Will Budget FY2025 Calm The Ongoing Chaos In the Education Sector?

In the interim budget 2024, the centre allocated Rs 73,498 crore, the highest ever for the Department of School Education & Literacy. According to the number, there has been an overall increase of Rs 12,024 crore (19.56 per cent). The move was highly appreciated across the sector by different stakeholders. However, the question also arises, Does the high allocation of money solve all the existing issues in the sector? 

Within 3 months of Budget allocation, the education sector faced a rough patch with the revelation of the NEET scam and the cancellation of the UGC exam. 

Both matters exasperated the country's youngsters and took them to the street. As far as the legal proceedings, the issue has been undertaken by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) and a seven-member committee formed to look into the matter. The committee is chaired by Dr K Radhakrishnan, the members will scrutinise the whole examination procedure, the role of NTA and the paper leak mechanism. 

Education is a dynamic sector that consists of multiple stages along with numerous participants from various sectors; entrepreneurs owning private schools, government framing policies, school staff implementing those policies and students who are the protagonists are in the centre of the whole education ecosystem. 

Can One-Way Approach Work?

As the sector is multidimensional, a one-way approach does not work to mend the issue. Ample allocation of money in the budget, technological advancement and policy framework will not be able to address the existing problems in the education sector alone. 

Rishab Kapur, Co-founder and Vice President of Strategic Alliances, Edverse, said, “It is undisputed that technology plays a pivotal role in the education sector. Policies supported by proper financial investments can greatly improve accessibility to the best resources for deserving learners. Therefore, the hope from the budget is that the government prioritises investment in digital infrastructure, allowing players in the segment to bridge the gap in learning opportunities.”

Skill, More Than Education 

Education is one of the fundamental necessities, therefore the fair accessibility of education needs to be spanned all across the population irrespective of their region, religion and economic status. 

The ultimate goal of educating a child is to make them eligible to earn their livelihood and in this competitive era only education does not provide much to them rather they have to be sharpened in skills too.

For that matter, the government rolled out policies but the implementation of those policies still needed to convince. The industry leader also believes that collaborative action of all the contributors in the sector should be prioritised and that can bring a change for the students. 

Prof. Vidya Mahambare, Union Bank Chair Professor of Economics and Director, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai said, “The government must take supervisory steps to ensure higher education's quality and learning outcomes. These are more difficult to monitor, measure, and improve for online education than the conventional mode, which itself is plagued by poor learning outcomes.”

It is high time that skill training should be done at both school and college levels, hence industry leaders are expecting a budget to allocate a good amount of money for skill training. 

Regarding the upcoming budget, Mahambareadded that Skills such as critical thinking, logical reasoning, and an ability to look beyond existing data, will be in demand going ahead. Public policy needs to outline a roadmap for how we deliver these skills to millions of students right from primary education through to higher education.

Extending Expenses 

As India is a welfare state, health, housing and education are some of the fundamental needs that the public expects to be free or little affordable. However, the increasing school & college fees are vital issues to be dealt with from the end of parents and students. Decreasing public grants to educational institutions is one big reason for hiking these fee structures. According to the media reports, UGC allocation noticed a cut of over 50 per cent with just Rs 2,500 crore allocation for the financial year 2024-25 from Rs 5,360 crore in the 2023-24 budget estimate. 

Jitendra Karsan, Chairman, of Safari Kid, said, “We urge Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to prioritise early childhood education reforms. Reducing GST from 18 per cent to 6 per cent on educational premises rent would make quality early education accessible and affordable. Increasing tax benefits for women entrepreneurs and teachers would foster economic growth, empower women, and expand access to quality childcare, creating a nurturing environment for young learners.”

Scam Free Education 

Among all the issues and places for improvement, a student expects a fair and clean education ecosystem for him/her. If educational institutions that teach students about values and principles strangle into scams, break the trust of millions of bright minds. 

With this full-fledged budget, Naman Jain, Vice-Chairman, Silverline Prestige School, Ghaziabad said, “The upcoming Union Budget 2024-25 holds significant promise in India's efforts to build a robust and future-ready educational framework. The budget allocation standing at Rs 73,498 crore, the highest ever for the Department of School Education and Literacy, is proof of the government's dedication to enhancing the quality and accessibility of education across the country.”

Students dedicate their hours, months and years to prepare for an exam, malice intentions and practices do not have the right to waste them at all. The policymakers and legal institutions must make sure this, budget allocation can accelerate the vision but a fair chance for each of student is the fundamental right of those students. Therefore more than budget government need to take stringent steps in this direction. 

Shruti Tripathi

BW Reporters Shruti Tripathi