The Union Budget 2023-2024 was presented to the parliament on February 1 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. According to budget records, the Ministry of Education will get a staggering ₹1,12,898.97 crore from the centre for the upcoming fiscal year. Notably, this is the largest budgetary allocation ever given to the ministry. The expenditure for the department of School Education is ₹68,804,85 crore, while the expenditure for the department of Higher Education is ₹44,094.62 crore.The expenditure budget for the fiscal year 2022-2023 allotted ₹1,04,277.72 crore to the Ministry of Education. According to the updated figures, the Higher Education Department received ₹40828.35. According to the updated forecasts for 2022-2023, the School Education Department received ₹59052.78.
Opinions of eminent educationists
“India’s COP26 commitments have received a major boost from a set of unprecedented ‘Green Growth’ elements proposed in Union Budget 2023. The initiatives proposed directly align with the goals pledged by our Hon’ble Prime Minister at the Summit and this is probably the most significant step we have taken as a nation toward the mainstreaming of a climate-responsive agenda. As a result of this budget, we should see significant progress in our energy transition journey including, but not limited to, scaling up of bio-energy/ CBG and Green Hydrogen. In addition, a number of fiscal support measures have been announced for other critical Green Economy elements. Unprecedented measures to enhance natural capital creation, including biodiversity, sustainable farming, afforestation, eco-tourism, carbon stock management and sustainable agriculture, have also found a space in this budget. In summary, today, the sustainability sector has much to celebrate. Sustainability has clearly taken center stage in the government’s development agenda, possibly for the very first time.”-Mr. Masood Mallick, CEO, Re Sustainability Limited (ReSL)
“The budget has ushered a slew of initiatives by emphasising the National Education Policy’s skilling outlook. We welcome the move and expect public-private cooperation to meet the goals of this initiative, accelerating India’s transition to an Industry 4.0 economy. The three AI centres of excellence to enable ‘Make AI for India’ and ‘Make AI work for India’ will benefit the development of digital infrastructure and skills in India. At a time when skilling and reskilling are critical for India’s youth, the government’s recognition of the need for skilling is an encouraging move for the Higher Education and H.EdTech sectors. However, we continue to believe that lowering the GST on professional learning programmes would have made modern learning more accessible and affordable, assisting millions of learners in becoming future-ready.”–Anish Srikrishna, CEO, TimesPro.
With India becoming the fifth largest economy in the world, it lays a robust foundation for future growth, allowing bright and deserving students to dream big and pursue international education. In my opinion, the budget for 2023 is focused on making wise digital investments across all sectors, not just education, and we wholeheartedly welcome this initiative. However, it would have been ideal if the government could reduce the interest rates on education loans as Indians are the largest population who studies abroad. Indians are also the highest-earning diaspora with the largest remittances in the world, and many of these people went abroad for studies. It is expected that in 2024 the number of Indian students studying abroad will go up to 1.8 million.–Mr. Piyush Kumar, Regional Director- South Asia and Mauritius, IDP Education
