allocation of Department of School Education & Literacy in the FY 2022-23 from FY 2021-22.

· The overall Budget Allocation in FY 2022-23 is Rs. 63449.37 cr out of which Scheme allocation is Rs. 51052.37 cr and Non- Scheme allocation is Rs. 12397 cr.

· Budget Allocation for FY 2022-23 in the Flagship Scheme of Samagra Shiksha has increased by Rs. 6333.20 cr from Rs. 31050.16 cr in BE 2021-22 to Rs. 37383.36cr in BE 2022-23.

· Budget Allocation for FY 2022-23 for the World Bank aided Scheme of STARS has increased by Rs. 65.00cr from Rs. 485.00cr in BE 2021-22 to Rs. 550.00cr in BE 2022-23.

· Allocation in KVS has increased by Rs. 850.00cr (from Rs. 6800.00crin BE 2021-22 to Rs. 7650.00cr in BE 2022-23) and in NVS by 315.00cr(from Rs. 3800.00cr in BE 2021-22 to Rs. 4115.00cr in BE 2022-23).

Highlights of Budget 2022-23 – Department of Higher Education

· There has been an overall increase of Rs. 2477.7cr (6.46%) in the Budget Allocation of Department of Higher Education in the FY 2022-23 from FY 2021-22.

· The overall Budget Allocation in FY 2022-23 is Rs. 40828.35cr out of which Scheme allocation is Rs. 7454.97 cr and Non- Scheme allocation is Rs. 33373.38 cr.