In Budget 2017, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced various measures to educate the youth of the country with an emphasis on science and flexibility in curriculum.
An innovation fund for secondary education covering 3,479 educationally backward blocks will be created to encourage local innovation and ensure universal access, gender parity and quality improvement.
In higher education, the government will undertake reforms to help the University Grants Commission of India and good-quality institutions gain academic autonomy.
Colleges will be identified based on accreditation and ranking, and given autonomous status. A revised framework will be put in place for outcome-based accreditation and credit-based programmes.
The government has also proposed to launch Swayam, a platform with at least 350 open online courses, allowing students to virtually attend courses taught by the best faculty, access higher-quality reading resources, participate in discussion forums, and take tests and earn academic grades.
To increase access to Swayam, the government will link it with direct-to-home (DTH) channels dedicated to the education.
To increase the focus of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and other premier institutions on academics, the government has proposed to establish a national testing agency. It will an autonomous and self-sustained organisation to conduct all entrance exams for higher education.
The government plans to extend the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras to more than 600 districts across the country from 60 currently. These centres will offer advanced training and also courses in foreign languages.
In 2017-18, the government plans to launch Sankalp, a programme for skill acquisition, knowledge and awareness for livelihood, at a cost of Rs 4,000 crore. Sankalp will provide market-relevant training to 3.5 crore youth, the Finance Minister said in Budget 2017.
The government also announced that the next phase of skill strengthening for industrial value enhancement will be launched in 2017-18 at a cost of Rs 2,200 crore.
Krishnamurthy Subramanian, associate professor at Indian School of Business, said though current spending on human capital, like education and health, is low, moves announced in Budget 2017 are a step in the right direction.
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories ā On NDTV Profit.
