New education policy is a welcome move

Prof Debashis Chatterjee, Director, IIM Kozhikode

"The Finance Minister has promised in the Budget speech that a new education policy will be announced soon. The current policy is several decades old and the new policy is expected to introduce fresh ideas, particularly on the use of technology, modern teaching pedagogies and experiential learning. The proposal to allow FDI in the education sector does not worry us as IIMs have always benchmarked themselves against global standards of teaching and learning. However, we need to wait for the full details of this policy to see whether it would mean global schools and colleges opening campuses in India or simply foreign capital getting invested in Indian private institutions. I am happy that the Budget has proposed online educational programmes as the time has come to leverage technology to provide “value for many” instead of just “value for money”."

 

Dr Jitin Chadha, Founder and Director, Indian School of Business & Finance (ISBF)

“We are encouraged to hear the government talk about FDI in education in today’s Budget. Openness to receiving, and capitalising upon, the transfer of knowledge as well as education management know-how that top institutions around the world are actively looking to make to greener pastures like India, is a no-brainer in my opinion.

Foreign collaborations in higher education — with or without FDI — offer a near term solution to the problem of quality human capital and employability, which can help us avert a demographic disaster and reap some dividend instead. That is why we at ISBF welcome this announcement, which will also help operationalise the government’s dream of making India an international hub for higher education.”

 

 

Dr Raj Padhiyar, Founder and CEO, Digital Gurukul

"The focus area of education in this year’s Budget under the theme of “Aspirational India” oriented towards three key areas: improving the quality of education, promoting digital learning and skill development to address high unemployment rate. The Finance Minister was expected to announce revolutionary measure in building the new digital education ecosystem to promote futuristic skills and combat high unemployment rate but no major announcements of schemes/policies were made regarding the same. Announcement of a new education policy was much needed, considering the poor state of the education system in India.

FM has also proposed that 100 universities under National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) to deliver online degrees to deprived communities. Although, this was a bold move towards digital learning but why only a few universities? FM should have encouraged edtech start-ups who have all the necessary infrastructure, experiences and proven record to deliver online programs successfully.

“Study in India” programme which was announced last year was mentioned in the speech again. Proposal for external commercial borrowing and FDI in the education sector was a welcome move to encourage foreign players to set-up high quality institutes and investments in edtech start-ups.

Allocation of merely three per cent of expenditure towards the education sector proved to be highly disappointing!"