Union Budget 2020: Govt Allocates ₹99,300 Cr For Education, ₹3,000 Cr For Skill Development

In a major boost to the government's commitment towards education Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman increased the education budget for 2020.

The FM allocated ₹99,300 crores for the education sector, as she read out the Union Budget 2020 document, an increased of ₹4,446.36 crores as compared to 2019. Sitharaman, in her Budget speech, said the government would announce a new education policy soon and would also introduce Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the sector.

She also announced a full-fledged degree-level online education programme to be offered by institutes ranked in the top 100 by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF).

"Students in the general stream (vis-à-vis services or technology stream) need their employability improved. About 150 higher educational institutions will start apprenticeship embedded degree/diploma courses by March 2021," said the Finance Minister.

"The Government proposes to start programme for urban local bodies to provide opportunities for internships to young engineers," Sitharaman further said. Apart from this, two national universities - National Police University and National Forensic Universit are also proposed.

She further said, "India should be a preferred destination for higher education. Hence, under its 'Study in India' programme, Ind-SAT is proposed to be held in Asian and African countries. It shall be used for benchmarking foreign candidates who receive scholarships for studying at Indian higher education centres."

Citing a shortage of qualified medical doctors, both general practitioners as well as specialists, the Finance Minister said that the government proposes a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model and open new medical colleges with the existing district hospital as a part of Skill India initiative. The government allocated an additional ₹3,000 crores for 'skill development.'

She added, "There exists a huge demand for teachers, nurses, para-medical staff and caregivers abroad. However, their skill sets, many a time, do not match the employer's standards and therefore need to be improved. I propose that special bridge courses be designed by the Ministries of Health, Skill Development together with professional bodies to bring in equivalence. Language requirements of various countries also need to be included. All these should be achieved through special training packages."