Budget 2023: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget 2023-23 on February 1. The budget will be announced at a time when the world is facing inflation, a global recession, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. The education sector has high hopes for this year's budget as the government has recently introduced new initiatives and policy changes under the National Education Policy (NEP).
Education sector experts have shared their expectations and recommendations for this year's budget. Lejo Sam Oommen, MD of Educational Testing Service (ETS), suggests that the government should invest in early-stage exposure to internationalisation to meet the objective of 25% of the global workforce being Indian by 2047.
Nikhil Barshikar, CEO of Imarticus Learning, hopes for government recognition and encouragement for start-ups to focus on skill development and job guarantees. Manav Subodh, founder of One Million for One Billion (1M1B), recommends increased spending on digitising classrooms in rural government schools and creating AR/VR labs in every school.
It is also expected that this year's budget will include a boost in funding for teacher training, adult education, and the Smagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) program. Additionally, there have been calls for removing the GST on educational services for ten years to provide a level playing field for new ed-tech companies.
Overall, the education sector is eagerly awaiting the announcements in the Union Budget 2023-23 and hopes for increased funding and support to help improve the education system in India.
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