Decoding Budget: Allocation for education down by over 6%, may lead to privatisation of school education

Presenting the first post-Covid Budget, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced that a total amount of Rs 93,224 crore will be allocated for the Ministry of Education, which consists of Rs 54,874 crore for Department of School Education and Literacy and Rs 38,350 crore for the Department of Higher Education.

An analysis of the allocation shows that it is nearly 6.13% less than the allocation made by the Union government in 2020-21.

In 2020-21, the budgeted estimate for the Ministry of Education was Rs 99,312 crore, which was revised to Rs 85,089 crore (Revised Estimate).

Slashing allocation for education will adversely impact programmes like Right to Education and will pave the way for privatization of school education also. In fact, it may well end up destroying the government school system in the country, according to experts and activists.

“Government’s shrinking responsibility and meagre allocation will lead education towards an adverse situation affecting the future of millions of children. It will encourage privatization and commercialization, benefitting profit–making private players,” said Ambarish Rai, National Convenor, RTE Forum.

“Mere mention of 15,000 exemplar schools to be created in line with NEP is not enough. The allocations are nowhere close to the required amount needed to undo the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure that every child returns to school. Online courses do not guarantee quality education; rather it widens the inequality, as evident over the last 10 months,” said Rai while talking to National Herald.

“It is strange that the budget allocated for Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan for 2021-22 is only Rs 31,050 crore, far less than the budget allocated in 2019-20 which was Rs 36,400 crore and also less than the Actual Expenditure of 2019-20 which was Rs 32,376.52 crore,” said the RTE Forum.