Education Budget 2023

Education Budget 2023 - Highlights

Vinod Kakumanu
April 4, 2023, 2:22 p.m.

Key announcements pertaining to the Education sector in the Union Budget 2023 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament:

The education budget 2023 has risen by 8.27% to Rs 1,12,899.47 crore, crossing Rs 1 lakh crore for the first time
Recruitment of over 38,000 teachers for Ekalavya Schools
Dedicated research programme for pharmaceuticals
New Research centres on artificial intelligence, internet of things and similar new-age fields
A revised apprenticeship scheme
157 new nursing colleges.
The department of school education and literacy and the department of higher education constitute the ministry of education. School education has been allocated Rs 68,804.85 crore and higher education has got Rs 44,094.62 crore.
While allocations have risen in most cases, some of the schemes and institutions - including a scholarship scheme for minority students and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) - have seen massive cuts
Allocations for major schemes such as the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and mid-day meal programme (PM POSHAN) have increased

As previous budget analysis has shown, actual funds release is slower compared to announcements. For example, by November 30, 2022, the union government had released Rs 19,065.33 crore of the Rs 37,383 crore it had allocated to SSA – just 51% -- in 2022.

With the sudden shift to digital learning, academics experts hope for an expansion in digital infrastructure for the next financial year. Several EDTech experts propose measures like upskilling programmes for teachers and tax exemptions on educational programmes. It also expects the government to ramp up digital infrastructure. The Budget session 2023 (the first part ) will conclude on February 13. The Parliament will reconvene on March 12 for the second part of the Budget Session that will conclude on April 6.