Education Budget 2023 Highlights: PDF Download with Key Summary and Takeaways

Education Budget 2023 Live Updates by FM Nirmala Sitharaman Speech: The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2023 in Parliament on February 1. This is the fifth budget presented by the Finance Minister since she took over the Ministry of Finance of the country. Union Budget 2023 is the last full-fledged budget before the Lok Sabha polls next year. 

As per budget documents, the centre's allocation for the Ministry of Education for the next financial year is Rs. 1,12,898.97 crore. For the education sector, the Finance Minister has put an emphasis on the setting up of National Digital Libraries that will facilitate access to quality books for children and adolescents across geographies, languages, genres, and levels. 

Education Budget 2023 Allocation 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 presented the Union Budget 2023-24 in the parliament. As per budget documents, the centre's allocation for the Ministry of Education for the next financial year is Rs. 1,12,898.97 crore. As per the updates, Rs. 44,094.62 crore has been allocated for Higher Education Budget for 2023-24, which is a significant increase from Rs. 40828.35 in revised estimates of 2022-23. Talking about School Education budget 2023-24, a total of Rs. 68,804.85 has been allocated which is Rs.9,752.07 crore more than the revised estimate for FY 2022-23.  

Education Budget 2023 Highlights

As per reports, the education ministry has been allocated Rs 1.12 lakh crore this year as opposed to last year’s Rs 1.04 lakh crore. This is the highest-ever allocation for the education budget. While the Department of School Education will receive Rs 68,804 crore, the Department of Higher Education has been allocated Rs 44,094 crore. Check here some major announcements during the Education Budget 2023 - 

100 Labs To Be Set Up in Engineering Colleges To Develop Apps Using 5G

FM Nirmala Sitharaman 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 applications will include smart classrooms, intelligent transport system, precision farming, and healthcare applications to utilise the new technological opportunities coming in with the prospect of fresh business models and potential jobs.  

Devyani Jaipuria, Chairperson of Dharav High School, Pro- Vice Chairperson- DPS International Gurugram, DPS 45 & DPS Jaipur, shared - "The renewed push for the national digital university that was announced last year and the development of 100 labs that would ride on the 5G network and serve as one destination for students and young minds to create apps for utilization in education and other domains will benefit both the academicians and the industry. "

National Digital Library To Be Set Up 

With the sudden shift to digital learning, FM Nirmala Sitharaman has announced to set up a national digital library for children and adolescents. This will help in improving the accessibility of quality books across various locations, languages and devices. Also, physical libraries will also be urged to be set up in the states at the Panchayat level so that children have the infrastructure to access the National Digital Library resources. 

Multidisciplinary Courses For Medical Devices and Research 

Finance Minister also announced multidisciplinary courses for medical devices will be supported in existing institutions to ensure the availability of skilled manpower for futuristic medical technologies, high-end manufacturing and research.

Facilities in select ICMR Labs will be made available for research by public and private medical college faculty and private sector R&D teams for encouraging collaborative research and innovation. Also, 157 new nursing colleges will be established in colocation with the existing 157 medical colleges established since 2014. 

Recruitment of Teachers for Tribal Schools

To boost education for tribal students, the government will recruit 38,800 teachers within the next three years to the 748 modern residential schools, serving 3.5 lakh tribal students. As many as 38,000 teachers and support staff are to be recruited in the next 3 years, for 740 Eklavya Model Residential Schools serving 3.5 lakh tribal students.

Devyani Jaipuria, Chairperson of Dharav High School, Pro- Vice Chairperson- DPS International Gurugram, DPS 45 & DPS Jaipur, shared - "Reimagining teacher education and plans to develop the district education institution as a vibrant center for teacher training will re-envision innovative pedagogy, curriculum transaction, continuous professional development dipstick survey, and iCT implementation."

Make AI in India and Make AI Work for India

The Finance Minister announced plans to boost Artificial Intelligence in India as well as to establish three Centres of Excellence in some of the country's top educational institutes. This would help in realising the vision of 'Make AI in India and Make AI Work for India'. Over here, interdisciplinary research will be conducted by leading industry partners, and cutting-edge AI applications would be developed to ensure scalable solutions in the areas of agriculture, health, and sustainable cities.

PM Kausal Vikas Yojana 4.0 For Skill Development 

The Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, which is a skill development initiative scheme for the recognition and standardisation of skills, is being levelled up. Indian youth will get access to courses that can skill them in coding, robotics, drones, mechatronics, IoT, 3D printing, and essential soft skills so that they are ready for the global job industry.  

