The Union Budget 2023-24 announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi mentioned some important allocations related to the Education sector including envisioning teachers’ training, establishing 157 new nursing schools, introducing new programmes for training in medical equipment, setting up of three centres of excellence for artificial intelligence in top educational institutions and 100 labs in engineering institutions for developing applications using 5G services, recruiting 38,000 teachers and support staff in the next three years for 740 Eklavya Model Residential Schools and others.

The Ministry of Education allocated Rs 1.12 lakh crore as compared to Rs 1.04 lakh crore last year. The Department of School Education got Rs 68,804 crore and Rs 44,094  has been allocated for Department of Higher Education.

The allocation for school education has increased by eight per cent from Rs 63,449 crore (Budget Estimate) in 2022-23 to Rs 68,804 crore in 2023-24. The allocation for higher education increased by 7.9 per cent from Rs 40,828 crore (Budget Estimate) in 2022-23 to Rs 44,094 crore in 2023-24.

On this note, EducationWorld organised a panel discussion Union Budget 2023-24 & Education Hits & Misses with Sukanya Bose, Assistant Professor, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi, Dr Chetan Singai, Chief Consultant, National Curriculum Framework, Ministry of Education, Vineet Gupta, Founder-Trustee, Ashoka University and Plaksha University, Dr Swati Popat Vats, Founder President, Early childhood Association of India, Dr Arunabh Singh, Director, Nehru World School, Ghaziabad, Atul Thakkar, Director, Anand Rathi Financial Services Limited. 

Also Read: Budget 2023: Supplementing & complementing the education sector