New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the budget 2022-23 on February 1. The education sector has high expectations from this year’s budget. They expect increase in allocation to better digital infrastructure. The experts wished to see some changes in policies focusing on a longer term impact in the education sector.
Last year amid the Covid-19 pandemic situations, the budget in the education sector was slashed by 6 per cent- Rs 93,224 crore in 2021-22 from Rs 99,311 crore in 2020-21.
Education Experts On Budget
Vinay Sharma, CEO & Director – Convergia (S Chand Publishers)- Speaking with NDTV said “The Government can play an important role in rolling out a vaccine for kids and other measures to ensure schools can open like in other countries. Also, a reduction in GST on digital content will help improve its usage and penetration. Many path-breaking initiatives in NEP can be implemented if the education budget is increased to make investments in infrastructure and capacity building.”
Rishabh Khanna, Cognitive Scientist and Co-founder of Suraasa- Speaking with NDTV said “Education specifically has taken a new direction that has made technology based learning, whether online or blended, indispensable for our education systems. Over 1 crore teachers of the country have pushed themselves to embed technology in their teaching systems and they need support in developing their capability on new age teaching methods. I think that we should allocate a part of this education budget specifically to solve this need.”
Ruchir Arora, Co-Founder & CEO, CollegeDekho- Speaking with NDTV said “Many students in India don’t have access to a laptop or a stable internet connection. There needs to be a focus on ensuring that the required infrastructure is developed adequately and is available to everyone. However, on the bright side online education helps students gain admission across any college in the country which helps improve the GER.”
Nishant Agarwal, Founder, Proctur- Speaking with NDTV said “Although budget 2021 was adequate in light of the digital revolution, budget 2022 is predicted to be a more advanced and strong budget with appropriate tax incentives, a solid network infrastructure, and strict data protection regulations, which might alter the educational IT industry.”
Swati Ganguly, Co-Founder, Edufiq, EdTech- Speaking with NDTV said “The Union Budget 2022 should consider multifaceted improvements for this upcoming budget. Considering India in 2032, 10 years from today, the future of improved GDP depends on organically educating youth of today and Union budget 2022 can be a gatekeeper for this change.”
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