Devyani Jaipuria, Chairperson of Dharav High School, Pro- Vice Chairperson- DPS International Gurugram, DPS 45 & DPS Jaipur, stated - "To start with, the clear commitment to setting up 30 India International Skill centers across states under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 will not only train and build skills among children but also help in channelising the efforts to make India the source of skilled manpower for the world. "

The finance minister proposed the launch of a unified Skill India digital platform that will facilitate formal skilling as per demands, provide access to entrepreneurship schemes, and also link job-seekers with employers including MSMEs. Devyani Jaipuria further stated - "Additionally, the focus on traditional artisans and micro-entrepreneurs and linking them to the MSME chain and providing them a forward linkage to their products and craft will further have a positive impact on both the skill and entrepreneurship development in the rural areas."

The government launched an integrated online training platform for continuous learning opportunities and upskilling of government employees. Capacity-building plans for civil servants are also being implemented by the Centre and states under Mission Karma Yogi.

Education Budget 2023 Live Updates What’s New: Funds, Schemes, Interventions  

• As many as 38,000 teachers and support staff are to be recruited in the next 3 years, for 740 Eklavya Model Residential Schools serving 3.5 lakh tribal students: FM Nirmala Sitharaman 

   

  
• The government will launch Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0: FM Nirmala Sitharaman
• Phase 3 of E-courts projects to be launched with outlay of Rs 7,000 crore: FM Nirmala Sitharaman
• Leading industry players will partner to developing, providing scalable options for health, agri and other sectors: FM Nirmala Sitharaman
• 100 labs will be set up for developing apps using 5G services in engineering institutions: FM Nirmala Sitharaman
• Teacher training will be envisioned through innovative pedagogy, continuous professional development, curriculum transaction and ICT implementation. The district institutes of education and training will be developed into vibrant institutes of excellence for this purpose: FM Nirmala Sitharaman
• National Child Trust, Children's Book Trust and other sources to be encouraged to provide and replenish non-curricular titles in regional languages and English, to these libraries; collaboration with NGOs working in literacy also to be done: FM Nirmala Sitharaman
• PM VIKAS (Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Kaushal Samman), which was announced in Budget 2023, will include skilled people who are engaged in various traditional and skilled professions.
• To skill the youth for international opportunities, 30 Skill India International Centres will be set up across different States: FM Nirmala Sitharaman
• To provide support to 47 lakh youths in 3 years, a Direct Benefit Transfer under a pan India national apprenticeship scheme will be rolled out: FM Sitharaman
• A National Digital Library for children and adolescents will be set up for facilitating the availability of quality books across geographies, languages, genres and levels and device-agnostic accessibility: FM Nirmala Sitharaman 
  
  
• 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: FM Nirmala Sitharaman
• Eklavaya Model Residential Schools -in the next 3 years the Centre will recruit 38,800 teachers and support staff for 740 schools serving 3.5 lakh tribal students: FM Nirmala Sitharaman  
  
• 157 new nursing colleges will be established in colocation with the existing 157 medical colleges established since 2014: FM Nirmala Sitharaman 
  
• Indian Institute of Millet Research will be supported as a centre of excellence: FM Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament 
• For realising the vision of Make AI in India and Make AI work for India, 3 Centres of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence will be set up in top educational institutions: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman 
  
• Leading industry players will partner in conducting inter-disciplinary research, develop cutting-edge applications & scalable problem solutions in the areas of agriculture, health and sustainable cities: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Updated as on February 1, 2023 at 1:11 PM

In last year’s Education budget, the financial allocation was Rs. 1.04 lakh crore which was more than the funds allocated in 2021-22. A total of Rs 93,224 crore (Budget estimate) was allocated to the education sector in 2021-22. 

Last five years' Education Budget includes higher education and school education.

Education Budget Highlights: Important Facts & Figures of Indian Education Budget 2022-23

• World-class universities will be allowed to offer courses in financial services and technology free of Indian regulations
• AICTE will take lead in improving urban planning courses
• One class, one TV channel' program of PM eVIDYA will be expanded from 12 to 200 TV channels. This will enable all states to provide supplementary education in regional languages for classes 1 to 12
• 5 academic institutions on urban planning to be made centers of excellence. The institutions will get an endowment of Rs 250 crore each
• A digital university will be established to provide access to students across the country for world-class quality universal education with a personalized learning experience at their doorstep. This will be made available in different Indian languages and ICT formats. The university will be built on a network hub and spoke model
• High-quality e-content in all spoken languages will be developed for delivery via the internet, mobile phones, tv, and through radio and digital teachers. The competitive mechanism for the development of quality e-content by the teachers will be set up to empower and equip them with digital tools of teaching and facilitate better learning outcomes
• Agricultural universities will revise syllabi to meet the needs of modern-day farming
• Skilling programs will be reoriented, and ITIs will start courses on skilling. The Digital DESH e-portal will be launched for skilling, upskilling & reskilling of the youth 

Also Read: Budget 2023 LIVE Updates: Latest News, Budget by FM Nirmala Sitharaman at 11 AM