Budget 2023: Digital learning, centres of excellence will get a boost in educational activities

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 presented the Union Budget 2023-24 in the parliament. As per budget documents, centre’s allocation for the Ministry of Education for the next financial year is ₹1,12,898.97 crore.

Notably, this is the highest allocation granted to the ministry ever. Prominent educationists have welcomed the budget

Prof RM Chitnis, vice-chancellor, MIT-World Peace University said, “At the outset, the Union Budget 2023-2024 deserves compliments for being promising as well as pragmatic. It will surely bring about positive changes in the country and pave way towards our march of becoming a five trillion-dollar economy. The budget is equally encouraging for the higher education (HE) sector as well. The HE Sector forms the backbone of the economy by creating and nurturing a talent pool of skilled professionals necessary for nation-building. With the advent of new technological tools and a wide reach of the internet to grassroots levels, the various initiatives declared by the government such as the National Digital Library, Eklavya Model Schools, PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana, the inclusion of regional language books for non-curricular subjects, opening up the ICMR labs for collaborative research and innovation projects, the opening of centres for excellence utilising artificial intelligence tools for interdisciplinary research, new nursing colleges and 100 labs for developing educational apps and other such proactive measures will surely give a boost to the education sector. In line with the National Education Policy (NEP 2020), these initiatives will surely encourage re-skilling and up-skilling with a greater impetus.”

“The budget allocation on education has increased by almost 8 per cent. Announcements by the finance minister resonate with what we already practice at Symbiosis. We have a centre for excellence in AI and our Nursing college is co-located with our medical college and the Symbiosis Health skills centre has a skilling programme in Med Tech,” said Vidya Yeravdekar, pro-chancellor of Symbiosis International (Deemed University) (SIU).

PD Patil, chancellor of Dr D Y Patil Vidyapeeth, Pune (Deemed to be University) said, “The budget promises many new initiatives related to the health sector. After the Centre approves the new education policy, it also emphasised on the education sector for its effective implementation in the state. Budgetary emphasis has been laid on the policy to develop Indian education as a catalyst for youth empowerment, social change and nation-building. Many improvements made will be beneficial and useful in the future. It was important to give priority to the education sector. The number of colleges for medical education is less as compared to the population. It is a fact that doctors do not reach the villages even today. Now in this budget, 157 new nursing colleges will be built for medical education. It will be used to provide better medical care. For that, medical students will get extra books, which will be useful. Also, for two years in a row, digital learning will get a boost in educational activities amid Corona and restrictions. The budget is commendable.”