digitalLEARNING-Apr-2010-[32-38]-Union Budget 2010 - 11 in Education Going Back to Elementary

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Union Budget 2010 - 11 in Education

Going Back to Elementary sangita ghosh de

Plan allocation for elementary education increased by 16% from INR 26,800 crore in 200910 to INR 31,036 crore in 2010-11. In addition, States will have access to INR 3,675 crore for elementary education under the XIIIth Finance Commission grants for 2010-11.

The education sector is considered as the virtual base of the country’s economic and social developmental agenda.

India is known for its intellectual capital worldwide, a lot remains to be done though.

In order to support the developmental measures in the economy, adequate investment in training, skill development and education in the larger economy was necessary and need of the hour as indicated by the experts.

The Budget announced a major allocation with an increment of INR 31,036 crore in the current fiscal year against the previous year’s allocation of INR 26,800 crore for elementary education which is a INR 4,236 crore or 16% increase from the 2009-10 fiscal. In addition to this, the states’ access to a grant of INR 3,675 crore in the current year for basic education will ensure states’ responsibility of the 65:35 CentreState funding arrangement dedicated to the Right To Education (RTE).

National Skill Development Corporation has approved three projects worth about INR 45 crore to create 10 lakh skilled manpower at the rate of one lakh per annum.

An extensive skill development programme in the textile and garment sector to be launched by leveraging the strength of existing institutions and instruments of the Textile Ministry to train 30 lakh persons over 5 years.

The spending on social sector has been gradually increased to INR 1,37,674 crore in 2010-11, which is 37% of the total plan outlay in 2010-11.

Another 25 per cent of the plan allocations are devoted to the development of rural infrastructure.

Allocation for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme stepped up to INR 40,100 crore in 32

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The excerpt from the speech by Pranab Mukherjee, Minister of Finance, during the presentation of the Union Budget, 2010-11: “Madam Speaker, I rise to present the Budget for 2010-11..... For the UPA Government, inclusive development is an act of faith. In the last five years, our Government has created entitlements backed by legal guarantees for an individual’s right to information and her right to work. This has been followed-up with the enactment of the right to education in 2009-10..... To fulfil these commitments the spending on social sector has been gradually increased to INR1,37,674 crore which now stands at 37 per cent of the total plan outlay in 2010-11. Another 25 per cent of the plan allocations are devoted to the development of rural infrastructure. With growth and the opportunities that it generates, we hope to further strengthen the process of inclusive development.

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 enrolment and infrastructure for elementary education. About 98 per cent of habitations are now covered by primary schools. I propose to increase the plan allocation for school education from INR 26,800 crore in 2009-10 to INR 31,036 crore in 2010-11. In addition, States will have access to INR 3,675 crore for elementary education under the Thirteenth Finance Commission grants for 2010-11.”

2010-11. However, there is no specific mention of the Higher Education allocations this year, though.

Union Budget 2009-10 announced the provision for the scheme ‘Mission in Education through ICT’ substantially increased to INR 900 crore and the provision for setting up and upgradation of Polytechnics under the Skill Development Mission enhanced to INR 495 crore. INR 827 crore allocated for opening one Central University in each uncovered State. INR 2,113 crore allocated for IITs and NITs which includes a provision of INR 450 crore for new IITs and NITs. The overall Plan budget for higher education was to be increased

by INR 2,000 crore over Interim B.E. 2009-10.

Impact on education sector – many concerns remain The industry has partially applauded this budget for making a greater increase in the expenditure outlay for elementary education only.

The allocation for the higher education sector has not been increased for the current fiscal over the last fiscal and is perhaps not enough to meet the targets to achieve the gross enrolment ratio of 30% by 2020, say experts.

Points have been raised that initiatives mentioned for skill development are still not adequately funded. The scheme comes under 17 different ministries and lots need to be done on the coordination.

Unless there is a concrete effort to mobilise the projects, employability and

employment growth on one side and growth in industry and services on the other, outcomes may not synchronise and thus would not become sustainable.

Elementary education and RTE gets support The Finance Minister in his Union budget 2010 speech explains his focus on Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 which bears a legal agenda for privileges of children within the age group of 6 to 14 years. He also noted the achievements of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) launched by the government, that talks about improving the infrastructure for basic education.

“If we look at the total allocation on school education for this fiscal year we find that almost INR 14, 433 crore will be collected from the education cess and transferred to the Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh (PSK) for SSA and Mid Day Meals in schools and the remaining to be spent on other areas of school education which is not enough even as it is,” says Sushma Berlia President, Apeejay Stya Group.

