Union Budget 2023-24: Key takeaways for education sector
What's the story
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman officially presented the Union Budget 2023-2024 on Wednesday in Parliament.
After almost three back-to-back years of massive disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the country's education sector is looking forward to a new era, where the government's main focus is upskilling the youth and increasing digitalization.
So, here are all the key takeaways for the education sector!
Context
Why does this story matter?
As per the recommendations of the National Education Policy 2020, the education budget should ideally be 6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, that figure has never been attained.
The budget presentation by Parliament depicted the Centre's plans to promote and enhance quality education in the country, incorporating every level.
The government also prioritized employment and youth for the upcoming session.
Info
National Digital Library for adolescents and children
The finance minister announced that a National Digital Library for adolescents and children would be set up to facilitate the availability of quality books across genres, languages, geographies, and device-agnostic accessibility.
For medical devices, specialized multidisciplinary courses have been announced that will be supported in current institutions to allow the possibility of a skilled workforce for futuristic medical research.
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Budget increased for Eklavya Model Residential Schools
Centre will hire 38,800 teachers and support staff in the next three years for the 740 Ekalavya schools for 3.5 lakh tribal students.
The Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) also had its budget significantly increased to Rs. 581.96 crore.
It went up from Rs. 1418.04 crore in 2021-22 to Rs. 2,000 crore for the 2022-23 financial year.
Education first
Online training programs for government employees, civil servants
To create a reading culture and to make up for the learning time lost during the pandemic, the Children's Book Trust, the National Book Trust, and a few more bases will be urged to supply books and other material in English and regional languages to physical libraries.
Furthermore, integrated online training programs will be provided to government employees and civil servants to upskill them.
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India to get 157 new nursing colleges
The budget also announced facilities would be made available at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) labs for research to outsiders.
A new program to promote pharmaceutical innovation and research will also be introduced.
Additionally, 157 new nursing colleges will be established alongside the previously existent 157 medical institutions.
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Know about the Karma Yogi initiative
States and union territories will implement capacity-building plans under the mission "Karma Yogi" for civil servants, announced the finance minister on Wednesday.
The Centre has also announced the launch of an online training platform to allow endless learning possibilities for government employees, which will enable them to boost their skills and facilitate a people-centric approach.
Up-skilling youth
India to get 30 Skill India International Centres!
Training of teachers will also be re-envisioned through new curriculum transactions, pedagogy, iCT implementation, and continued professional evolution dipstick survey.
Furthermore, the district education and training institute will be turned into a vibrant institute of excellence for this goal.
Thirty Skill India International Centres will also be set up across India, announced Sitharaman during Wednesday's budget presentation.