“Education sector is being reshaped with the budget 2021 allocation for the sector. As we move in 2021, we are bound to witness a significant transition in the learning process which will move from the mundane and rote learning to an engaging experience altogether. National Professional Standards for Teachers- NPST will help the teachers to upskill themselves and reinvent a new way of teaching.
The National Digital Educational Architecture (NDEAR) will help in establishing a diverse education eco-system that will in turn develop the digital infrastructure ensuring the autonomy of all stakeholders, especially States and UTs. Using the assessment to judge the student on the basis of their talent and skills will help students to understand their areas of strengths that can be leveraged in future to make the optimal career choice.
However, the moves from Budget 2021-2022 are likely to be incremental in sectors across rather than a big push to education. The National Education Policy needed an execution plan, while 15,000 schools to be qualitatively strengthened is a great start. This will also pave way for future school; a brief plan to further attract foreign or domestic investments in Edtech would have helped, however the budget did not capture a significant change in education infrastructure, regulations and financial outlay. Overall this will help us to continue the amazing growth we have witnessed.”
– Ms. Tanuja Gomes, Co-Founder & Co-CEO at Furtados School of Music:
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“The Budget has been all inclusive and has tried to strike a fine balance between inclusive growth and fiscal pressure.
A robust infrastructure is prerequisite for a country’s growth. Supporting it, the capex for FY22 is expected to increase by 26% to Rs. 5.54 trillion from Rs. 4.39 trillion in FY21 which will be spent mainly on building road networks, rail corridor network ports and energy. Another landmark decision is to have a dedicated Development-Finance Institution to enhance capex at central, state levels.
The budget has given equal emphasis to the health sector by allocating more funds towards Covid-19 vaccines and providing Rs. 640 billion over 6 years to launch various health schemes. This will lead to citizens being healthy by strengthening the preventive care, curative and well-being of the population. To achieve the dream of education for all, the government will be providing all support for implementing National Education Policy (NEP). More focus would be on enhancing skill development initiatives across the country.
Further, to give basic literacy to all, funds has been allocated towards schools in remote, hilly and tribal regions. These initiatives will boost the infrastructure & industry on one hand and skills & health of people on another, thus moving towards achieving the AtmaNirbhar Bharat initiative by growth and job creation. However, the fiscal pressures are imminent as the budget is clearly debt funded. The tax revenue has fallen to Rs. 13.4 trillion (only 85% of estimates) and borrowing has increased to 18.5 trillion, 2.32 times of original estimation in FY21.
This resulted in a fiscal deficit rising to 9.5% of GDP. Next year, the fiscal deficit is expected to go south to 6.8% owing to slightly better tax revenue (Rs. 15.5 trillion) which will require greater compliance and disinvestment revenue of Rs. 1.75 trillion which we think is a conservative target. Also, the government needs to make sure that the borrowing does not go beyond its target of Rs. 15.1 trillion. However, the forward-looking budget will help the government to bring down the fiscal deficit to 4.5% till FY26, bringing us again on the path of FRBM Act. Till that time, let’s celebrate the current Budget and enjoy the Market Rally!”
– Prof. Krupesh Thakkar, CFA, HoD – Financial Markets, ITM B-School