Budget 2022: Covid-hit education system seeks transformation

An increase in budget allocation, measures to reduce the digital divide, check the menace of school dropouts, faster implementation of the National Education Policy are some of the areas that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman must look into in her Budget 2022 speech, education experts have opined.

Over the past two years, the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a paradigm shift in education across the country. As schools started to open, the fresh wave further shook the vast education sector. Experts say the issues need to be addressed immediately in the Union Budget 2022-23.An increase in budget allocation, measures to reduce the digital divide, check the menace of school dropouts, faster implementation of the National Education Policy are some of the areas that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman must look into in her Budget 2022 speech, education experts have opined.INCREASE BUDGET ALLOCATION"There is an expectation for an Increase in allocation towards education in this year’s budget keeping in mind the fact that last year it was slashed at six per cent - To reap the demographic dividend in the emerging knowledge economy of the future we must prioritise tomorrow's strategic needs over today's operational needs and invest more in education," Achin Bhattacharyya, CEO & Founder, Notebook said."Looking at the cost of education in the country, the Goods and Service Tax (GST) on educational services should be reduced from 18 per cent to 5 per cent. Long term tax exemption and funding support to ed-tech firms will go a long way towards ensuring that the sector is able to attract and retain quality talent who are educators by choice and not by chance and lastly more PPP(public-private partnership) projects are needed to ensure that quality education content reaches each student and every teacher in the country," Bhattacharyya said."A budget allocation of six to 10 per cent of the GDP should be made towards education. This would lead to a healthy start in the further progress to build a stronger foundation. Opening FDI into education would be helpful in further expansion of technological advancements," said Mona Lisa Bal, Chairperson, Kiit International School.DIGITAL DIVIDEThe existing digital divide in the country is no longer a new information. According to UNESCO’s state Education Report 2021, the availability of computing equipment in schools in India has been found to be only 22 per cent and only 19 per cent out of them have an internet facility. It is imperative to allocate sufficient funds for the development of a robust and improved digital infrastructure, Mona Lisa Bal said.Mona Lisa Bal said, "With physical classes being shut once again, students will be dependent on online classes to continue learning. We must ensure that no student in the country is left behind owing to financial and technological disadvantage. The end of the pandemic is nowhere in sight; therefore, it is essential that we take measures to guarantee that education is not put on hold. The unpredictable nature of our present has made it clear that we need to safeguard our future. It is important that we adapt our education system, pedagogy, and assessments accordingly.""During Covid-19 pandemic, online classes have become mainstream now but they currently come under 18 per cent GST slab. Relaxation on GST for online classes and STEM toys will encourage more enrollment of interested students," Sharad Bansal, Co-Founder, Tinkerly said.However, with online education becoming the new normal, better internet connectivity in tier 3 and tier 4 cities has become absolutely pivotal. The government must run schemes like "One student One laptop" and provide scholarships for outstanding performances, Bansal said."With the Union Budget 2022-23 approaching, the young generation has high expectations from the government. With Covid completely changing the dynamics of classroom education, we expect there to be a great amount of focus on online education and its infrastructure, especially in the Tier 2,3 cities, in the Budget," Aakash Chaudhry, Managing Director, Aakash Educational Services Limited said.SKILL TRAINING FOR TEACHERSBhattacharyya said, "As a country with the highest number of school-goers in the world, we need to invest heavily in teachers training and workshops. Taking into account the current scenario of education in the country the need of the hour is to invest heavily in Research Infrastructure in the country to stop brain drain." Technical and soft skills training should be made mandatory for teachers. They should be trained to teach and maintain the engagement of the students in online classes. A provision of budget can be made under SSA for the same. Funds and disbursements to Atal tinkering Labs should be speeded up to improve the quality of education, Bansal said.FASTER IMPLEMENTATION OF NEP 2020With an aim to transform the country's education system, the government launched National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020). However, experts have pointed out that the implementation of the NEP 2020 has been sluggish. "The upcoming budget also needs to focus on this. Budgetary allocations need to be made for faster implementation of NEP 2020 which has the potential to change our education system for the better," Mona Lisa Bal said.STOP SCHOOL DROPOUTS

Covid-19 adversely impacted the education system and forced an increase in the rate of school dropouts. Aakash Chaudhry proposed, "The government should announce an attractive stimulus package and provisions for the education industry to bridge the glaring gap between urban and rural populations. The Government also needs to support telecom companies so that they develop better infrastructure, internet connectivity, access to modern devices, ensuring last-mile delivery, quality guidance to the underserved who have been left behind owing to the digital divide.""Over 200 million children lost a complete year of formal education due to the lack of proper digital infrastructure and unequipped teachers as Schools were shut across the country. Online education needed a dynamic digital infrastructure but due to lack of funds the schools could not impart education. Education should reach each corner and the remotest of areas of India. The pandemic showed a mirror that we need to have a robust and improved digital infrastructure to reduce the digital divide of rural and urban," Silpi Sahoo, Chairperson, SAI International Education Group said.MORE ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS LIKE IITs, IIMsAakash Chaudhry, "While skilling, reskilling and upskilling will be the new normal, we need to develop more institutes like IITs, IIMs. NIIT, association with foreign universities offering new-age curriculum in sync with global standards to propel future workforce to be industry-ready. The Government should focus on major fund allocation towards innovation, research and development to help talent create lucrative employment opportunities."

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