Raising funds for education in budget may solve employment issues

livemint.com:

₹73,498 crore for FY24-25 for the department of school education and literacy. The allocation for higher education for FY24-25 was kept at ₹47,619.77 crore.

In India, where students depend on learning by rote and many thousands sit for the competitive exams for entry into engineering, medical, and civil services; the need of the hour is for a system where other subjects gain enough prominence to make the youth employable. The National Education Policy (NEP) when launched in 2020 had aimed for an “education system rooted in Indian ethos that contributes directly to transforming India, that is Bharat, sustainably into an equitable and vibrant knowledge society, by providing high-quality education to all, and thereby making India a global knowledge superpower".

Sector watchers say that infrastructure investments should be on the priority list. "In the subsequent NEP adoption, we need investments in augmenting infrastructure, training of academic and support faculty, management, etc.—we need to identify and deploy financial resources to cater to these requirements," Narayanan Ramaswamy, National Leader, education and skill development, Government and Public Services, KPMG, said.

NEP stakeholders—ranging from the government, autonomous institutions, and states, because education is a subject on the Concurrent list—have taken the initial steps but much more needs to be done to overcome the setback from the pandemic. But, there is another section that insists the NEP needs to be given more time to measure its impact.