Dear FM, Education deserves more to reap democratic dividend: Chocko Valliappa

The 2022-23 Budget allocation for education at Rs 1,04,278 crore, was just 3 percent of the annual budget. The 2020 National Education Policy (NEP) aims at enhancing the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for higher education to 50 percent from the current 27.1 percent, by 2035.

Chocko Valliappa Founder and CEO of Vee Technologies, and Vice Chairman of Sona Group of Education Institutions shares his thoughts and expectations for the education sector in the Union Budget 2023.

Madam Finance Minister,

Anyone managing her budget knows the pulls and pushes for every paisa, both at work and home. And I can only empathise with your conundrum as you prepare your 5th budget for the country. The budget for health, defence, education, infrastructure, science and technology, interest payments, and scores of other heads are all a big priority.

My humble plea comes to you on behalf of thousands of young dreamy-eyed Indians I meet each month. I also get inspired by hundreds of parents who say they have cut down many necessities out of their family budget to pay for the education of their wards.

As per recent reports, India has become the most populous country, with almost half of its workforce being under the age of 25. The government also aims to create as much as 25% of the global workforce to be Indian, by 2047.

Hence, it is crucial to focus on a plan to provide the much-needed push to the education landscape at this juncture.

The 2022-23 Budget allocation for education at Rs 1,04,278 crore, was just 3 percent of the annual budget. The 2020 National Education Policy (NEP) aims at enhancing the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for higher education to 50 percent from the current 27.1 percent, by 2035.

This target of doubling of GER over the next few years and other reforms mentioned in the NEP can be achieved if the allocated budget is doubled to six percent of the budget. The industry plea for doubling allocation for the education sector is not new with the first recommendation calling for 6 percent of the budget started as far back as in the 1960s by the Kothari Commission on Education.

Adequate investment on education at all levels, research and skill development alone can lead to higher employability, an area where India has a lot of catching up to do. We need to address the question with a sense of urgency – can we take advantage of the demographic dividend before the opportunity slips away?

Education budgets over the years

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on HRD, now Education (2018, 2020, 2021), has repeatedly noted that the Department of School Education and Literacy is allocated funds much below its proposals. As per a report by PRS Legislative Research, in 2018-19, 2020-21, 2021-22, the department only received 76%, 72% and 56% of the sought funding in these years. Similarly for higher education, the allocation was Rs 39,466 crore, against a demand of Rs 58,251 crore.

While I am fully cognizant of the fact that this cannot be achieved in the Union budget for fiscal 2023-24, I am confident that it may well be possible to achieve doubling of funds for the education sector over the next three years.

As the Finance Minister, you may present a well-defined road map that looks at restructuring various schemes, subsidies and budget heads that have scope for bringing in synergies, driving efficiencies through government’s digitization initiatives. Swayam is a good platform that needs more investment to compete with the world class. The government needs to invest in creating a state-of-the-art MOOC platform on the lines of National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT) by AICTE. This is the only way we can leapfrog and educate the masses.

I am reminded of the age-old proverb: “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”

The increased budget for education is certainly an equal and more pressing priority, as India needs to improve its education infrastructure with more classrooms, education tools and facilities (mid-day meals, clean drinking water and toilets), and well-trained and the right number of teachers with adequate digital tools and resources. As an eminent economist said in an interview at the World Economic Forum recently, only world-class scientific labs can lead to flourishing technological capabilities that India can build, to leapfrog in the race to be a world leader.

Millions of students are eagerly looking forward to preparing for a brighter future for themselves and their country, so do I!

Read more:

• Increasing average screen time is a worrying trend: PM during Pariksha Pe Charcha 2023
• Union Budget 2023: Medical sector calls for more nursing colleges, paramedical institutions