Union Budget 2022 presented today by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, sharing below the post budget reaction from education experts
Ms. Shweta Sastri, Managing Director, Canadian International School, Bangalore
The union budget has ushered in positive measures in the field of education which will give a boost to the sector especially in context of the pandemic. A robust education system is a necessity for any growing nation and this is all the more important when the country is aiming to normalize education. The focus on digitization, bridging the rural-urban gap, making online education available to all children are all measures that are welcome. Two years of education regression for school going children meant that we needed to double-up efforts to bridge education gaps. The budget 2022 for the education sector rightly focuses on upskilling and digital learning. The announcement of one class one channel and expansion to 200 channels under e-vidya will enable the reach of online education to a vast body of students where online education is still not widespread. The push to regional education is welcome as this will once again enable people in the rural areas to access quality education in their languages. Another welcome decision on digital university is that it will expand the reach of education to the masses as it will follow a hub and spoke model and emphasize the role of ICT in digital education. The focus on skill training by ITIs will also enable students to be employable in the future. The budget has addressed structural issues in the education landscape and has ensured that all children get access to education. The budget has also well-coincided with the opening of schools as it is important to reverse the learning loss among students. Education clearly is one of the most important investments a country can make in its people and their future. The government must act to meet the needs of an aspiring generation which is looking to the future with great hope. Overall, it has given a boost to the education sector that will result in the nation’s progress.
Ms. Niru Agarwal, Trustee, Greenwood High International School
Education is a unique sector where investment has multiple effects. The state of education is often a healthy predictor of the country’s overall development and well-being. While quality education holds the key to inclusive growth, education in India needs to be recognised as an equaliser especially in the context of the pandemic. It is also a crucial instrument that can bridge the socio-economic divide in our country. Establishing a Digital university and over 200 channels covering multiple regional languages under the One class, one TV channel’ program are two very innovative and path breaking initiatives which will enable students across the country to access quality education far and wide through the hub and spoke model. The development of quality e-content to empower and equip teachers with digital tools of teaching and facilitating better learning outcomes is a welcome measure to help children. With the challenges of the online learning arrangements, the government’s decision to enhance digital learning with E VIDYA will be a boost to the education sector. There was a necessity to train and build skills among children as this would make them employable and this has been addressed by focus on ITI’s which will undertake this task. The digital gap has also proven to be a bane for the education sector in the context of the pandemic. Education plays an important role in bringing a change in society across generations and more so now in this technological age. Now proper implementation is needed to take conducive steps to bridge the digital divide gap so that learning solutions can be easily accessed by everyone as it’s a critical need at the ground level. The overall focus of the budget has been to make education robust and responsive to students’ needs in terms of quality education in rural areas, skill development, research & development and employability. Going forward, more rigorous platforms should be developed and curated for students to learn with ease and discipline.
Krishna Kumar, Founder and CEO, Simplilearn
Says “The global pandemic forced the closure of educational institutions which led to a huge loss of learning for children in the rural areas. The government’s decision to launch Digital DESH e-portal for the skilling, reskilling and upskilling of the youth is definitely a great incentive keeping in mind the importance of upskilling and reskilling in the present scenario. Another highlight of the Union Budget 2022 is the setting up of a Digital University to provide access to students for world-class quality education with ISTE Standards. This is going to drive a huge change in the lives of the students across the country. The initiatives announced by the Government of India today will pave the way for building a workforce that will be skilled and ahead of the curve in their respective professions.”
Yeshwanth Raj Parasmal, Co-founder, 21K School
Says, “The Finance Minister has unveiled a Budget that aims to bridge the economic gap between India and Bharat. The proposed policies are an inspiring start in what will hopefully provide stimuli for continued growth, leading us closer towards our goal of achieving sustained acceleration!
I welcome the focus on digital aspects of education and creating greater access for students with structured, high-quality content. The announcement of Digital University is most welcome and in line with the trend of online schools across the country. But, it misses the opportunity to leapfrog with more significant innovation and investment for improved access, equity and affordability. The structural flaws of the education sector and problems on the ground could have been addressed. Exciting times are ahead for Digital Education.”
Dr Payal Kanodia, Trustee, M3M Foundation
“The announcements made in the Union Budget by the Honourable Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman have covered all the aspects crucial to make resources available and accessible to the last person standing in the line, benefitting the people of the community. The Saksham Angwanwadi and Poshan 2.0 program will not only provide benefits to 2 lakh Anganwadis but will also ensure development of each section of the society for a healthy and prosperous India. This will strengthen the core of early childhood education which is the need of the hour in the pandemic. We also welcome the steps announced to upskill India’s youth and the National Skill Quality Framework will play a pivotal role in making the workforce industry-ready and equip them with necessary training for the future. Online learning has transformed the education sector in India and announcements such as 200 TV channels for school children, expanding the reach of PM e-vidya and online portal for skilling will definitely lay the foundation of the future of learning that is digital.”
Ms. Shaina Ganapathy, Head of Community Outreach, Embassy Group
“As the country’s collective attention is focused on the 2022 Budget, we at Embassy are eager to see some much-needed policies in the fields of education and health come into place. The finance minister began on a hopeful note by saying that India’s economic growth is estimated to be at 9.27 percent in FY22, highest among all large economies.
