Economic Survey 2022: Schemes, initiatives for students during COVID-19 pandemic - Expectations in Budget 2022

Union Budget 2022: The Economic Survey 2021-22 was presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today, January 31, 2021. The Finance Minister will present the Union Budget 2022 on Tuesday, February 1, 2022. In the budget, announcements are likely to be made regarding education and further strengthening of the country's infrastructure.

See Zee Business Live TV Streaming Below:

The Economic Survey 2021-22 says, "It is difficult to gauge the real-time impact of repeated lockdowns on the education sector because the latest available comprehensive official data dates back to 2019-20."

Initiatives and schemes for the education sector

The survey also highlights the major initiatives undertaken for the students during the COVID-19 pandemic and the major schemes for school education during 2020-21.

The major initiatives undertaken are as follows:

1) PM e-VIDYA: This was launched in May 2020, PM e-Vidya unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable coherent multi-mode access to education.

2) National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR): The blueprint of NDEAR, a digital infrastructure for Education, was launched on 29th July, 2021. It will be set up within the context of a Digital-First Mindset where the Digital Architecture will not only support teaching and learning activities but also educational planning, governance administrative activities of the centre, the states and  union territories. It will provide diverse education eco-system architecture for development of digital infrastructure, a federated but inter-operable system that will ensure autonomy of all stakeholders, especially States and UTs.

3) Vidyanjali: To connect the Government and Government aided schools through a community/ volunteer management program, the government has launched Vidyanjali on September 7, 2021.

The major schemes include:

1) Samagra Shiksha Scheme has been continued for a period of five years, from 2021-22 to 2025-26, with a total financial outlay of Rs 2,94,283.04 crore. As an integrated scheme for school education, it covers the entire gamut from pre-school to class 12.

2) NIPUN Bharat Mission: On July 5, 2021, the government launched a National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy called “National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat)” . The National Mission lays down priorities and actionable agenda for States/UTs to achieve the goal of proficiency in foundational literacy and numeracy for every child by grade 3.

3)  Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) Scheme: The scheme, earlier known as ‘National Programme for Mid-Day Meal in Schools”, covers all school children studying in Balvatika (just before class I) and Classes 1 to 8 in government and government-aided schools.

Budget expectations

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an emphasis on online education. In this regard, Zee Business reporter  AnjanI Pandey reported that it has made the significant sectors dependent on the digital world. As a result, subsidized access to the laptops to all the students and the faculty members will be needed for the live or recorded instructions. If the government is able to provide subsidized access to laptops, the quality of education will receive a great boost.

She also reported that a higher allocation towards the education sector is expected in the upcoming budget. In 2021, the central Government had slashed its allocation towards Education by 6 per cent, amounting to a total allocation of Rs. 93,223 crores. However, in 2022, the government is expected to increase the allocation by around 10 percent since the last year’s reduction was attributed towards healthcare.

Moreover, India has gained the status of the second-largest market for e-learning next to the US and the sector has grown to $1.96 billion in 2021, according to KPMG reports,. The government has also set up the National Digital Educational Architecture (NDEAR) to not only support the teaching-learning process but also propel educational planning, governance, and administration process, said Bhavesh Goswami, Founder & CEO, CloudThat while sharing his expectations on the Union Budget 2022 for the e-learning sector.

"Undoubtedly, the government initiatives are laudable as it has taken major strides in building a strong e-learning ecosystem. Additionally, I think in the upcoming Union Budget Government should encourage universities and other educational institutes to integrate new-age skills in their curriculum and also help meritorious E-Learning startups to be a part of educational governing bodies like AICTE and UGC," he said.