As per media reports, the budget allocation for the school education sector in the fiscal year 2019 may get a hike of 14% as compared to the previous amount. The focus would be laid on the accelerating schemes which are already in place and also on quality improvement. Two government officials reported that the mid-day meal scheme as well as the right to education will be receiving a higher budget allocation.
In the budget that is to be unveiled on February 1st, elements like innovation, mapping of learning elements and schools assessments such as national assessment survey are likely to find a spot for a high allocation. The reports suggest that the allocation would be lesser than what the ministry has demanded but definitely 11 to 14% higher than the amount allocated in the previous year which was INR 46,356 Crores.
It’s important to note India spends 4% of the GDP on education which is demanded to be extended to 6%. However, as per officials, the government has financial constraints because of which such expectations cannot be fulfilled. Further, due to the GST collection sliding with every month, it’s becoming more difficult for the government to spend more on the education sector.
On the positive side, the national assessment survey that had received just INR 1 Crores last year is hopefully going to receive a greater amount in the next budget allocation. Moreover, as the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan has achieved 100% enrollments, it will focus on learning outcomes. Besides, The National Council for Education and Research and Training (NCERT) will focus on mapping the learning outcomes of students from the district level.
The money from Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan will be put to use for improving outcomes in the districts were students are lagging behind. It’s expected that the council may spend around 40% of its budget on improving the quality of school learning. Moving on, more allocations will be made to set up schools like Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) and Jawahar Navodaya Vidaylayas (JNVs) as these are performing better than the private ones.
As per the figures, more than 3,563 JNV students had cleared the JEE-Main exams in 2017 to get admissions in top engineering colleges including IIT. JNV was launched in the year 1985-86 with just two schools and today the chain has 590 schools across India.
