Budget draws mixed reactions from education sector

The provisions of the budget related to skill development and digital literacy received applauses from the education sector, however, educationists have expressed their concerns on low allocation of funds for education.

“The announcement to set up 1,500 Skill Development Centres in the country and allocation of Rs 1,700 crore for the project is a good signal in the direction to generate skilled human resources in the country. It will benefit the youth living in smaller cities and rural areas and provide skilled human resource to various sectors,” said Ashok Pandey, Principal, Ahlcon International Schhol, Mayur Vihar Phase I.

“The vision to provide skill training under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna (PMKVY) during 2016-19 will cover a huge population of youth specifically those who belong to the rural areas. Furthermore, 62 Nvodaya Vidyalayas will also be helpful in providing quality education to the students of poor families,” Pandey added hailing the budget as progressive and focused on common people.

The academicians are, however, divided over funding and incentives to higher education. “Allocation to higher education is not sufficient and there is also no major incentive for private sector in this field. If you aspire to compete with USA and China you must show this in your budgetary allocations,” said Badri Narayan, Professor in JNU. “Higher education is the base of knowledge. The little budget they provide is expended in research scholarships only,” he added.

Criticising the creation of Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA), he said the amount of Rs 1,000 crore is too little when requirement of education loan is around Rs 50,000 crore. “This government is destroying what already exists which is evident from their mishandling of issues in campuses like JNU,” he added.

However, Anurag Mishra, Associate Professor in the Delhi University is equally optimistic. “These initiatives highlight the vision of the government and will be landmark in this field of higher education. The decision to develop 10 government and 10 private institutes as ‘institutes of excellence’ will encourage a healthy competition among government and private education institutes,” said Anurag Mishra. 

Investment in skill India and digital India projects will also create jobs for trained youth besides producing skilled youth.