Recently, replying to a question from Left MP V Sivadasan in Rajya Sabha, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the National Education Policy (NEP), started in 2020, unequivocally endorses and envisions a “substantial increase” in public investment in education by both the Union and State Governments so that the expenditure in education reaches 6% of the GDP. “As far as Ministry of Education is concerned, there has been increase in budget allocation from ₹ 93,224 crore (2021-22) to ₹ 1,12,899 crore (2023-24), which is around 21.1 % increase,” Mr. Pradhan said.
Citing “Analysis of Budgeted Expenditure on Education 2019-20 to 2021-22”, he said the total expenditure on education (including all Central Ministries and all States/UTs) as percentage of GDP stands at 4.12% (for the year 2021-22). The Centre’s budgeted expenditure for education, however, is 0.4% of the GDP according to Mr. Pradhan’s reply.
As Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents her eighth Union Budget on February 1, an allocation of 6% of the GDP to the education sector looks like a distant dream. The implementation of the NEP has proven to be a costly affair for the sector, especially for State governments-run education institutions. Ms. Sitharaman had also held a meeting with the stakeholders in the education sector to know their views for the budget.
Last budget’s allocation for school education was ₹ 73,008 crore, about ₹ 5,000 crore more than the budget of 2023-24. Similarly, the allocation for higher education was ₹ 47,620 crore, which was an increase of more than ₹ 3,000 crore than the budget of the previous year.
Out of this, the allocation for Grants-in-aid to States and UTs – for both school and higher education – was more than ₹ 60,000 crore. The States have been demanding more from the Centre as grants to implement the NEP-recommended measures such as the Four Years Under-graduate Programme (FYUP). The States have been saying that to implement FYUP, they have to build new classrooms, find new faculty and other infrastructure and it will not happen without the help of the Centre.
Decrease in scholarships
Many students are worried about the decreasing number of scholarships given by the Union Government. According to the Ministry, the number of beneficiaries of various higher education and research scholarships have come down to 34,732 students in 2020-21 from 46,092 in 2016-17. However, there is a marginal increase in the amount paid as scholarships. It has to be seen whether the Finance Ministry will release more funds towards the scholarships. “The government must reconsider the current fellowship hike and increase it to a minimum of 40% to account for the rising costs of living and inflation. The disbursement of fellowships must be made in a timely and regular manner to ensure that researchers can focus on their work without financial worries,” the Students Federation of India had demanded from the Centre recently.
Public funding of universities
The Centre’s data says in 2019, 5,86,337 people migrated to foreign countries for higher studies, while in 2023, the number reached 8,92,989. While 2,34,473 students migrated to the United States, 2,33,532 people went to Canada for higher studies in 2023 alone. Students associations have been arguing that a lack of support mechanism has been ailing the country’s public universities.
The payment of salaries of faculty in colleges and universities as per the UGC scale has also been an issue as the Centre’s grant was ended in 2019. For example, Kerala State claims that it spends about ₹ 1,822. 35 crore for the payment of salary and other expenses to 13 State-run universities. But if the draft UGC guidelines of faculty and vice chancellors’ appointments are implemented, the State fears that it will have no role in the appointments, though it pays their salaries. This federal issue may also come up for discussions in Parliament during the debate on the budget.