Considering the heightened need for more emphasis on training and skill development, we are happy to note that the government will be reorienting Skilling programs and launching a digital DESH e-portal for the skilling, upskilling and reskilling of India’s youth. With over 12 million people joining the Indian workforce annually, these measures will surely strengthen the next generation of blue and white-collar employees and contribute to the growth of the Indian economy through an upskilled workforce.
As schools shut down time and again to keep the virus at bay, children, particularly those from underprivileged communities, have lost almost two years of education – the pandemic has had an untold adverse impact on the education system. We are pleased to hear that to provide supplementary education and build a resilient mechanism for education delivery, the government will set up a digital university to provide students access to education. The ‘One class, one TV channel’ programme under PM e-Vidya will be expanded from 12 to 200 TV channels and allow states to provide education to students of classes 1-12 in regional languages.
The budget also includes improved access to healthcare with an open platform for the national digital health ecosystem to be rolled out, along with the launch of a National tele-medicine programme. This go a long way to improving access to healthcare for people in various communities, including those in remote areas.
At Embassy Group, we aim at creating lifelong resilience to illness and disease with end-to-end healthcare interventions for Government School students and in strengthening the existing healthcare infrastructure of our nation. We’ll see long-term growth in this crucial sector with the Government focusing on comprehensively building an ecosystem where health services are accessible for everyone.
Considering our current climate crisis, The Jal Jeevan Mission that was launched in August 2019 to provide safe drinking water to all rural households by 2024, has been allocated 60,000 crores in the 2022 Budget. The Jal Jeevan Mission aims to provide potable water to 3.8 crore households in 2022-23. The budget also includes funds for a Solar push; to boost domestic manufacturing of solar power equipment and subsequently benefit solar power generators. It’s heartening to see these steps taken towards a more sustainable future. We look forward to seeing our country reach greater heights with the aid of these provisions that the 2022 Budget provides.”
Mr. Gerald Jaideep, CEO, Medvarsity
Says, In her Budget 2022 address, Hon’ble Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman made several announcements which collectively will boost the health ed-tech sector. The rollout of 5G was much anticipated, and the tech industry is elated to learn that 5G spectrum auctions will happen this year. This will definitely open up tremendous opportunities for online education sector to leverage high-speed data connectivity and innovate better learning and education products especially in subjects like medical education where visual demonstrations play a big part in imparting knowledge and virtual experience. With the budget, the Government has reaffirmed its position on three important verticals: the ramping up of digital infrastructure with across urban and rural landscape, the launch of open platform for the national digital health ecosystem, and the increased focus on online education, learning and skilling through initiatives such as the launch of PM eVidya, Digital University, Digital Ecosystem for Skilling and Livelihood – the DESH-Stack eportal. All these initiatives will further knowledge transfer, education, learning, and skilling across geographies through digital means. As a leading health ed-tech company, we look forward to the integration of these factors with that of health education and medical training, which will help the sector scale and further advance level health education to healthcare workforce across India.
Md Sajid Khan, Head of International Development at ACCA, said, “ACCA applauds the government for measures announced in the budget related to providing supplementary education in regional languages for class 1-12 students, by expanding PM eVIDYA program to over 200 TV Channels and the launch of the Digital DESH e-portal for skilling, upskilling & reskilling the youth of India. These together with the development of the digital university for world-class quality education will set a clear path for India to create an advanced digital learning infrastructure and also reach far in educating learners who lack access to the internet and other resources.”
Ms. Kiran Dham, CEO, Globus Infocom Ltd.
“The government’s budget 2022 announcement included steps to push online education via having digital universities with 200 channels and providing education in multiple regional languages which will facilitate supplementary learning and help the education ecosystem to deliver world-class education to learners. We are motivated to see Government’s focus on creating enriching e-content & content delivery platforms clubbed with better offline pedagogical methods by training teachers in order to create a holistic learning ecosystem. Also, the expansion of “One Class One TV Channel” will help in tackling continued learning even in a pandemic. We, being a part of this industry, do look forward to the positive impact this will make.”
Mr. Jai Decosta, Founder & CEO at K12 Techno Services Pvt. Ltd.
The current Govt has been more inclined towards digitisation in every aspect including education which is futuristic and it is appreciable.
The FM and the Central Govt have given more emphasis on digital education. The acknowledgment of the loss of formal education of the students especially from the Government schools due to the pandemic induced lockdown and infusion of the expertise of foreign universities to strengthen the fintech and mathematics education in the Indian education system is a good proposition. Also, establishing the digital university at par with the global learning standards in various Indian languages will blur the disparity between urban and rural education.
In my opinion, aggressive initiatives to promote and collaborate with private players might help the Govt to reduce further education loss for the students from economically challenged backgrounds.
However, the overall budget failed to provide direction to private education players especially in the K12 segment. The private sector bore the brunt of the pandemic and the budget overlooked it completely and does not give any relief in terms of GST exemption or special provision for Private schools to borrow funds from banks at concessional rates. Since this was highly required and expected from this budget, therefore it was a bit disappointing to notice the FM did not factor these in her Budget planning.
