Budget 2021 Expectations for Education: The education sector in India has been witnessing a paradigm shift due to National Education Policy 2020 (NEP-2020) and Covid-19. Now all eyes are on the Narendra Modi government’s Budget 2021 on February 1 and authorities are hoping that numerous elements and challenges pertaining to the Education sector will be taken care of.
While the NEP 2020 envisions transforming India into “a global knowledge superpower”, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will have her work reduce out in the upcoming Union Budget 2021 to make the Government of India’s ambition a reality.
“We await the Union Budget 2021 with great hope, as it will be – among other things – the first after the introduction of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 that envisions to transform India into ‘a global knowledge superpower’, and also the draft Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP), the 5th one nationally, released on 1 January 2021. First and foremost, we must invest in networks and infrastructure to bridge the digital divide across the country. The NEP 2020 underlines the need to create a robust research ecosystem in our country, something that would, over time, be an important catalyst in driving India forward. At a time when food and energy costs have been rising, healthcare has been inadequate, and climate change threats are increasingly visible, investments in R&D of the physical kind become more important than ever. Artificial Intelligence (AI) will then be a multiplier,” Dr. Rupamanjari Ghosh, Vice-Chancellor, Shiv Nadar University – Delhi NCR, and Co-Chair, FICCI Higher Education Committee, stated.
“The Hybrid model is here to stay and we hope that the Government will set aside funds for providing data and devices to the underprivileged students and educators so that we can reach out to the remotest corners of India. With the unveiling of the New Education Policy, the teachers need to be upskilled to do justice to the changes envisioned by the policymakers. We urge the Government to focus on training of teachers to bring them at par with international educators. GST exemption or reduction in rate on teacher training courses would be a welcome move,” Surabhi Goel, Chief Executive Officer, Aditya Birla Education Academy, Aditya Birla World Academy and The Aditya Birla Integrated School stated.
“Budget 2021 is going to be extremely crucial for sectors like education because it would need to be rebooted in its entirety. Covid19 has forced embracing of digital technology education sector at all levels. This is an opportunity in disguise which cannot be missed to build digital infrastructure that would reach every student of India and fulfil the objective of Right to Education. National Education Policy 2020 needs investment on priority from the budget and financial incentive to the EdTech sector including abolition of GST of 18 per cent levied on education sector for next 5 years,” stated Nitin Potdar Corporate Partner at J. Sagar Associates who leads Education Practice of the firm.
“The Budget 2021 is one of the most crucial as it is the first financial statement of the government that would be announced after the Covid-19 pandemic. The past year witnessed a paradigm shift when it comes to education, as schools and colleges remained closed for the longest period. Classroom teaching was replaced completely by remote learning wherein even elementary education was imparted through smartphones and laptops. Thankfully, the new National Education Policy 2020 was finalized after the outbreak of the pandemic and hence it has taken into consideration almost all factors that would be instrumental in the post-Covid era. Our foremost expectation from the budget is that it would provide the much-needed push to the education sector, which has been languishing over the past year. The need of the hour is that each rupee allocated to the sector must end up benefiting the maximum number of students possible. This can be achieved by bringing in efficiency and transparency in the usage of the allocated sum. In the previous budget, the government allocated nearly 3.2 per cent of the total budget for education. It is crucial that the share of the education sector be increased significantly to overcome the challenges currently faced by the sector,” Dev Roy, Founder, Digital Aristotle.