Budget 2022: Education expenditure set to cross Rs 1 trillion in 2022-23

Although the government had announced that it would spend Rs 93,000 crore towards education last year, the revised estimates show a decline in spending to Rs 88,002 crore. However, for the first time, budgeted expenditure on education is set to cross Rs 1 trillion. The Budget estimates for 2022-23 show that the government will spend Rs 104,278 crore in the coming fiscal on education.

Given the havoc wreaked by the pandemic, Annual School Education Report has not been able to track the students’ learning outcomes for the last two years. However, relying on a new methodology, the nationwide survey has been able to track technology adoption.

In its latest report, launched last year, ASER posited the gap between government and private school-going students adopting digital means was growing. The report highlighted that while 21.8 per cent of students in government schools had access to learning, the ratio for private schools was ten percentage points higher.

In her Budget speech, the finance minister has also addressed this lacuna.

The FM had announced the start of 12 TV channels to impart digital learning at the start of the pandemic. On February 1, she extended it to 200 channels in all vernaculars.

“ One class-one TV channel’ programme of PM eVIDYA will be expanded from 12 to 200 TVchannels. This will enable all states to provide supplementary education in regional languages for classes 1-12,” the FM said.

The government also announced the creation of a high-quality digital content library for access via all mediums.

It also announced a digital university following a hub and spoke model, where the quality educational institutions across the country will collaborate on the project.

“The best public universities and institutions in the country will collaborate as a network of hub-spoke,” the FM added in her budget speech.

Skilling has also been given a digital twist.

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