04/02/2021
Key takeaways for higher education - Union Budget 2021 India
Key takeaways for higher education - Union Budget 2021 India
India’s Union budget 2021 has been released on 1 February and it has some noteworthy announcements related to education and skills development.
Key highlights are below-
Higher Education
- Legislation to set up Higher Education Commission of India will be introduced this financial year. The legislation will act as an umbrella body for standard-setting, accreditation, regulation, and funding of higher education.
- Creation of formal umbrella structures for better synergy amongst various research institutions, universities, and colleges supported by the Government of India in 9 cities. A Glue Grant will be set aside for this purpose.
- Special funding has also been earmarked for another big reform, credit-based education, for which an Academic Board of Credit will soon be set up.
- To promote enhanced academic collaboration with foreign higher educational institutions, the government has also proposed to put in place a regulatory mechanism to permit dual degrees, joint degrees, twinning arrangements and other such mechanisms.
Schools
- CBSE Board Exam reforms in a phased manner to be effective from the 2022-23 academic session. Exams will move away from rote-learning and students shall be tested on their conceptual clarity, analytical skills and application of knowledge to real life situations.
- Over 15,000 schools to be qualitatively strengthened under National Education Policy which shall act as exemplar schools in their regions for mentoring others.
- 100 new Sainik Schools to be set up in partnership with NGOs/private schools/states. Currently there are 30 Sainik school in the country run by Defense Ministry.
- Standards will be developed for all school teachers in the form of National Professional Standards for Teachers- NPST. This will enhance the capabilities of teachers and will be followed by all 92 lakh teachers of public and private school system in the country
Skilling
- Over 3000 crores will be allocated to National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS). The government also proposes to amend the scheme which was launched in 2016 to provide post-education apprenticeship, training of graduates and diploma holders in Engineering.
- An initiative is underway, in partnership with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to benchmark skill qualifications, assessment, and certification, accompanied by the deployment of certified workforce.
- Another initiative undertaken by the Government is collaborative Training Inter Training Programme (TITP) between India and Japan to facilitate transfer of Japanese industrial and vocational skills, technique, and knowledge. India foresees many such initiative with various other countries.
Innovation and R&D
- A budget of 50000 Crores has been allocated to National Research Foundation (NRF) with an aim to fund research across a range of disciplines, from science and technology to humanities.
- The state universities and private universities will now be able to access research grants from NRF on a competitive basis. The Office of Principal Scientist Adviser will play a pivotal role in implementation of the NRF.
- NRF will ensure that the overall 24 research ecosystem of the country is strengthened with focus on identified national-priority thrust areas.
We have provided only a quick snapshot of the relevant sections of the budget here. We will soon release a more detailed analysis and report of these points and what they mean for the UK’s education sector and generally for internationalisation.
If you have any questions please write to Aatreyee Guha Thakurta (Regional Marketing and Communications Manager, International Education Services, South Asia).
Read more at:
https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/doc/budget_speech.pdf
Related news
University of Central Lancashire to open a study centre
This is the 3rd international study centre in Bangladesh.
English reintroduced in Indonesian primary schools
Enhance UK-Indonesia collaborations and boost the UK ELT and EdTech sectors.