Motion Education, CEO & MD, Mr Nitin Vijay
“As stated by the FM, the Union Budget focuses on inclusivity and collective effort, particularly with its focus on online education and outreach into rural and, as yet, underserved areas, and demographics. The deliberate and significant focus on education, particularly edtech with the provision of ‘one class, one channel’ and for regional language learning will collectively boost outcomes for education in many ways. We foresee a fillip to education-based content services, supplementary learning systems, and e-infrastructure development. The PM e-Vidya scope has been extended to 200 channels and we wish this effort all the success considering the vacuum created by the pandemic and the urgent need for swift and decisive recovery and transformation in student’s learning horizons. To this end, the proposed setting up of the Digital university is sure to usher in a sea change as far as new initiatives in the field of virtual teaching and education are concerned. This budget does echo the noble intentions of ‘Sabka Prayas’ and ‘Sabka Vikas’. “
Mr. Nitish Jain, President – SP Jain School of Global Management
” From the standpoint of higher education, the budget is headed in the correct path by focusing on improving the digital infrastructure in the country. Moving ahead, the execution, and how quickly these things move will be the most important factors to watch. Education is what propels the economy and the country forward, and I am confident that Budget 2022 will go a long way toward ensuring that education remains at the top of our country’s priorities“
Dr. Tristha Ramamurthy, Founder & Managing Director, Ekya Schools, and Provost, CMR University
The state of education is often a healthy predictor of the country’s overall development and well-being. Quality education holds the key to inclusive growth and education in India needs to be recognized as an equalizer especially in the context of the pandemic. This year’s budget will bring a revolutionary change to the education sector as it can support the capacity building of teachers and school leaders across the country. Investing in teacher education through the training of teacher educators and implementation of robust institutions for teacher training and education will create a high-quality education system in the country. Education is also a crucial instrument that can bridge the socio-economic divide in our country. The establishment of a Digital University and over 200 channels covering multiple regional languages under the ‘One class, one TV channel’ program are two very innovative and path-breaking initiatives that will enable students across the nation to access quality education through the hub and spoke model. The development of quality e-content to empower and equip teachers with digital tools for teaching and facilitating in order to achieve better learning outcomes is a welcome measure. Taking into account the challenges of the online learning arrangements, the government’s decision to enhance digital learning with E -VIDYA will be a boost to the education sector.
Prashant Jain, CEO, Oswaal Books
“The vision of the Budget is welcoming not only to the current needs but also to the global demands of the future. While there is a clear emphasis on digital education and skilling programs which will boost the learning outcomes and methods of learning. But for students and teachers who have nearly lost 2 years of learning and patience respectively due to the pandemic may find the remedy a little delayed. One Class One TV Channel will expand the reach of education to the leisure of homes across the economical divide and centers of excellence will help focus on quality education than mere figures of literacy.
These are all novel initiatives. But most of them will not see the light of the day for years to come. Presently the government needs to ensure that the existing budget allocated to the School and higher education is done efficiently to overcome the crucial learning loss.”
Ms. Surabhi Goel, CEO, Aditya Birla Education Academy, Aditya Birla World Academy
“The Union Budget 2022 has provided an impetus on increasing ‘One Class One TV Channel’, PM e-Vidya from 12 to 200 TV Channels thereby providing to strengthen supplementary education in regional languages for classes 1-12. With a theme of digitisation, the budget has laid emphasis on the importance of continuing to train teachers to improve hybrid learning outcomes especially since the students have faced huge learning gaps due to the pandemic. We are in-line with the announcement as Aditya Birla Education Academy is at the forefront of designing courses to help the country’s educators enhance their skills and bridge gaps as students return to school in 2022.”
Prashant Agarwal, President, Narayan Seva Sansthan
“ In the 2022-23 budget, the central government is focusing on the mental health by offering a national tele mental health program which will be launched for the deserving. Also, skilling programs will be restarted for the youth. Digital Desh e-portal will be launched for skilling, upskilling and reskilling of our youth. The new initiative towards tax exemption to the parents of Divyang is a good step for the welfare of Divyang in India. In addition, taxpayers deserve appreciation who have contributed diligently towards better taxation and fulfillment of their responsibilities in GST. We welcome this budget for India amid covid-19. Hopefully, corporates will take more initiatives in supporting the CSR, spending will increase by offering any major financial support for rural, urban and semi-urban India.”
Dr. Akhil Shahani, Managing Director, Thadomal Shahani Centre for Management, Shahani group and CEO, Ask.Careers, “Considering the experience of e-learning in the pandemic, it is good that the government is seriously looking at integrating online technology to make our education system more inclusive for the less-resourced segments of the population. However, it is important to realise that online technology is no substitute for good quality brick & mortar schools & colleges, as many students have fallen behind over the last 2 years of the lockdown. So, it would have been important for the government to have focussed on efforts to train more teachers & support the building of more institutions. Another good initiative is the increased focus on skilling and upskilling to improve employability among our youth. Along with the new skill-oriented National Higher Qualification Framework being issued by the UGC, I see better integration between the academic & vocational streams of education. Allowing foreign university campuses to set up in Gujarat’s GIFT city will hopefully be an interesting pilot initiative that could encourage foreign universities to expand into other Indian states. A couple of initiatives that were not addressed was the reduction of GST rates for Edtech services & allowing private for-profit investment into India’s schools & colleges, which could have greatly helped expand quality education across India.”
