Delhi Education Budget 2020: State to have an independent education board

The establishment of Delhi's own State Board of Education is one of the most important proposals made by the Delhi government during the education budget 2020-21.

Delhi government in its budget 2020-21 announced multiple proposals including setting up Delhi’s own education board, building five new schools of excellence, setting up teacher training university, curriculum revamps, programme for spoken English for government school alumni and PISA test participation in 2024. In a one-day session of the Delhi Assembly, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia stated that the government allocates Rs 15,815 crore to the education sector (24% of the total budget).

The budget speech revealed that the government planned to introduce an independent board for Delhi. The establishment of Delhi's own State Board of Education is one of the most important proposals made by the Delhi government during the education budget 2020-21. The Board will be established with a vision of creating such an education and examination system in which children will not only focus on scoring marks but on learning. They will be prepared for possible challenges of the upcoming world. The government has proposed a sum of Rs 62 crore for this including the budget for SCERT.

In his budget speech, Mr Sisodia stated that in the financial year 2020-21, the government propose to spend Rs 15, 815 crores for the education sector in the education sector (including Rs 443 crore for education-related schemes of various departments). This is 24.33 per cent of the total budget. Out of the total, an amount of Rs 7, 031 crores is allocated for implementation of various programme, projects and schemes that are 24 per cent more over Revised Estimates 2019-20.

Manish Sisodia, who is also the education minister revealed that the Delhi government is thinking about joining the PISA Test in 2024.

What is PISA?

Stating further about PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), Mr Sisodia said that in the field of education, PISA holds a reputed stature, it is the World’s most important international educational assessment process. The assessment is held every three years and the government is optimistic that by 2024, Delhi will achieve a distinct place on the educational map of the world.

The minister also stated that the government will start a scheme under which students will be provided newspapers to develop an interest in newspaper reading. During the current financial year, special classes were organised for students to improve their communication skills, under which around 40,000 students developed English speaking skills.

Talking further regarding the budget plans, the minister stated that they have set aside an amount of Rs 12 crore for this programme to develop spoken English skill in students. More than 11,000 students of class 11 have already been included in this programme. The programme is now being extended to those students who have passed the examination from schools in the last five years.

Next year onwards, the government will launch the school health scheme. An amount of Rs 22 crore is proposed under the scheme. Students will be provided with a multipurpose identity card with their health details.

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