Presenting the Outcome Budget in the Delhi Assembly on Monday, Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Manish Sisodia said that although the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated schools to be shut during the pandemic, the government, with the help of basic technology ensured that educational activities were conducted for a total of 229 days in a session which normally lasts for 220 days.
He stated that about 98% students received worksheets and 83% of them have given these worksheets back after completing them. He added that 89-90% students in Class XI and XII attended online classes conducted for twelve subjects.
The budget showed that at the Class-12 level, the pass percentage in government schools has improved to 97.92% in 2019-20 from 94.24% the previous year and the Class 10 pass percentage of government schools has improved to 82.61% in 2019-20 as compared to 71.58% the previous year.
The education department was one of the best performing departments of the Delhi government as the budget showed that of 44 critical indicators of the Directorate of Education, 84% were on track, while in the Directorate of Higher Education 84% of the 61 critical indicators were on track. For the Directorate of Training and Technical Education, 80% of 129 critical indicators were on track.
The Economic Survey of Delhi 2020-21, also tabled on Monday, stated that the expenditure incurred by the Delhi government per student annually on education has increased from ₹50,812 in 2016-17 to ₹78,082 in 2020-21. It added that the total expenditure on education, including sports, arts and culture, increased from ₹6,555 crore in 2014-15 to ₹15,102 crore in 2020-21 and that the share of expenditure on education to the total budget of the Delhi government has increased from 21% in 2014-15 to 23% in 2020-21.
Listing new initiatives taken in the field of technical education, the Economic Survey said that the Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University has been established in 2020 to provide quality education in applied sciences and skill education in various disciplines of education. University will not only focus on imparting higher education to its students but will also promote entrepreneurship development initiatives so that inspiring ecosystem, favourable for adoption of innovative practices be created to help setting up of business incubators leading to creation of job providers instead of job-seekers.