Mr. Sumesh Nair, Co-founder & CEO of Board Infinity, an ed-tech and career exploration platform says”Digital university is a great move by the government. It increases access to education and increases gross enrolment ratio. The usual trend of flocking to cities/one specific location for all kinds of education needs to an extend could reverse with this mode. The challenges that needs to be solved will be the quality of education that can be imparted. If partnerships can be built with best practice of established universities, then this model can be implemented well.”
Dr. Dishan Kamdar, Vice-Chancellor, FLAME University
“The decision to establish the digital university is a disruptive and futuristic decision that will benefit a large number of students even from the remotest part of the country by making world-class education accessible. This will surely give wings to the dreams of deserving students and meet the goal of providing high-quality education to all students across the country.
The plan to increase the ‘One Class One TV Channel’ from 12 to 200 TV Channels in all States in India will enable students to learn through radio and DTH channels thereby overcoming the problem of internet connectivity. The two decisions truly reflect the Government’s aims to leverage technology advancements and use them as tools to meet the educational aspirations of a large number of students in the country. They have set an example that is worthy of being emulated by others.”
Rajiv Tandon, CEO-Executive Education at BITS Pilani WILP, “While I did expect the budget to make announcements on online and remote learning to expand access to education and learning, I was particularly happy to notice the mention of virtual labs and e-labs to give skill training online. Both these elements can transform the mere access to education using the internet to high impact and rich learning experiences. At BITS PIlani’s Work Integrated Learning Programmes division, we have used digital labs for a few years now and believe that in several domains virtual & digital labs can enable learners to practice what they have learnt in a safe environment without going to a physical lab. Virtual & e-labs could be a boon for learners in a vast country like ours who do not have access to good physical labs infrastructure”
Mr. Shishir Jaipuria, Chairman FICCI Arise and Chairman Seth Anandram Jaipuria Group of Educational Institutions
The Union Budget 2022 takes forward the vision of universalizing quality education as enshrined in the National Education Policy 2020. The decision to expand the PM e-VIDYA scheme to 200 TV channels and to also develop high quality e-content in all spoken languages will benefit the students of grades I to XII who suffered learning loss due to the closure of schools during the Covid-19 pandemic. The formation of Digital University, as announced in the budget, will be a laudable initiative. The Digital University will help to make world-class education accessible in different Indian languages to all students even in far-flung areas. The simultaneous proposal to train teachers to build their competency and empower them to develop quality e-content will ensure better learning outcomes. I welcome the move to set up 750 e-labs in science and mathematics and 75 skilling e-labs that will nurture scientific temperament and critical thinking skills important for the 21st century learners. Going beyond the e-learning initiatives, the government has rightly decided to designate 5 academic institutions as ‘centres of excellence’ to deliver courses in urban planning and design. The move will take forward the vision of India-specific urban development. The budget 2022 is aimed at providing a major push to e-learning, reduce learning gaps and make education inclusive.
Dilip Puri, Founder & CEO, Indian School of Hospitality
The government has laid emphasis on reviving the hospitality sector. We’re hoping that services in the hospitality sector by small and medium enterprises will bounce back with the extension of ECGL services till March 2023 with an increased cover of 50,000 crore. With this extension the hospitality and allied industry will help enable the suspension of all failing schemes and restructure infrastructure debt. We’re also looking forward to see how ‘Drone shakti’ scheme to promote start-ups and Rs.6,000 crore allocated to boost MSMEs will roll out in future.
Ramya Venkataraman, founder & CEO of Centre for Teacher Accreditation (CENTA) Pvt. Ltd.
“This year’s Union Budget has proposed some big thrusts on education since it was one of the most impacted sectors in the Covid-19 pandemic, with schools remaining shut for over two years. The digital university announced in the budget can help students access great teachers from anywhere. This should be done in a public-private partnership mode for rapid implementation and supported by certified teachers from local communities, to provide direct inputs where needed. Such a hybrid ‘hub and spoke’ network can help impart world-class education to the most needy segments. The PM eVIDYA scheme’s ‘one class, one TV programme’ initiative is an interesting effort to deliver educational programming via radio and DTH channels to people without internet access. The quality of explanations and associated support for doubts will play a big role in making this successful. We are working on the implementation of this with a State Government and exploring mechanisms like missed calls, answering questions through SMS, etc. to make such programmes interactive and therefore impactful, added Ramya.”
Dr. Niteen Desai, Dean, NMIMS Sunandan Divatia School of Science
Biotechnology and Healthcare:
Advances in biological sciences have brought a paradigm shift in health care, which includes rapid and more sensitive diagnostic methods, treatments with fewer side effects, and new and safer vaccines. Detection of early onset of diseases and treatment has helped in improving the quality of life and life expectancy in this decade.
Agri-biotechnology:
With an increase in population and deteriorating environmental conditions, scarcity of food will be another threat in front of humankind. These challenges are being tacked with advances in biotechnological applications in crop improvement like genetic engineering, tissue culture, molecular markers, drought tolerance, disease diagnosis, and treatment, post-harvest management, etc will fulfill the needs.
