The National Education Policy 2020 seeks to implement a digital transformation in education delivery from prekindergarten through Class 12.
However, while textbooks are exempt from taxation, digital initiatives undertaken by schools are subject to an 18% tax.
Educationists, educational institutions, and experts hope that the budget will rectify this discrepancy and provide a boost to the realisation of the NEP-2020 vision.
Additionally, digital initiatives are required to promote distance learning, including a number of online courses related to technology.
According to a report from the Union Education Ministry, 45.71 million students are enrolled in distance higher education (with 20.9 lakh females).
Paresh Kumar, CEO of Dev Insights, stated that there are approximately five hundred government universities in India. Numerous students in the country are served by private colleges and universities. The government should allocate funds not only for opening new IITs and IIMs, but also for assisting private institutions in constructing world-class academic institutions.
He stated that we hope the federal government will shift its attention to the education sector with the goal that no child will be deprived of a quality education.
“We applaud government initiatives such as the adoption of the National Education Policy, the incorporation of new-age courses, and the strengthening of the e-learning ecosystem with Covid,” he added.
In the Budget, educators anticipate a greater emphasis on technology-driven learning, online education, and its infrastructure, particularly in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
According to the Union Education Ministry’s ‘All India Survey on Higher Education’ (AISHE) 2020-2021, the total number of higher education institutions includes 43,796 colleges and 11,221 standalone institutions.
“The number of universities increased by 70 in 2020-21, while the number of colleges increased by 1,453. Approximately 43 percent of these universities and 61.4 percent of these colleges are located in rural areas “Sunday’s AISHE report stated.
The previous Union Budget allocated Rs 1,04,278 crore to the education sector. This represented an increase of 11% over the Budget for 2021-22.
