‘At only 3%, can’t expect education quality to improve’
Abhishek Choudhari | TNN | Feb 2, 2019, 06:46 IST
Representative imageNAGPUR: Though the election year budget tried to appease every segment of society, academicians feel that education has been left out in the cold. Rajan Welukar, former vice-chancellor of Mumbai University, says the government should have introduced a new education policy (NEP).
“Government had announced about NEP earlier and before the budget had even made allocation accordingly. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. There should have been coordination of proposals in new education policy and allocation made in budget. The government has made an allocation of just 3% for education, which would not serve any purpose, if it wants to see India’s top colleges like IITs and IIMs into global 100 list,” said Welukar.
Welukar further said that in developed countries the standard allocation for education is 6% of GDP. “The government should have substantially increased the allocation for education, which is directly proportional to development,” said Welukar.
Senior academician Baban Taywade said the budget is highly disappointing as far as “education sector is concerned”. “The government wants to open new IITs, IIMs and AIIMS in entire country, but failed to make provision for faculty and non-teaching staff to run the existing ones. No provision has been made to fill thousands of vacant posts, not only in traditional universities, but also in premier institutions like IITs and IIMs.
“Over 50% teaching and non-teaching posts are vacant in a majority of educational institutions, including Central universities. Without filling up these posts, how can government expect to raise quality of education. Increased allocation is needed to boost research and development where the country is lagging,” said Taywade.
Madhusudhan Mude, president of Headmasters Association, said for schools this budget was a damper. “Frankly, it was left out. No major announcement coming for the most important aspect of any economy. The government needs to allocate over 6% if it wants too see any major change in quality of education in this country,” said Mude.
Key takeaways
* National Education Mission allocation increased by about 20%
* The new allocation is Rs38,572 crore in BE 2019-20
* 25% additional seats in educational institutions to meet the 10% reservation for the poor
“Government had announced about NEP earlier and before the budget had even made allocation accordingly. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. There should have been coordination of proposals in new education policy and allocation made in budget. The government has made an allocation of just 3% for education, which would not serve any purpose, if it wants to see India’s top colleges like IITs and IIMs into global 100 list,” said Welukar.
Welukar further said that in developed countries the standard allocation for education is 6% of GDP. “The government should have substantially increased the allocation for education, which is directly proportional to development,” said Welukar.
Senior academician Baban Taywade said the budget is highly disappointing as far as “education sector is concerned”. “The government wants to open new IITs, IIMs and AIIMS in entire country, but failed to make provision for faculty and non-teaching staff to run the existing ones. No provision has been made to fill thousands of vacant posts, not only in traditional universities, but also in premier institutions like IITs and IIMs.
“Over 50% teaching and non-teaching posts are vacant in a majority of educational institutions, including Central universities. Without filling up these posts, how can government expect to raise quality of education. Increased allocation is needed to boost research and development where the country is lagging,” said Taywade.
Madhusudhan Mude, president of Headmasters Association, said for schools this budget was a damper. “Frankly, it was left out. No major announcement coming for the most important aspect of any economy. The government needs to allocate over 6% if it wants too see any major change in quality of education in this country,” said Mude.
Key takeaways
* National Education Mission allocation increased by about 20%
* The new allocation is Rs38,572 crore in BE 2019-20
* 25% additional seats in educational institutions to meet the 10% reservation for the poor
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