Taking forward its commitment, the Budget proposed INR 15,000 crore allocation for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) which has a focus to act as a vehicle towards fulfilling RTE provisions.

According to Amit Gupta Chief Executive Officer, S. Chand Group, “Though there is an increase in the allocation for primary and secondary education, the increase is not commensurate with the task of increasing the level of enrolments which is still in the region of 61% in 2007-

compared to 68% in China, 87% in Brazil and 82% in Russia. RTE if enforced, requires much higher central support than what has been allocated to SSA”.

The RTE Act has already been notified, and set to come into effect from April, 2010. The Ministry of Human Resource Development has estimated an expenditure of INR 1.78 lakh crore for the implementation of the Act over the next five years. The total funds earmarked for SSA estimated at INR 92,000 crore at present, will also be diverted and merged with RTE funding. The HRD Ministry’s calculations show that around INR 82,000 crore and more is required over the next five years for the Act’s implementation.

Now, with another INR 15,000 crore allocated under SSA in the budget, RTE is expected to take off successfully. RTE and SSA apart, INR 9,440 crore has also been allocated towards the Mid-Day Meal programme, followed by Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan with INR 1,700 crore, and adult education and skill development programmes with INR 1,173 crore.

Insufficiency in higher education Experts expected this year’s Budget to bring in more allocation of resources in higher education but primary education seems to be the focal point of Budget 2010- 2011. According to their opinion this year’s Budget cannot be taken as a balanced one as it involves insufficient expenditure as far as higher education in the country is concerned.

If not directly, additional provisions could have been made for the betterment of the higher education sector as a whole. Budgetary allocation for higher education should have been increased by at least 20% over last year. Unless the government increases allocation to the secondary and tertiary education sectors, it becomes next to impossible to develop the skilled manpower to realise the projected double-digit growth in the next fiscal.

Dr. M P Ravindra, Advisor, Education & Research, Infosys has shown his concerns on the allocations in higher education saying, “Considering that the world is moving irrevocably into knowledge economy and an improved state of higher education which gives the opportunity for adding to speedier and better rate of economic growth, the silence on the topic of investment in higher education in the budget is very disappointing. Also, the FDI in higher digital LEARNING

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education has to be liberalised if the huge chasm that exists between demand and supply is to be narrowed.” According to him, the country has a dire need for Virtual University but there is not even a mention in this direction.

The higher education sector needs sufficient funds because over the years there has been a continuous increase in the cost of education in India, which is again a deep concern for the common people. The rising demand for higher education also makes the need for educational loans imperative. The continuing tax relief in education is a positive move but the expectation of further tax relaxation in the interest of parents and students was actually there.

This would have made higher education more affordable.

According to Lokesh Mehra, Regional Manager, Corporate Responsibility, Cisco South Asia, “Only an overall outlay of INR 11,000 crore hike in Secondary Education and 900 crore for National Mission in Education through ICT would barely assist in getting this project kick started.

Also, the curtailment of fund allocation to IITs, IIMs and IISc also means that they may have to raise fees or seek some source of funds to maintain or upgrade and sustain their existing infrastructure.”

Futher to that Mehra added that while the Union Budget had a focus on development of new schools and universities it did not highlight the importance of knowledge grid network for interconnecting all the new institutes and existing universities. The interest rate for education loans was also an area of curiosity and the budget was expected to announce an amendment in the existing interest rates which also missed the focus this year.

The expectation from the budgetary allocation in the higher education sector is based on the three pillars of expansion, inclusion and excellence. In India there is over 44% of the population below the age of 14 years and over 65% below the age of 35.

This young population needs to be converted into a dynamic economic advantage by providing them the right education and skills. “A wider policy to bring multiple sectors and ministries to accelerate National Skill Development Mission, policy in technology driven education and overall higher education system needs a lot of attention. However, the budgetary support on these strategic issues will put India on the path of innovation economy,” says Anshul Sonak, Manager, South Asia Education, Intel.

Reiterating on hopes There has been a overall mixed reaction, though. Sonak at Intel observes, “More allocation for academia driven research, building sound industry linkages, emphasis on faculty development at all levels of education, and allocation for better governance of overall education could have been worked out.”

While Madan Padaki, Co-Founder & CEO, MeritTrac critices, “The Government has spent a lot of money and time on expanding reach, access and the overall “quantity” of students in school and colleges, lots needs to be done on the quality aspect. I expected that this budget will address some aspects of outcomes measurements in the education sector and link outlays to outcomes.”