Environmental Biotechnology:
The intervention of biotechnological techniques are playing a pivotal role in the management of environmental pollution. Environmental biotechnology can be used to detect, prevent and remediate the emission of pollutants into the environment in several ways.
Mr. Deepak Jalan, CEO & Managing Director, Linc Ltd.
“I think most of the Budget objectives were achieved in budget-2022. Congratulations to the Finance Minister for presenting a budget that focuses on infrastructure & growth. The increased outlays and strategic spending will build the growth momentum. The budget also restores stability in taxation policies and gives hope that the increasing GDP will lead to tax buoyancies.
As far as the stationary industry is concerned, I am glad that there are no surprises. We already have competitive corporate tax rates and no further reduction was expected. Extension of tax holiday for start-ups by another year is welcomed. An increase in the time frame for availing input tax credit will also be helpful.”
Sunil Dahiya, Executive VP, Wadhwani Opportunity at Wadhwani Foundation on Skilling
“Productivity enhancement and skilling are two peas in a pod. The Government’s decision to focus on skilling, reskilling, and upskilling, with an emphasis on online training and monitoring through API based skill credentials will ensure that the talent pool in India stands par with the current industry trends. This will most certainly raise the bar for Indian talent across the world, hence reducing unemployment and helping achieve the goal of reaching 60 lakh jobs in the next 5 years. It is also thrilling to know that India will now have a Digital University. Through this, the entrepreneurial education and skill development initiatives by India will be globally identified and will help in attracting investment and talent acquisition opportunities.”
Vingish Vijay – Founder & VP, 90+ My Tuition App
“We congratulate the Finance Minister for a growth oriented budget. The budget reflects the need to overcome the learning loss induced by the pandemic. The idea to start a One Class One TV channel to bridge the learning loss induced by the pandemic was required and we are excited to support this wonderful initiative. The announcement to facilitate supplementary learning in regional language for classes 1 to 12 was long overdue and is in sync with NEP 2020 to boost learning in languages other than Hindi and English. Government’s idea to generate more employment in the startup ecosystem is need of the hour and the EdTech sector will help in accelerating this movement. We also welcome the establishment of AVGC Promotion Task force as edtech heavily relies on animation and visual effects and is a creator of opportunities for youth skilled in animation and visual effects.”
Mr. Abishek Kumar Yadav, Academic Director and Chairman of Griffins International School expressed his disappointment over Union Budget 2022. He said, “We Would have hoped that government would have additional tax benefit towards the tuition fee paid for the child’s education beyond the current limit. There is no significant announcement for the education sector.
However, the alignment of National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) with dynamic industry needs is a welcome move.”
Prajodh Rajan, Co-founder and Group CEO, Lighthouse Learning
The much awaited Union Budget has delivered many positive developments for the education sector. The implementation of One Class One TV Channel program of PM eVIDYA to be expanded from 12 to 200 channels, should help mitigate the learning loss our children have endured during the past two years as schools remain closed. This will definitely support supplementary education in regional languages for students across classes 1 to 12. A boost in the digital infrastructure across the country is essential and the mention of the completion of 5G spectrum auction in 2022-2023 will certainly help enable education institutions to attain the much needed learning outcomes. The Digital DESH e-portal set to be launched will help the youth in skilling, upskilling and reskilling so that they are ably employed and can contribute to the country’s economic growth. We will soon be a super-energised and digitised economy!
RCM Reddy, MD & CEO, Schoolnet India Ltd
The government’s enhanced focus on education in this year’s Union Budget signals a welcome shift in policy priorities, backed by a substantial increase of almost 12% in allocations from last year. This is an acknowledgement of the large-scale impact of the pandemic on schools. A focus on digital learning, as well as the provision of enhanced learning aids through the PM e-Vidya scheme, will give a new impetus to strengthening the school education system. Schoolnet believes that this can be translated into positive impact on the ground by following an ecosystem approach which includes creating adequate digital infrastructure in schools, improved teacher training, and making available world-class pedagogical aids for those in the middle and bottom of the pyramid to enhance learning outcomes. Affordable Private Schools, which cater to nearly half the schoolgoing population, also need to be included in the scope of activities to achieve meaningful outcomes. I welcome the announcements for the education sector, which are aligned with Schoolnet’s vision of providing all students, particularly in the middle and bottom of the pyramid, with equal access to world class education.
Ranjita Raman, CEO, from Jaro Education
“ We welcome the Union Budget 2022. Through this, the government has put a major focus on education, skilling, up-skilling, and re-skilling. This is absolutely what the country and the industries needed right now. The centre’s vision of a Gift City, where world-class international colleges and institutes will provide courses free of domestic regulation, is a huge step forward. The creation of a digital university to give students access to world-class quality education in accordance with ISTE Standards would accelerate the sector’s growth and is a fantastic initiative.”
