Rs 93,847.64 crore budget for education sector
New Delhi, Feb 1 : The Centre Friday earmarked Rs 93,847.64 crore for the education sector for 2019-20, an increase of over 10 per cent from last budget allocation.
While Rs 37,461.01 crore has been allocated for higher education, an amount of Rs 56,386.63 crore has been earmarked for school education.
Last year, then finance minister Arun Jaitley had allocated Rs 85,010 crore for the education sector.
Presenting an interim budget for 2019-20 in Parliament on Friday, Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Piyush Goyal proposed the launch of a scheme named 'Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) by 2022' with a total investment of Rs 1 lakh crore in the next four years to step up investments in research and related infrastructure in premier educational institutions, including health institutions.
The government allocated Rs 608.87 crore for research and innovation, a massive increase from previous allocation of Rs 350.23 crore.
Goyal also proposed the setting up of two new full-fledged 'Schools of Planning and Architecture' (SPA) to be selected on challenge mode.
Additionally, 18 new SPAs would be established in the IITs and NITs as autonomous schools, also on challenge mode, he said.
"The proposal for setting up SPAs have been appraised by the Expenditure Finance Committee. Directors of IITs/NITs and Chief Secretaries of States/UTs have been requested to submit proposals," the minister said.
Goyal said technology will be the biggest driver in improving the quality of education and proposed to increase the digital intensity in education and move gradually from "black board" to "digital board".
A dedicated digital infrastructure for teachers, DIKSHA, has been developed with the aim to empower school teachers with access to innovative tech-based solutions, he said.
"Technology will also be used to upgrade the skills of teachers through the recently launched digital portal 'Diksha'.
"A committee has been set up by the Department of Higher Education to work out the modalities to support 'Operation Digital Board' in all schools and to provide quality education by effective use of technology and telecom services," the minister said.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