Dr. Ravindra, at Infosys analyses the situation saying, “I am of the opinion that the budget needs a closer look to bridge the yawning gap and also have schemes to promote merit. I am afraid going forward, only children of the rich and elite would be the ones who would be able to afford education if the trend does not reverse. We need to invest 5 to 6 times more than budgets indicated for the XIth plan but there seems to be no such intent.” \\

Highlights - Education budget 2010-11 • • • • • •

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A major allocation with an increment of INR 31,036 crore against the previous year’s allocation of INR 26,800 crore for elementary education INR 4,236 crore or 16 per cent increase from the 2009-10 fiscal The states’ access to a grant of INR 3,675 crore in the current year for basic education Ensure states’ responsibility of the 65:35 Centre-State funding arrangement dedicated for RTE No specific mention in the Higher Education allocations National Skill Development Corporation has approved three projects worth about INR 45 crore to create 10 lakh skilled manpower at the rate of one lakh per annum An extensive skill development programme in the textile and garment sector to be launched to train 30 lakh persons over 5 years Spending on social sector increased to INR 1,37,674 crore in 2010-11, which is 37% of the total plan outlay in 2010-11 Another 25 per cent of the plan allocations are devoted to the development of rural infrastructure Allocation for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme stepped up to INR 40,100 crore in 2010-11

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2009-10 • • • • • •

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Union Budget 2009-10 announced the provision for the scheme ‘Mission in Education through ICT’ substantially increased to INR 900 crore the provision for setting up and up-gradation of Polytechnics under the Skill Development Mission enhanced to INR 495 crore INR 827 crore allocated for opening one Central University in each uncovered State INR 2,113 crore allocated for IITs and NITs includes a provision of INR 450 crore for new IITs and NITs Plan budget for higher education to be increased by INR 2,000 crore over Interim B.E. 2009-10 INR 990 crore for Multi-Sectoral Development Programme for Minorities, Grants-in-aid to Maulana Azad Education Foundation, National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation and pre and post matric scholarship for minorities Allocations for the new schemes of National Fellowship for Students from minority community and Grants-inaid to Central Wakf Council for computerisation of records of State Wakf Boards INR 25 crore each allocated for establishing new campuses at Murshidabad in West Bengal and Malappuram in Kerala by Aligarh Muslim University INR 50 crore allocated for Punjab University, Chandigarh

Education Budget 2010-11 - Expert SAY “The Union Budget has come across like a mixed bag scoring high on some aspects while missing few areas of concern. While the budget declares allocation of funds for elementary and school education, it has not been able to meet the expectations of secondary and higher education.”

Lokesh Mehra Regional Manager, Corporate Responsibility, Cisco South Asia “I am very disappointed with the lukewarm response to the excellent recommendations made by NKC or YPC and there is no mention or reference to those proposals. Only eight paragraphs of the budget speech touch the topic of education and that too nothing much about higher education especially when the gaps in quality and quantity are both under strain in comparison to China and Korea.”

Dr. M P Ravindra Advisor, Education & Research, Infosys “We laud this budget, however, what has been disappointing are the actual figures. The outlays which have been actually allocated to higher and school education still fall far below not only the expectations but even the minimum basic requirement of 6% of GDP.” Sushma Berlia President, Apeejay Stya Group “This budget is moderate as per plan already in place. Some of the areas where we could have done more allocation are in areas like teacher professional development & trainings, SSA modernisation and institutional infrastructure expansion for RMSA goals, Research & Evaluation on Education, technology integration for education modernisation for higher education and schools.”

Anshul Sonak Manager, South Asia Education, Intel

“The Budget is positive for the sector. Government has continued focus in schemes like SSA, ‘Saakshar Bharat’ and plan allocations under ‘Ministry of Social and Empowerment’ etc. Excise duties on paper and Paper Board were not enhanced. Higher weighted deduction in case of payments to research organisations would enhance such activities. But privatisation and corporate investment of education has not been covered.”

Amit Gupta CEO, S. Chand Group

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“In the previous year there were a slew of allocations for the higher education sector including setting up of more IITs, IIMs & NITs and having one Central University in each uncovered state. I am also not sure of the impact of allocation of funds for ICT in education and for upgrading polytechnics under the Skills Development Scheme.”

Madan Padaki Co-Founder & CEO, MeritTrac “The budget speech had a very small mention on vocational education. In fact, not much was required to be said as the government had already laid out and stated their commitment to vocational education earlier The budget also had a specific mention to train people for the garments industry – an initiative to be driven by the textiles ministry.”

Hari Menon CEO, IndiaSkills “It is essential that specific allocation within SSA be made for quality aspects of teaching learning process. These steps would help focus on the critical issue of quality of education and promote accountability.”

Sandeep Saha Vice President - Strategic Relationships, Educational Initiatives

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