Dr. Subhalaxmi Mohapatra Associate Professor and Co-director, Centre for Urbanism and Cultural Economics, Anant National University
The Union Budget presented by honourable Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has a focus on the growth trajectory of India and is a progressive budget. Among, other pointers, the budget laid emphasis on the increase of capital expenditure to drive growth and the repeated focus on “infrastructure” implies that the scope of professions related to all aspects of infrastructure are going to rise. The budget will boost the overall real estate sector with a continued priority on affordable housing. The emphasis on a paradigm change of the urban sector through the involvement of the stakeholders at multiple levels is a welcome step. At the same time, there was announcement of additional tax benefits given to the start-up economy. However, the only negative aspect may be the tax levied on digital assets and income from the same. The growth of digital modes of education was evident with the support announced for e-modes of education both at national and regional level and the proposed digital university. This could broaden the reach of quality education and foster inclusivity. Finally, the budget indicated to boost certain aspects of creative arts such as animation, gaming, and comics through education and skilling. This should come as a boon to the Indian creative community to compete with their global counterparts. All the points taken together, the budget indicates that the role of education in creative and design related disciplines are going to gain impetus in the coming years.
Divya Jain, Director & Founder, The Class of OneThe Union Budget announcement gave a cursory look to the education sector for primary and secondary levels. However, announcement of launching Digital ecosystem for skilling and livelihood is quite a positive move for the educational institutions offering higher education. Startups like us are relieved to hear that in terms of tax relief, an extension of the period of incorporation by one year until March 31, 2023 is given. Expansion plan for One class, one TV channel’ program of PM eVIDYA from 12 to 200 TV channels promotes inclusion of students from all backgrounds, and ensures lack of digital devices does not come as a hurdle for cognitive development of the students.
Harender Kumar Sharma – Principal, TDI International School, Kundli
The Budget emphasized the education sector as the FM increased the overall financial allocation for the sector.
The focus is on digital learning modes to reverse learning losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic; students will also benefit from the expansion of the PM e-VIDYA initiative and the proposal to launch a “digital university” with the development of e-content in all Indian languages. We thank the Government for assessing the situation and timely taking steps regarding digital media; the step is to control the loss due to lack of physical classes and the need to have a robust digital infrastructure for effective dissemination of education.
Mr Aakash Chaudhry, Managing Director, Aakash Educational Services Ltd.
“The Union Budget FY2022-23 is growth oriented and has put the much-needed impetus on digital education boosting the penetration of learning where online education is still not accessible. To effectively bridge the learning gap created due to the pandemic, efforts such as setting up of the digital university, providing high-quality e-content, expansion of ‘One class, one TV channel’ under the PM e-Vidya scheme, equipping teachers with digital tools, creating virtual labs, promoting critical thinking will not only improve learning outcomes but will also provide students access to world-class universal education with a personalized learning experience at their doorsteps.
By developing syllabus in different languages, focusing on skilling, reskilling and upskilling youth, the Government has demonstrated its commitment towards breaking the glass ceiling and encouraging education in regional languages. Collaboration between public universities and institutions will create a network of the hub-spoke models with competitive mechanisms building a resilient mechanism for education delivery.
The budget aptly addresses last-mile delivery reach with a strong focus on empowering teachers through digitization and the necessity to train students in sync with global standards. The 25-year vision will build an open, digital, connected and inclusive India.”
Mr. Siddhartha Gupta, CEO, Mercer Mettl from the education and skilling perspective
“Aligning Skill programs with Industry is very positive news. Covid has taken the wind out of the Skilling initiatives of GOI over the last 2 years and there was a need to promote continuous skilling avenues, sustainability, and employability. Another welcome move is to re-look the national skill qualification framework (NSQF). This will further improve the Skill levels of youth and their ability to get jobs. We are proud of our partnership with GOI on Digital Literacy. Budget speaks about empowering citizens to skill, reskill or upskill through online training. It will also provide API-based trusted skill credentials, payment, and discovery to find relevant jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities. We have been working on Digital Credentials and would love to expand this to Skill credentials through Digital means as well and bridge the gap between Education and Industry. The launch of Digital University recognizes the role Tech would play in keeping education disruption less in the future. An announcement in this direction augurs well for the Ed Tech startups which have recognized this gap and are trying to innovate and transform the segment“
Mr. Mihir Gupta, CEO & Co-founder, Teachmint
“Given the level of disruption the education ecosystem has seen over the past couple of years, it is safe to say that the Education Budget 2022 was one of the most eagerly awaited. And it is heartening to see that there is a significant provision for education in the budget and a strong focus on empowering teachers through digitization. From the expansion of PM E-Vidya to 200 channels to the setting up a digital university, the initiatives indicate that the government has put the spotlight on digitization to boost the penetration and access to education across Bharat.
The need of the hour to make this vision a reality is by integrating a mobile-first, teacher-led education infrastructure, which can take digitization to the masses. Focusing on mobile will boost the reach significantly as India’s smartphone base is estimated to cross 83 crores in 2022, with rural India seeing the fastest growth. 97% of all internet users in India also access the internet via mobile devices, offering a massive opportunity for education to be delivered seamlessly to students and teachers across Bharat. Putting teachers at the center is the key, as the budget rightly identifies, to not just reach more students but to also deliver relevant and high-quality content in regional languages.
Timely and dependable tech enablement and integration hold the key. Exploring public-private partnership (PPP) models could significantly expedite the growth, penetration and impact of the government’s vision and ensure that no child gets impacted by the loss of formal education here onwards. All in all, at Teachmint we believe that the innovation we are developing and delivering to boost the teaching infrastructure across the country is completely aligned with the government’s vision of education progress, and we look forward to doing our bit in digitizing and strengthening the ecosystem.”
