By Narayanan Ramaswamy
A refreshingly new approach by FM in allocations to education and skill development makes this Budget unique. From a human development, education, skill development, employment perspectives, it is largely positive and shows promise for a sustained and meaningful change.
This Budget has clearly focused on job-creation as the central agenda for economic growth as well as skill development. Unlike previous Budgets where there were direct incentives and programmes for skill development, this Budget has direct as well as indirect approach, which is a big welcome change. I have always been a proponent of putting industry in the centre of skill development, rather than treat them as a recipient. Look at sectors that got attention in this Budget – agriculture, leather, manufacturing – particularly electronics, toys, mining, tourism (including hotels), aviation, shipbuilding, nuclear energy, urban development, Jal Jeevan, gig jobs, GCCs. All of them have one thing in common – growth in these sectors happen largely through large-scale employment. They have a sustained need for creating and enhancing jobs.
This, combined with the big boost given to infrastructure through long-term interest-free loans of Rs 1.5 lakh crore, will mean that these sectors are soon going to have a big requirement for skilled resources. Many existing programmes, new ones such as the National Centres of Excellence for Skilling (for manufacturing excellence), the CoE for AI, and embedded skilling programmes for when the sector expands (such as in the case of leather, agriculture, energy, tourism, GCC, etc) will be aligned to employability in these sectors. Spending in skill development schemes will see direction and quicker benefits.
The Budget also gives equal importance to strengthening basics. Broadband connectivity in secondary schools, 500 Atal Tinkering Labs, Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme, expansion of PM Research fellowship and big investments in Innovation totalling Rs 20,000 crore will have far-reaching impact on building a scientific and innovative outlook to education. Particularly, broadband connectivity will be a game-changer in the lives of youth in rural India – who will now have equal access to the revolution that is happening in the e-learning space. This shows that while job-creation is strengthened at one end, fundamentals are strengthened at the other end – a twin approach that takes care of present and future. While core industries such as agriculture, tourism, mining, energy are promoted, future developments such as AI are not ignored – evident in the allocation for setting up the AI Centre of Excellence for Education and National Institute of Food Technology. It is heartening to see the Viksit Bharat target includes 100% access to quality education (not just access) and 100% skilled manpower.
Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 programmes are poised to make big contributions to early childhood development and nutritional well-being of our youngsters – particularly the scheme to benefit 20 lakh adolescent girls in aspirational districts and the Northeast. Multiple studies suggest that the nutritional wellbeing is critical for even cognitive wellbeing, thereby preparing them for a wider set of job roles.
The higher education sector, which is perhaps one that needs immediate attention, had some big announcements. As in the case of previous years, IITs have been allocated additional money for (infrastructure) expansion, and more medical seats have been announced. While it is important that IITs, who have given global identify for Indian talent, need to be strengthened, bigger challenge is the increasing need for capacity with the target of 50% GER. This calls for a rethink on how we expand higher education capacity for the next 20-25 years. One possible answer could be private sector – which has taken the mandate of expanding higher education across formats and geographies. Maybe we should acknowledge this and encourage them through enabling policies – especially with respect to financing for growth.
The Economic Survey talked about the need for introducing employability-related courses in schools, and tighter integration between vocational and traditional education systems. A seamless transfer of credits between the two systems and perhaps even from schools needs to be considered – National Credit Framework (NCrF) provides the basis for this to happen.
Overall, it has been a very positive, forward-looking Budget, with job-creation at its core – at the same time, emphasising on fundamentals of education and innovation. With this approach, India stands a chance to become a natural hub for education and attract international students.
The author is national leader, Education & Skill Development, KPMG in India
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