Budget 2023: Here are all the announcements for the education sector

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced Union Budget 2023 on Wednesday allocating Rs 1,12,899 lakh crore to the education sector. This includes allocation to secondary education, higher education and various schemes like the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyaan. In comparison to the previous budget estimate (BE) of Rs 1,04,278 crore, this is nearly 8.26 crore more or 8.26 percent growth 2022-23.

Here are the education budget highlights from the Union Budget 2023:

In the Union Budget 2023 speech Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced establishing 157 new nursing colleges in co-location with 157 medical colleges established since 2014.

To boost digital infrastructure, the government has decided to set up a national digital library for children and adolescents. States will be encouraged to set up physical libraries for them at panchayat and ward levels and provide infrastructure for accessing the National Digital Library resources, said Sitharaman.

Divya Gokulnath, Co-founder, BYJU'S said “The education sector is a key area of investment, with the launch of PM Schools for Rising India, the recruitment of 38,800 teachers, and the establishment of a National Digital Library for children. These initiatives will help equip students with the skills and knowledge needed for success in the future, and the emphasis on teacher training and innovative pedagogy will ensure that the quality of education in India continues to improve. This forward-thinking budget sets India on a path towards self-reliance and global competitiveness.”

The National Book Trust, the Children's Book Trust, and other government publishers will be urged to provide books in regional languages in addition to English to the physical libraries that would be established in the states, in keeping with the NEP 2020 objectives.

Nirmala Sitharaman announced that under the Eklavaya Model Residential Schools programme, the Centre will recruit 38,800 teachers and support staff over the next three years for 740 schools serving 3.5 lakh tribal students.

“ For the 2022-23 financial year, the Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) budget has been increased by Rs 581.96 crore, from Rs 1418.04 crore in 201-22 to Rs. 2,000 crores. Under the scheme, tribal students will be able to attend residential schools. The budget also promotes the quick implementation of the latest technological advancements in the academic field to build an ecosystem of skilled students.” said Beas Dev Ralhan, CEO, Next Education.

The government intends to launch a multidisciplinary course for medical devices in light of how quickly technology is evolving in all disciplines so that qualified employees may be developed to operate, investigate, and produce the incredibly cutting-edge medical technology of the future.

The government is planning to launch a new programme for research and development in pharmaceuticals. Also, a few of the facilities at Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) labs will be made accessible to outsiders to conduct research.

For a reinvented teacher training initiative, innovative pedagogy, curriculum change, iCT deployment, and a continual professional development survey would be adopted.

In order to provide government workers with possibilities for ongoing learning and skill enhancement, the government established an integrated online training platform. As part of Mission Karma Yogi, the centre and the states are also putting capacity-building programmes for civil personnel into action.

Sitharaman in the Union Budget 2023 speech announced that three top educational institutions will set up Centres of Excellence for artificial intelligence which will help in realising the vision of 'Make AI in India and Make AI Work for India'.

Leading industry partners would perform interdisciplinary research in this setting, and state-of-the-art AI applications would be created to assure scalable solutions in the fields of agriculture, health, and sustainable cities.

The government has announced that 100 labs will be set up in engineering institutions that will work on developing applications using 5G services in collaboration with various authorities, banks, regulators and other businesses.

The labs will cover applications such as smart classrooms, precision farming, intelligent transport systems and healthcare applications.

Finance Minister Sitharaman presented Budget 2023 on Wednesday and with an emphasis on education and employment, she proposed Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) 4.0 and the setting up of 30 Skill India international centres to ensure job creation.

To ensure that India’s workforce is future ready, FM’s Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) 4.0 scheme also covers new age courses for industry 4.0 like coding, artificial intelligence, robotics, mechatronics, Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing drones and other soft skills to skill youth. For international opportunities, 30 skill India international centres will be set up across different states.

"The revamped Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana is a step in the right direction as it aims to impart new-age skills such as AI, robotics and 3D printing, offering young Indians a wide range of career opportunities globally. This focus will be crucial in helping India stay competitive in the fast-changing technology landscape,” said Raghav Gupta, Managing Director, India and APAC, Coursera

The government aims to skill lakhs of youth for over three years with enabled demand based skilling and sector specific skilling i.e. they will be trained with skills that are relevant in the industry.

Sitharaman also announced that the government will roll out a pan India Direct Benefit Transfer to provide support to 47 lakh youths in three years. A Unified Skill India Digital platform will also be introduced to ensure those seeking jobs can be linked to employers.

Earlier as part of Budget 2022, the government expanded the One Class One TV Channel initiative under the PM e-Vidya scheme to 200 channels from 20 as education moved online. This, Sitharaman said, would have enabled all states to provide supplementary education in regional languages for classes 1-12.

Sitharaman said in her speech that one IIT will receive a research grant for five years in order to enhance the domestic production of lab-grown diamonds, a sector with great employment potential that is driven by technology, innovation, and energy.

The National Institute of Securities Markets will grant SEBI the authority to create, control, uphold, and enforce educational norms and standards as well as award degrees, diplomas, and certifications.

Sitharaman said that an agriculture accelerator fund would be set up to encourage young entrepreneurs to launch Agri-startups, especially in rural areas.