NEW DELHI: There is some good news and bad news for the education sector in the interim budget announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday.
While the school education budget saw an increase of over Rs. 500 crore, the grant for higher education saw a dip from the previous year. The grant for higher education has dropped from Rs 57,244.48 crore (Revised Estimates) to Rs 47,619.77 crore.
However, the big surprise was that the funding for the University Grants Commission (UGC), which coordinates, determines, and maintains the standards of teaching, examination, and research in university education, saw a huge cut.
The funding for UGC saw an over 60 per cent drop. While the previous year's RE was Rs 6,409 crore, this time it has come down to Rs 2,500 crore – a cut of 60.99 per cent.
The budget for Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) also saw a dip. In the case of IIMs, it is the second time in a row that its funds were slashed.
While the budget to India’s top technology institutions has dropped from RE of Rs 10,384.21 crore to Rs 10324.50, the allocation for Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) also saw a dip. The budget was brought down from Rs. 212.21 crore from the RE of Rs. 331 crore. Last year, the budget of these prestigious B Schools was brought down from Rs 608.23 crore (RE) to Rs. 300 crore.
But the grant for India’s 56 Central Universities has increased to Rs 15,472 crores from RE of Rs 12,000.08 crore - a hike by over 28 per cent.
However, for school education, the budget allocation for 2024-25 is Rs. 73,498 crore from Rs. 72473.80 crore - said to be the highest ever for the Department of School Education and Literacy under the Education Ministry. The focus on schools will be a high priority of the government as it plans to roll out new textbooks along the lines of the National Education Policy 2020.
In line with this focus on school education, two autonomous school bodies - the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) - also saw the highest-ever budget allocation. While KVs was allocated Rs. 9302 crore as compared to Rs, 8500, NVS got the funding of Rs. 5,800 as compared to Rs, 5470 crore. A large chunk of the school education budget went to PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI), which got ₹6050 crore for the 2024-25 FY.
Sitharaman in her budget speech said that a large number of new institutions of higher learning, namely seven IITs, 16 IIITs, seven IIMs, 15 AIIMS, and 390 universities have been set up since 2024, while 3000 new ITIs have been set up.
“Our prosperity depends on adequately equipping and empowering the youth. The National Education Policy 2020 is ushering in transformational reforms. PM Schools for Rising India (PMShri) are delivering quality teaching and nurturing holistic and well-rounded individuals," she said.
The finance minister also reported a 28 per cent increase in female enrollment in higher education. She also stated that in STEM courses, women now make up an impressive 43 per cent of the total enrollment, marking one of the highest figures globally.
The government’s flagship schemes also saw an increase. The Samagra Shiksha - an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class 12 - went up, as well as the PM-POSHAN programme under which one hot cooked meal is provided to the children studying in government and government-aided schools.