Nadira Hamid, CEO, Indo-Canadian Business Chamber
“The intent of the Government is clear. Infrastructure and the digital economy is where growth and jobs will come from. Canada’s largest pension funds and investment firms have recently invested billions of dollars into investments within infrastructure, real estate and even start-ups in India. This budget opens up a plethora of opportunities for Canada and will propel the Indo-Canadian relationship to greater heights to achieve enhanced economic development. Foreign Universities, especially from Canada can for the first time operate in the country and concepts like Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comic (AVGS) have found recognition. These are definitely bold and visionary statements. We welcome the budget which will see pronounced interaction between India and Canada.”
By Ravneet Pawha, Deputy Vice President (Global) & CEO (South Asia), Deakin University, Australia
Access to continuous learning through Digital University to unlock demographic dividend
The Finance Minister’s announcement to set up a digital university to develop and provide access to digital education tools generates positivity in youth, towards developing 21st-century skills. If it’s realised, it will be one-of-its-kind digital initiatives in the history of developing and progressive economies.
As per the FM, the digital university will be built on a network hub and spoke model. To offer the best practices, it will invite collaborations with the best institutions in the country. India should also look at partnerships with overseas universities towards preparing the youth for global jobs.
For skilling, upskilling, and reskilling of our youth, Digital DESH e-portal will be launched, which is critical for safeguarding the demographic dividends.
Higher education industry has great potential. However, there is a need to refine the existing machinery while ending the pursuit of obsolete goals, to ensure that HE institutions are preparing the students for the changing world of work.
A school is a foundation of and paramount in a child’s shaping. Building supplementary teaching resources was welcoming news in this budget. This was about the acknowledgment of our Government’s response to the impact of the pandemic on crores of children, mostly in government schools and rural rungs of the country. Many of these kids couldn’t continue with learning owing to access to digital education due to meager resources. Now, the ‘One class, one TV channel’ programme of PM eVIDYA will be expanded from 12 to 200 TV channels.
Overall it was a budget with a focus on the digital economy, which is the need of the hour and requirement of the future. The execution of digitisation of the education sector must have a regulatory framework in place. Talking specifically about the HE sector, there should be ‘One framework’ to assess the progress of HE institutions and basis students employability rate, they should be rewarded through various grants and funding.
Tara Singh Vachani – Managing Trustee – Max India Foundation 2.0
“Extremely pleased to hear about the increased budget allocation in the education sector from Rs. 88,002 crores to Rs. 1.04 lakh crores. It’s a much-awaited and welcome move.
Initiatives like the ‘One class, one TV channel’ program of PM eVIDYA to expand from currently 12 to 200 TV channels will be a path-breaking step in bridging the digital divide and the learning loss that the pandemic has caused. On the other hand, providing supplementary education in regional languages for classes 1 to 12 will be fruitful in ensuring inclusive learning for the children of the country”
Mr. Arjun Gupta, Founder, Courseplay
says, “The 2022 Budget saw many missed expectations for SMEs and Start-ups. As one of the fastest growing contributors to GDP, the SaaS sector should be promoted more by the central government. Share allocation process for start-ups to be simplified. Low cost tech education in Tier 3 and smaller towns is a huge must, as supply of skilled tech workers is at an all time low compared to demand. Getting government contracts for tech start-ups is still very complicated and should be made easier. Labour Law reforms for tech companies would be appreciated too. The govt needs to stand behind Indian SaaS companies to make India the no. 1 SaaS exporter in the world. Hopefully we will see some of this in next year’s budget”.
Union Budget 2022 Reaction quote from Ms. Sonali Khan, Managing Director of Sesame Workshop India
“I think it’s a great step to extend “One class One tv” to 200 channels. It will reduce the inequity in access to education for children without the internet and digital infrastructure while also making the content available to them in their local language. A National tele mental health program to support the mental wellbeing of families and revamp of 2 lakh Aanganwadi centers also holds strong relevance considering the impact the closure of schools and the pandemic has had on the lives of people. It will be good to link this back to the operationalization of NEP 2020’s compulsory education for children starting 3 years of age as part of the budget, who have been severely impacted by the pandemic in the most crucial way.”
Mayank Kumar, Co-founder and MD, upGrad
“Extending the Digital India mission to strengthen online education, the Government’s plans to launch a Digital DESH e-portal for skilling, upskilling, and reskilling of the youth is a significant move and is in sync with the evolving times. The newly announced budget is very new age as it talks about establishing digital universities which in turn, shall accelerate quality output within the country. We welcome the introductions, as upGrad is equally focused towards driving maximum career outcomes for its learners and such initiatives will further support our mission. Clearly, accessibility and quality education are at the centre of GoI’s initiatives which assures that we are moving in the direction of achieving the United Nations SDGs, as a nation. Innovative mechanism for imparting knowledge, teacher’s training programs, and high-quality regional content for e-learning will be the focus areas for us and we are glad to see the national support towards the sector.”
