Union Education Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ lauded the Union Budget 2021-22 and expressed his gratitude to Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman for giving a major boost to education.

ShriPokhriyal highlighted that the Budget allocation for the National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS), has been substantially increased from Rs. 175 Cr to Rs. 500 Cr in next FY 2021-22 for providing post-education apprenticeship, training of graduates and diploma holders in Engineering.He also said that an outlay of Rs. 50,000 Cr over next 5 years for National Research Foundation (NRF) will give a major boost to Innovation and R&D.

The Minister said in a big boost to education sector allocation of KVS has increased by Rs 362.32 crore and allocation of NVS increased to Rs. 320 crore w.r.t. RE 2020-21. The budget allocation of NCERT increased to Rs.110.08 crore from RE 2020-21.

Highlights of Budget 2021-22 –Department of Higher Education

1.   In this FY 2020-21, the BE was Rs. 39466.52 Cr, which has been rationalised to  Rs. 32900 Cr, due to Covid-19. BE for the next year 2021-22 has been kept at  Rs.  38350.65 Cr, which is more than 5450.65 Cr more than the current year RE.

2.   Out of the Total BE of Rs. 38350.65 Cr, Provisions for Establishment, Autonomous Bodies(ABs), and Schemes are as below:

(i)Establishment: Rs. 247.44 Cr

(ii)Autonomous Bodies(ABs): 29023.78 Cr

(iii)       Schemes Total: Rs. 9069.43 Cr

(a)Centrally Sponsored Schemes: Rs. 3000 Cr [RUSA]

(b)Central Sector Schemes: Rs. 6069.43 Cr

3.   In our flagship scheme RashtriyaUchchatarShikshaAbhiyan (RUSA), a budget provision of Rs. 3000 Cr has been kept for the next FY 2021-22, in comparison to   Rs. 300 Cr in current year.

4.   Budget allocation for the National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS), has been substantially increased from Rs. 175 Cr to Rs. 500 Cr in next FY 2021-22 for providing post-education apprenticeship, training of graduates and diploma holders in Engineering.

5.   Some New Initiatives like- Opening of BhartiyaBhasa University & Institute of Translation, Indian Knowledge System, Academic Bank of Credit, PM e-Vidya, Multidisciplinary Education and Research Improvement in Technical Education (MERITE) shall be implemented in line with the NEP recommendations, after approval of the competent authority. At present a Token Provision has been kept in the BE of FY 2021-22 for all the above initiatives.

Budget Announcements:

1.   Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) -an Umbrella Body, which will have 4 verticals- Accreditation, Standard Setting, Regulation, and Funding. Legislation for HECI will be introduced this year.

2.   In 9 cities where there are number of institutions supported by the GoI (like- Hyderabad etc.) we will create a formal umbrella structure– for better synergy, while retaining their internal autonomy.

3.   A new Central University(CU) will be set up in Leh.

4.   We will realign the existing scheme of National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS) for providing post-education apprenticeship, training of graduates and diploma holders in Engineering. Over Rs. 3,000 crores will be provided for this in next 5 years.

5.   For promotion of Innovation and R&D, an outlay of Rs. 50,000 Cr over next 5 years has been kept for National Research Foundation (NRF). Its major beneficiaries will be Higher Education Institutions including CFTIs like- IITs/IISc/IISERs/NITs etc.

Highlights of Budget 2021-22 – Department of School Education & Literacy

1.        Budget allocation for BE 2020-21 was Rs 59845 crore which was rationalized to Rs 52189.07 crore in RE 2020-21 post covid-19 situation. This has now increased to Rs 54873 crore in BE2021-22.

2.        There has been an overall increase of Rs. 2684.59 crore (5.14%) in Budget allocation of Department of School Education & Literacy in BE 2021-22 from RE 2020-21.

3.        The overall Budget allocation in BE 2021-22 is Rs. 54873.66 crore out of which scheme allocation is 43648.66 crore and non-scheme allocation is Rs. 11225.00 crore. The scheme allocation has been increased by Rs 1895.08 crore and non-scheme allocation by Rs. 789.51 crore as compared to RE 2020-21.

4.        Budget allocation in the Flagship scheme of SamagraShikhsa has been increased to Rs. 31050.16 crore in BE 2021-22 from Rs. 27957.32 crore in RE 2020-21 by Rs. 3092.84 crore i.e. increased by 11.06% in comparison to RE 2020-21).

5.        The budget allocation in PadhnaLikhnaAbhiyan (PLA) is also increased from Rs. 95.25 crore (RE 2020-21) to Rs. 250 crore in BE 2021-22 (an increase of Rs. 154.75 crore) i.e. by 162.47%.

6.        Rs. 485 crore is also provisioned in the new created Centrally Sponsored Scheme of STARS.

7.        Allocation of KVS is increased by Rs 362.32 crore and allocation of NVS increased to Rs. 320 crore w.r.t. RE 2020-21. Budget allocation of NCERT was also increase to Rs. 110.08 crore from RE 2020-21.

Initiatives on Education as part of NEP

·     Standards will be developed for all school teachers in the form of National Professional Standards for Teachers- NPST.  This will enhance the capabilities of teachers and will be followed by all 92 lakh teachers of public and private school system in the country.

·     Toys are both an expression of entertainment and learning.  A unique indigenous toy-based learning – pedagogy for all levels of school education will be developed.  This will transform classroom transactions from mundane and rote learning to an engaging and joyful experience.

·     A National Digital Educational Architecture (NDEAR) will be set up within the context of a Digital First Mindset where the Digital Architecture will not only support teaching and learning activities but also educational planning, governance and administrative activities of the Centre and the States/ Union Territories.  It will provide a diverse education eco-system architecture for development of digital infrastructure, a federated but inter operable system that will ensure autonomy of all stakeholders, specially States and UTs.

·     For children with hearing impairments, the Government will work on standardization of Indian Sign language across the country, and develop National and State Curriculum materials for use by them.

·     There are a number of senior and retired teachers.  They will be used for individual mentoring of school teachers and educators through constant online/offline support on subjects, themes and pedagogy.

·     Students have so far been evaluated on uni-dimensional parameters.  There will be a complete shift from using assessments to not only judge the cognitive levels of the learner but also using it as an opportunity to identify the unique strengths and the potential of the child. To this effect, a holistic progress card is envisaged to provide students with valuable information on their strengths, areas of interest, needed areas of focus and thereby helping them in making optimal career choices.

·     To enable increased access of resources, online modules covering the entire gamut of adult education will be introduced.

·     During the year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, we have trained more than 30 lakh elementary school teachers digitally, covering the whole gamut of education.   Taking this further, in 2021-22, we will enable the training of 56 lakh school teachers through the National Initiative for School Heads and Teachers for Holistic Advancement (NISTHA).

·     For the past few years our Prime Minister has been engaging with students every year before their Board Exams to help them overcome anxiety and stress.  In this direction, we will introduce CBSE Board Exam reforms in a phased manner to be effective from the 2022-23 academic session.  Exams will move away from rote-learning and students shall be tested on their conceptual clarity, analytical skills and application of knowledge to real life situations.

·     To promote enhanced academic collaboration with foreign higher educational institutions, it is proposed to put in place a regulatory mechanism to permit dual degrees, joint degrees, twinning arrangements and other such mechanisms.