T P Venu
The slate is clean and the blackboard is nothing but dark. It would be an understatement to say that the school system is in doldrums. The writing is on the wall and the time has come for the government to undue the wrongs of the previous budget. Last year, the Government slashed its allocation towards Education by 6% and it is time to make amends and this time around increase the total allocation by 10% at least.
Last year the allocation for Education was Rs 93,223 crore. Covid-induced learning loss is the biggest worry and if at all the Government is keen on the implementation of NEP 2020, a bigger budget is inevitable. It is a well-known fact that it is the private schools in the country where the majority of the students as well as parents aspire to study but these very schools (Read budget schools) that bear the heavy burden of the mounting population that comprises of what is now being termed as the youngest population in the world need help.
Tax waivers for buildings and road tax for school vehicles notwithstanding, the school system needs handholding with a vision for the next 10 years. Private sector funding, tax free loans, an even playing field bereft of undue regulation will go a long way in reviving a sector languishing in the grip of the coronavirus.
Subsidized access to gadgets including mobiles and laptops, 5G internet to not just students but also teachers is what the fraternity looks forward to. Under ‘educational services’ the GST of 18% has wilted many schools. The financial pressure resulted in closure of hundreds of schools.
The last 24 months squeezed the schools dry and cash liquidity is now the need. Small loans and an open banking policy for the education sector could be the balm that no vaccine could replace.
With each passing day, learning loss is only increasing and with each school day missed, the quantum of loss cannot be quantified. Will the budget undo what it did last year? This is the question on everybody’s mind.
