Union Budget 2011-12: Relief for India Education Sector
Posted on: March 29, 2011
Union Budget
Education plays an important role in shaping the future of any country. India has made huge advancements in the Education sector and as per the statistics, every year the Union Budget makes an attempt to broaden the education standards in the country. The 2011 Union budget is not any different. As per the current Union Budget allocation, an amount of Rs.52, 057 crores has been set aside for Education.
In the Union Budget 2011, conventional programs like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan have been given importance as they have helped make remarkable inroads in education for all children.
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Union Budget 2011
The objective of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan program consists of the enrolment of each and every child in schools. This will guarantee children primary level education and there by the retention of all children till the upper primary level. This will overpass the gender and communal category gaps in the society.
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan program will ensure the joining up of students with retention and learning, and ensure important enhancement in the education and other accomplishment levels of children even at the primary and upper primary levels. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan program has been put together with an aim to open new schools, construction of school buildings, additional classrooms, drinking water facilities, and toilets, supply of free textbooks and appointment of well qualified teachers. Furthermore, teachers will be provided with in-service training under this program. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan program was successful in the past years and there has been significant reduction in the number of school drop outs.
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is intended for the enlargement and growth of primary education. The aim of this flagship program was to attain universalization of primary schooling by 2010. The present rules of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan have been modified recently by putting into practice the “Right of Children to free and Compulsory Education” which has been enforced from April 1, 2010. As for the year 2011-2012, the Union budget ministry has put forward an amount of Rs 21,000 crore, which is almost 40% higher than the last year. An improved Centrally Sponsored proposal – The Vocationalization of Secondary Education, will come in to force from 2011-12 to ensure better employability of youth in the country.
National Knowledge Network:
The budget has proposed that the National Knowledge Network (NKN) will connect 1500 higher education and research institutes through an optical fibre backbone. 190 institutes will be linked through NKN in the present year. The proposal of connecting all 1500 institutions has been proposed to be done by March 2012, as the time for the creation of the core will extend till March 2011.
In order to promote innovations, the National Innovation Council, under Dr Sam Pitroda, has been instituted to chalk out plans for promotion of innovations in India. Activities for setting up of the State Innovation Councils in every State and Sectoral Innovation Councils aligned to Central Ministries are also underway.
The budget has made major grants to higher education institutes to promote innovation and excellence. These have included:
• INR 50 crore each to upcoming centres of Aligarh Muslim University at Murshidabad in West Bengal and Malappuram in Kerala
• INR 100 crore as one-time grant to the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University at Pookode, Kerala
• INR 10 crore each for setting up Kolkata and Allahabad Centres of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya, Wardha
• INR 200 crore as one time grant to IIT, Kharagpur
• INR 20 crore for Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu
• INR 20 crore for IIM, Kolkata
• INR 200 crore for Maulana Azad Education Foundation
• INR 10 crore for Centre for Development Economics and Ratan Tata Library, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi; and
• INR 10 crore for Madras School of Economics.
The Union Budget 2011 has offered a significant hike in allocated resources for the promotion of education and for the implementation of vocationalisation of secondary training. This will help the country to craft a cadre of competent youth which will lead to further balance in the labour market demand and supply condition. This in turn helps the country to become stable during economic upheavals.
Even with the increasing yearly budget allocation, to attain success in each of these policies, the country needs an alteration in mindsets of people as a whole.
