Union Budget 2022-23 Education And Skilling Key Highlights

Union Minister Sitharaman presented the Budget 2022-2023 today, February 1. She stressed that the pandemic had induced closure of schools, children, particularly in the rural areas, and those from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and other weaker sections, have lost almost 2 years of formal education. Mostly, these are children in government schools. We recognise the need to impart supplementary teaching and to build a resilient mechanism for education delivery.

Sitharaman said, “For this purpose, ‘one class-one TV channel’ programme of PM eVIDYA will be expanded from 12 to 200 TV channels. This will enable all states to provide supplementary education in regional languages for classes 1-12. In vocational courses, to promote crucial critical thinking skills, to give space for creativity, 750 virtual labs in science and mathematics, and 75 skilling e-labs for simulated learning environments, will be set-up in 2022-23. High-quality e-content in all spoken languages will be developed for delivery via internet, mobile phones, TV and radio through Digital Teachers.” A competitive mechanism for development of quality e-content by the teachers will also be set-up to empower and equip the teachers with digital tools of teaching and facilitate better learning outcomes.

Digital University

The budget also mentioned that a Digital University will be established to provide access to students across the country for world-class quality universal education with personalized learning experience at their doorsteps. This will be made available in different Indian languages and ICT formats. The University will be built on a networked hub-spoke model, with the hub building cutting edge ICT expertise. The best public universities and institutions in the country will collaborate as a network of hub-spokes.

Urban Planning Support to States

For developing India specific knowledge in urban planning and design, and to deliver certified training in these areas, up to five existing academic institutions in different regions will be designated as centres of excellence. These centres will be provided endowment funds of ` 250 crore each. In addition, AICTE will take the lead to improve syllabi, quality and access of urban planning courses in other institutions.

Skill development was also addressed in the budget. Skilling programmes and partnership with the industry will be reoriented to promote continuous skilling avenues, sustainability, and employability. The National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) will be aligned with dynamic industry needs.

Digital Ecosystem for Skilling and Livelihood like the DESH-Stack e-portal will be launched. This aims to empower citizens to skill, reskill or upskill through on-line training. It will provide API-based trusted skill credentials, payment and discovery layers to find relevant jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities. Start-ups will be promoted to facilitate ‘Drone Shakti’ through varied applications and for Drone-As-A-Service (DrAAS). In select ITIs, in all states, the required courses for skilling will be started.