Prof T. K. Srikanth, Head of E-Health Research Center, IIIT Bangalore
“The E-Health Research Center at IIITB has been working with NIMHANS, National Health Mission, Govt of Karnataka, on e-Manas, a first of its kind, software platform for mental health management. This has been deployed by the Govt of Karnataka and is being extended to the monitoring of the DMHP program as well as psychiatric rehabilitative services. As part of the tele mental health network that NIMHANS will now help setup, IIITB will help integrate eManas with tele-health services, thus providing a comprehensive platform for mental health care that can scale up nationally.”
Vinay Sharma, CEO & Director – Convergia (S Chand Publishers)
“Budget really builds on the digital transition in education and takes measures to strengthen and broad base it. One key initiative is the creation of high-quality content which can be delivered through multiple means like mobile, cloud, TV etc. along with professional development of teachers to equip them in using digital tools and pedagogies. This will help towards improving the quality of learning outcomes.
Another significant initiative is a creation of a digital university which will deliver quality education to students across the country using remote delivery. This can help in bridging the skilling and knowledge gap because of limited physical infrastructures like universities and colleges.”
Dr Atul Nischal, Founder – Director, International Council for School Leadership (ICSL)
“I am delighted that teacher training has become an investment priority in addition to building the educational e-infrastructure by developing quality content and creating channels for mass access. I whole heartedly welcome the government’s commitment to digital learning as a solution to mend the pandemic-induced losses as well as achieve the goals of the NEP 2020.
There are close to 1 crore school teachers in India who need to be supported with a minimum of 50 hours of quality professional development every year. Without the support of e-Learning it is impossible to achieve this scale. As a next step, the government should create provisions for not-for-profits, such as International Council for School Leadership, to play an active role in empowering and enabling teachers in India.”
Ms. Archana Surana, Founder and Director, Arch College of Design and Business
“It is a progressive and forward looking budget as the Finance Minister made announcements for all the major sectors to pave the path of economic recovery and growth. Her recommendations to promote digitization in the education sector shows a futuristic approach towards teaching and learning to make world-class quality education available for all the students. Also skilling, upskilling and reskilling programmes will help boosting entrepreneurship in the youth of the country”
Digital Learning from Amitabh Jhingan, Partner, EY Parthenon Education Strategy Practice and EY India Education Leader
“There could not be a better time to build a state of the art digital university for Bharat and rapidly accelerate the democratisation of high quality university and professional education that the youth of our country would receive. Expanding access to digital learning tools as students look to get back to school after almost 2 years is another laudable initiative as is the announcement to leverage agricultural universities to modernise agriculture in India and enhance the productivity and innovation in the sector. These are welcome initiatives and should be supplemented by a robust but practical policy and regulatory framework around online and digital learning in India.”
Professor Ramola Kumar, Dean, The Delhi School of Communication, for your consideration.
“The Union Budget 2022 is rightly focused on reviving the country from the aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic and ensuring sustainable economic growth. The government has made a good effort to get the economy back on track, following the devastating impact of the Covid-19 outbreak, which affected the entire country. We applaud the budget because it appears to be quite forward-thinking in terms of social development and skill development for national upliftment. In a post-covid era, however, some tax relief for the service industry, particularly education, would have been beneficial.”
Subodh Garg, CFO and Growth leader Pickrr said, “Union Budget 2022, with its strong impetus to technology and startups, is future-driven. The Gati Shakti scheme proposed by the Finance Minister in today’s budget will play a crucial role in shaping the logistics sector in the coming years. This scheme will provide a boost to the overall infrastructure landscape in India and will subsequently foster the advancement of the logistic segment. The announcement of the expansion of the highway network by 25000KMS and the development of 100 new cargo terminals will increase the connectivity and will help in the swift movement of goods across the country.
We believe that the Gati Shakti scheme will propel the economy by leading to more jobs and opportunities for the youth.
With technology playing a crucial role in shaping the country’s startups, it was great to see that the Union Budget 2022 introduced various start-up-friendly policies, tax relaxations to enable innovation and ease-of-doing-business and reduce compliance costs.”
Ms.Simran Lekhi, Founder Kidstack
“The Budget 2022 gives a further push to Entrepreneurs in India by extending the Tax Rebate for start-ups till March 2023. Unlike 2021 Budget which emphasized “vocal for local” Toys, this year lacked a dedicated policy for promoting domestic manufacturing. Creating a domestic task force to serve the global demand in the Gaming, Animation and Visual Effects Sector is another boost for the Toys & Gaming Industry. Apart from digitizing education, we also need to look at prioritizing play in our classrooms specially for younger children who have lost 2 formative years due to the pandemic”
Mr. Sandeep Raheja, Chairman, K Raheja Realty
“I believe that the Government has initiated the growth of technology and by providing education for all at macro-level through setting up the digital university and providing content in regional languages. Over & above they are also allocating better budgets for education.
Leapfrogging Indian students to the next era of technology and mass education, this will be a great opportunity to facilitate the growth and development of the field in general. India will create one of the largest generations of educated youth, which will make India one of the largest Economic Markets.
The industry can benefit from young aspirers who not only have great knowledge of technology and innovative methods but also technical knowledge and creative minds.
The budget has emphasized giving due consideration in introducing courses related to infrastructure and urban planning. This will ensure that the future of Indian infrastructure will be more advanced and efficient and it will help in developing India-specific knowledge in urban planning and design.”
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