Eye on reforms, budget allocates Rs. 42,036 crore for education (Second lead)

NEW DELHI - India Friday allocated Rs.42,036 crore (Rs.420 billion/$ 9.1 billion) for both the school and higher education sectors in 2010-11, an increase of over Rs.5,600 crore from the previous fiscal - a move that aims to reform education by bringing equality in the sector.

“I propose to increase the plan allocation for school education from Rs.26,800 crore in 2009-10 to Rs.31,036 crore in 2010-11,” Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in his budget speech in the Lok Sabha.

This is an increase of 16 percent in school education expenditure in the coming fiscal.

“In addition, states will have access to Rs.3,675 crore for elementary education under the 13th Finance Commission grants for 2010-11,” the minister added.

“The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 creates a framework for legal entitlements for all children in the age group of 6 to 14 years to education of good quality, based on principles of equity and non-discrimination.

“In recent years, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) has made significant contribution in improving enrollment and infrastructure for elementary education. About 98 percent of habitations are now covered by primary schools,” Mukherjee said.

The higher education sector, which is set to grow faster, got Rs. 1,400 crore more than in the 2009-10 fiscal. Mukherjee allocated Rs. 11,000 crore for the sector, around seven percent more than in 2009-10.

Of the total outlay, Mukherjee allocated Rs. 500 crore for subsidizing students loans.

To give students from economically weaker sections access to higher education, a scheme to provide full interest subsidy during the period of moratorium has been introduced to cover loans taken from scheduled banks to pursue approved courses of study in technical and professional streams from recognized institutions in India, the minister said in his budget speech.

The budget has set aside Rs. 400 crore for the new Indian Institutes of Technologies that have recently begun their operations. This is Rs. 100 crore more than what was allocated in 2009-10.

Of the Rs. 11,000 crore, the budget has allocated Rs.5,562 crore for general education, Rs.4,266 crore for technical education and Rs.1,078 crore for education improvement in the northeastern areas.

The education budget outlay got a mixed reaction from experts.

The finance minister has presented a very balanced budget. While the focus has been on infrastructure development and rural development, school education has got its due importance, Devi Singh, director of the Indian Institute of Management-Lucknow, said.

The increase in budgetary allocations for school education and the special grant from the centre for elementary education are very positive signs for the sector. The curtailment of fiscal deficit is a step in the right direction and we are happy that the finance minister is committed to creating policies to facilitate double digit GDP growth in the near future, Singh added.

However, Sanjiv Kataria, an technical education expert said: If Education for All is the key to Indias aspirations for human resource development, a 16 percent increase in allocation for school education to Rs.31,036 crore is grossly inadequate.”

Education needs to get the status of a ‘meta resource’ with adequate funding so as to positively impact overall literacy, skills development and employability, he added.