With over half the population in the country under the age of 25, education plays a significant role. Considering it is not only critical to personal development, but more so to the effective growth and development of the nation, it is heartening to see this year’s budget address the issue of lack of quality education and infrastructure in the country.
“We are glad that the 2018 Budget has a forward-looking vision with benefits for those sectors which especially need them. As announced, specifically for the education sector, having an integrated B.Ed. programme, with teacher-training as its main focus, will help the workforce to become more aware and skilled,” says Vandana Arora, Principal of Nahar International School. “With cutting edge technology, we feel that Digital India will increase the digital intensity of the education sector. It is also a pleasure to hear about the move towards digital smart boards, because it is a sign of how extensively education has been considered while forming the budget,” she adds.
Online learning
“With the number of schools and colleges falling short of the requisite, the launch of ‘RISE’ — Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education — with an investment of ₹1 lakh crore in the next four years, raises the hope of witnessing drastic improvement in the current education infrastructure and technology across the country,” says Raghav Gupta, India Country Director of Coursera, an education-focused tech company. “With a strong focus on quality education and emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning And Internet of Things (IoT), online learning platforms will gain importance as the providers of standardised, world class content.”
However, Dr. Rupamanjari Ghosh, vice-chancellor, Shiv Nadar University, commented that technology alone will not enable this goal, as there are serious social challenges that still need to be addressed.
“A strong governmental push in the form of an innovation policy will help. The ‘PM research fellows’ need not be restricted to only elite public-funded institutions; one needs to create an entire ecosystem of excellence in the country, and not just a few islands of merit,” says Dr. Ghosh.
“With the recent allocations in education sector and expected higher concentration in Rashtriya Ucchtar Shiksha Abhiyan, the MDM programme under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan can be expected to further enhance and develop into a sustainable nutrition charter to combat hunger issues, improve the nutrition status of children and provide a boost for quality education,” says Sri Chanchalapathi Dasa Vice Chairman, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, that aims to fight issues of hunger and malnutrition in children.
