Union Budget 2022 expectations: Road to revamp education sector and strengthen infrastructure

As the Budget day inches closer, there are heightened expectations among teachers, students and other stakeholders that this year’s Budget will not only nullify the adverse impact of the pandemic but also will bring better infrastructure, new central Universities, boost to girls’ education and others.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present Budget 2022 in Parliament on February 1. As the Budget day inches closer, there are heightened expectations among teachers, students and other stakeholders that this year’s Budget will not only nullify the adverse impact of the pandemic but also will bring better infrastructure, new central Universities, boost to girls’ education and others. The budget for centrally-run medical colleges was increased very marginally over the last financial year’s budget, which is also expected to be raised this year.

Last year, the Centre had slashed the allocation towards education in the annual budget by 6 per cent which amounted to a total allocation of Rs 93,223 crores. In Budget 2020, the education sector was allocated Rs 99,311 crore. However, this year, many believe that the budget allocated to the education sector will be increased but also it will put focus on the edtech sector, the infrastructure and reskilling of the employees.

Budget 2022: Infrastructre development

“As we enter into the third wave of the Pandemic, it is quite evident that the Early-Years Education sector needs the Government’s support in this year’s Budget. While last year saw a reduction of education spending by over 5 per cent, an increase of 10 per cent or above becomes vital. The attempts to make up for school closures via online means have met with partial success primarily because of the high costs associated with the IT infrastructure. To overcome the digital divide further on, a large allocation towards IT and Bandwidth infrastructure needs to be subsidized for students and educational institutions for a higher degree of usage,” said AK Srikanth, CEO, KLAY.

With the decision to keep schools, colleges and other educational institutions closed for two years the biggest loss is for those who could not attend the physical classroom or appear for the offline exams. While it was closed in India, the schools, colleges and other were kept open through the pandemic in other part of the world.

“To overcome this loss, it would be imperative to support schools, colleges with health and safety infrastructure models for safe premises, even though the third wave is proving to be less virulent.

The pandemic has hit the Gross Enrolment Ratio unfavorably which was hovering around the 27 per cent mark in 2018-19. In order to realize 50 per cent by 2030, it is important that we accelerate and compensate for the lost years due to the pandemic,” he added.

In times when many education players had to close down their businesses, it is important that the investments into the Education sector increase and a lower GST of 5 per cent or less from the current 18 per cent is made, which will additionally attract potential investors, Srikant said.

It must be noted that in last year's Budget it was announced that Central University in Leh will be set up for accessible higher education in Ladakh. This year, too, it is expected that an announcement for the building of a new central university will be made too.

Budget 2022: Inclusion of multiple schemes, affordable 5G devices

"In this Budget, the Government should announce multiple schemes to enhance better Internet connectivity infrastructure across the nation so that last-mile connectivity can be ensured and access to affordable 5G devices. Education curriculum in higher education institutes should be job-ready so that drop-out rates can be curtailed. If we see the education expenditure, India spends only 4.6 percent of its total GDP and ranks 62nd in total public expenditure on education per student, therefore it’s high time that the government should allocate at least 6 percent of Indian GDP to the education sector," said Dr Pankaj Sharma, Director, JK Lakshmipat University

However, with COVID refusing to go away, with a new variant, the Budget should focus on the curricula too. The curricula should be made interesting enough giving enough opportunity to the students to enjoy learning with relevant and relatable study material.

"Given the disruption induced by technology (4th Industrial Revolution), any move to stimulate overall economic activity and create employment will have to involve design. The Government’s ‘Make-in-India’ initiative needs to be coupled with a ‘Design-in-India’ push so people can create new products, devise business processes, and think about new ways of service delivery for society. This is a must so that we can build a more “skilled” and “employable” India because the fact remains that the design industry is today one of the major employers as all industry verticals are augmenting their design & innovation capacities. Yet the importance of the design industry and education and its contribution to the GDP and nation-building is hardly recognized. For this to happen, the Government needs to change its mindset and that of the populace. It can make a beginning by incorporating more creative learning into the secondary education curriculum and setting up a creative think-tank that challenges policy and re-writes the rules. Creating a role in the Cabinet for the creative industries would give a fillip to the sector and hence employment," said Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Vice-Chancellor, World University of Design.

The curricula should focus on imparting employable, digital, and flexible skills that will aim on skilling, reskilling, and upskilling the country's youth.

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