Union Budget 2022: Academics term Budget Futuristic; Digital University future of education

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam while presenting her fourth budget in the Lok Sabha announced that the government will bridge the digital divide by creating a digital university.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced the Budget 2022-23 and has allocated Rs 1,04, 277 crores for the Education Ministry. This year the allocation for education is over 11 percent compared to the fund allocated last year.

The allocation for the department of higher education is Rs 40,828 crore, the allocation for Schools education has been increased to Rs 63,449 crore. FM Sitharam was presenting her fourth budget in the Lok Sabha announced that the government will bridge the digital divide by creating a digital university. Sitharaman also announced that the central government will allow World-Class Universities to establish campuses in India, and they will be free from domestic regulations.

Academics and heads of education institutions have termed the Budget 2022 futuristic.

Digital University: Future of education

Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year while delivering the convocation address at Tezpur University said that new technological interventions are happening across the globe and in India as well so it is possible that in the future universities will be completely virtual. He then said that the future of education will be virtual universities. This year in her Budget speech Nirmala Sitharaman announced the setting up of the digital university.

Banaras Hindu University Vice-Chancellor, Prof Sudhir K. Jain has welcomed the announcement and has termed the budget as focused on making a skilled, well-qualified and digitized India. Lauding the announcement of establishing a Digital University to provide access to students across the country, world-class quality universal education at their doorsteps, Prof. Jain said that the pandemic has taught us the importance of digital platforms and e-learning. In today’s digitized world, the difference between virtual and the real seems to be reduced, and hence, this is the right time to make the digital university a reality.

Academics from other institutions have also praised the Budget, for its determination to transform the education system to support the 21st century’s way of online and personalized learning.

Dr. P. Venkat Rangan, Vice-Chancellor, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham said: “Its plan to introduce digital teachers who would reach high-quality educational content to students anywhere in the country in their preferred language and tech channels such as internet, mobile, TV and radio is exciting. The idea of a digital university in partnership with prominent universities and research institutions to provide students with a personalized online learning experience is even more interesting. Further, the proposed initiative to create 750 virtual labs in science and mathematics, and 75 e-skill labs to provide stimulating learning environments for students will pave the way for gradual adoption of digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, IoT, and Augmented and Virtual Reality technologies in the education sector.”

Dr. Jaskiran Arora, Dean-School of Management, BMU said: “The idea behind using the hub and spoke model in the Digital University is to solutionize the challenge of dissemination of quality education to every nook and corner of the country. We have very good teachers/professors in the country, but currently, their reach is limited and very few students can benefit from their expertise.
The hub and the spoke model in the education sector would not only assist by hosting the lectures of such teachers and professors at a central point for a better reach but could also benefit a greater number of students by streaming them in multiple languages. Aspirationally, the flagship programs of so many educational institutions in science, arts, architecture, fintech, liberal arts, commerce, medicine, management etc, could be made available to anyone passionate to pursue the course. This model will also ensure better tracking of student engagement at the different platforms.

India already has Swayam and NPTL platforms covering a wide variety of courses, but a Digital University operating on a hub and spoke model can transcend the dissemination of quality education in India to a different playing field. This will be enabling the entire country to elevate to make a mark in the world, Arora said.

One Class One TV Channel

As for the universalization of quality education, the Budget 2022-23 has committed to increasing the number of One Class-One TV channels from 12 to 200 to ensure that about 250 million children who missed out on education in the pandemic years will have access to quality supplementary education in their own language.

The Budget is also set to promote skill development as a means of making India strong in emerging technologies such as Geospatial Systems and Drones, Semiconductor, Space Economy, Genomics and Pharmaceuticals, Green Energy, and Clean Mobility Systems.

Dr. Raj Singh, Vice-Chancellor- JAIN (Deemed-to-be University) said: “Education and skill development sectors will be among the largest beneficiaries of these rails to tap the aspirations and ambitions of millions of career-focused citizens. The Government's intention to set up a resilient education delivery mechanism for facilitating the delivery of quality education using digital platforms will unleash a host of opportunities for public-private collaboration. Add to that, the focus on democratising education and skill development with proactive investments into digital university, teacher training, digital inclusion, regional content and DESH-stack will result in unveiling a new opportunity landscape comprising of a new generation of digitally savvy quality education seekers. This will not only enable the edtechs and blended educators to collaborate; but most importantly, collectively expand the pool of new-age education seekers while narrowing down the learning curve.”

Dr. Pradeep K. Sinha, Director IIIT Naya Raipur: "Due to the pandemic, the world has realized the important role that online education can play in augmenting conventional education system. This realization is also visible in Budget 2022. The increased focus on strengthening the IT infrastructure of the country is a step towards strengthening our online education system. Establishment of a Digital University to provide access to world class quality education is yet another step in this direction. One TV channel in every classroom and disseminating knowledge to the students of rural India in online mode will be possible through quality e-content and reliable IT infrastructure only, which is a focus area of the current budget. Emphasis on skilling programs for the youth shall help in generating easily employable manpower in future."

Supplementary education in regional languages

According to Pramod Kumar Jain, Director, IIT BHU central government through the recent Budget has shown its intent that it wants to support supplementary education available in regional languages.
He said: “We welcome the move taken for the education sector in the budget 2022. As the pandemic had a large impact on the education sector, technology adoption showcases a positive move towards its development. Aiming to boost quality education in India, the government has announced developing a Digital University and catering towards e-content and e-Vidya initiatives. The government is also inclined to focus on supplementary education available in regional languages and telecasted in radio, TV, and digital platforms, hence targeting wider outreach of quality education in rural and village areas. Lastly, this big announcement is in sync with the National Education Policy giving the use of technology to enhance learning, assessment, and planning both for school and higher education.”

Dr. Ajeenkya DY Patil, President, Ajeenkya DY Patil University, and Chairman of the DY Patil Group said: “I am glad to see the measures announced today in the Union Budget by our finance minister to improve the digital infrastructure and investment in e-learning as well as skill-based educational content that is delivered digitally. E- Vidya initiative demonstrates the critical need for supplementary education and the measures around 5G and digitisation should facilitate highly flexible learning opportunities to all students across the country.”

The state of education is often a healthy predictor of the country's overall development and well-being. Quality education holds the key to inclusive growth and education in India needs to be recognized as an equalizer especially in the context of the pandemic. Dr. Tristha Ramamurthy, Founder & Managing Director, Ekya Schools, and Provost, CMR University said that this year’s budget will bring a revolutionary change to the education sector as it can support capacity building of teachers and school leaders across the country.

“Investing in teacher education through the training of teacher educators and implementation of robust institutions for teacher training and education will create a high-quality education system in the country. Education is also a crucial instrument that can bridge the socio-economic divide in our country. The establishment of a Digital University and over 200 channels covering multiple regional languages under the ‘One class, one TV channel' program are two very innovative and path-breaking initiatives that will enable students across the nation to access quality education through the hub and spoke model. The development of quality e-content to empower and equip teachers with digital tools for teaching and facilitating in order to achieve better learning outcomes is a welcome measure. Taking into account the challenges of the online learning arrangements, the government’s decision to enhance digital learning with E -VIDYA will be a boost to the education sector,” said Dr Ramamurthy.

Read more: 

• Budget 2022: Over Rs 1 lakh crore allocated to Education; funding of IITs, IIMs, CUs up
• Union Budget 2022: Digital University, One Class One TV Channel to bridge digital divide
• Economic Survey 2021-22: Education Expenditure allocation rises by 20%