Budget 2022: Experts laud FM Nirmala Sitharaman announcements for education sector

Finance Minister  Nirmala Sitharaman presented the union budget 2022 in the parliament on Tuesday, February 1, 2022. For the education sector, she announced that the next major target of the union government is to create 60 lakh jobs. Soon after the announcement of initiatives in Budget, reactions and post-budget comments are attracting eyeballs. Few reactions can be checked here.

 Desh-Stack e-portal

FM Sitharaman announced that Digital ecosystem for skilling and livelihood the 'Desh-Stack' e-portal will be launched. Subramanyam Reddy, Founder and CEO, KnowledgeHut shared his views on this. He said, "The Government has taken into consideration profound steps to ensure skilling programs are reoriented for youth through Digital DESH e-portal, which will improve employment prospects that can also help in boosting economic growth. Additionally, the introduction of the ‘Gift City- World’ initiative will allow students to learn and be equipped from world-class institutions, while also providing an expansive option of academic disciplines for them to consider and pursue career goals in FinTech science, technology, engineering etc”  

Mayank Kumar, Co-founder & MD, upGrad also shared his views about Budget 2022 for education sectors. He said, “Extending the Digital India mission to strengthen online education, the Government’s plans to launch a Digital DESH e-portal for skilling, upskilling, and reskilling of the youth is a significant move and is in sync with the evolving times. The newly announced budget is very new age as it talks about establishing digital universities which in turn, shall accelerate quality output within the country.”

E-vidya scheme

Shashi Banerjee, Director of Education, Shiv Nadar School shared her views. She said, “It is commendable that the budget outlined strategic steps to improve accessibility of quality education for students all over the country. A crucial component of this is the provision of supplementary teaching aid for Grades 1-12 by state governments in regional languages through the expansion of the present PM eVidya scheme, from 12 channels to 200 channels. This is a big win for inclusivity in the education sector.”

Shishir Jaipuria, Chairman FICCI Arise and Chairman Seth Anandram Jaipuria Group of Educational Institutions said, “ The decision to expand the PM e-VIDYA scheme to 200 TV channels and to also develop high quality e-content in all spoken languages will benefit the students of grades I to XII who suffered learning loss due to the closure of schools during the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Digital University to be established

FM Sitharaman announced, "A digital university will be established to provide access to students across the country for world-class quality universal education with a personalized learning experience at their doorsteps. This will be made available in all languages and ICT formats." Shantanu Rooj, CEO and Founder of TeamLease Edtech shared his views on digitalization of education. He said, “The concept of setting up a digital university is a good one – however, instead of the government trying to set up a university all by itself, it should look at offering licenses and regulations to build and run a digital university.”

Shishir Jaipuria, Chairman FICCI Arise, and Chairman Seth Anandram Jaipuria Group of Educational Institutions said, “The formation of Digital University, as announced in the budget, will be a laudable initiative. The Digital University will help to make world-class education accessible in different Indian languages to all students even in far-flung areas.”

Shantanu Rooj, CEO and Founder of TeamLease Edtech said, “The concept of setting up a digital university is a good one – however, instead of the government trying to set up a university all by itself, it should look at offering licenses and regulations to build and run a digital university. The government should also increase its allocation to universities and higher education institutions. It should offer a one-time grant to help build digital infrastructure – as it will help during any crisis and shall be helpful even after that!"

One-class one-TV-Channel

Minister announced the expansion of '1 class 1 TV channel programme of PM E-vidya will be expanded from earlier 12 to now 200 TV channels. This will enable all states to provide supplementary edu in regional languages for classes 1 to 12. Prashant Jain, CEO, Oswaal Books shared his views about One Class One TV Channel. He believes that it will expand the reach of education to the leisure of homes across the economical divide and centers of excellence will help focus on quality education than mere figures of literacy.