Page 12 - EducationWorld Feb 2021 Low

Education News

DELHI The finance minister should have
Missed reform opportunity provided edupreneurs and NGOs

incentives to form public-private
partnerships in K-12 education,”
says Rustom Kerawalla, chairman
of the Mumbai-based Ampersand
Group which manages the pan-India
Vibgyor Group of schools.
Adds Manit Jain, an alum of the
Harvard School of Education and
promoter of the Delhi-based Heri-
tage Group of schools which includes
the Heritage Xperiential School,
Gurugram ranked the country’s #1
co-ed day school in the EW India
School Rankings 2020-21: “Given
the economic crisis precipitated by
the Covid pandemic that has severely
reduced government’s tax revenue,
this was a good time for the BJP/
NDA government to have invited
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman (right): human capital blindspot private and foreign investment in
Indian education. Development of
he national education policy tion programme has been slashed the country’s human capital cannot
(NEP) 2020 hammered out af- by Rs.5,000 crore; the outlay for the — and should not — be neglected be-
Tter a gap of 34 years last July, free mid-day meal in government cause of the government’s financial
promised to increase the national pre-primary and primary schools downturn.”
outlay for education to 6 percent of is reduced to Rs.11,500 crore from Nevertheless, there are several
GDP. But in early 2020, a deadly Rs.12,900 crore; the budget of the education enabling provisions in
new flu virus spread from Wuhan Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (primary- Union Budget 2021-22 that have
(China) and infected the world. On secondary school) programme been widely welcomed. They include
March 25, the Centre ordered a total for 2021-22 is Rs.31,300 crore cf. transforming 15,000 government
lockdown of industry, business and Rs.38,751 budgeted for 2020-21 and schools countrywide into model
all education institutions. But while the budget allocation of the depart- schools which will be “qualitatively
the lockdown of the economy was ment of school education & literacy strengthened to include all com-
gradually lifted in the next quarter for 2021-22 is Rs.54,873.66 crore ponents of the National Education
onwards, education institutions are against Rs.59,489 provisioned for Policy 2020”; promoting 100 new
as yet cautiously reopening at the the year ending March 31, 2021. Sainik Schools through public-
time of writing this despatch. Although most informed moni- private partnerships; establishing an
With the tax revenue of the Cen- tors of the education scene were “umbrella body” Higher Education
tral and state governments sharply reconciled to the outlay for public Commission of India with “separate
reduced because of the lockdown of education for 2021-22 being at best vehicles for standards-setting, ac-
the economy, it’s hardly surprising raised nominally given the huge creditation, regulation and funding”
that far from being increased, the shortfall in the Centre’s tax revenue and setting up a National Research
Centre’s outlay for education in the because of lockdown of industry for Foundation.
Union Budget 2021-22 at Rs.93,224 an entire quarter (April-September), However, the general consensus
crore is 6 percent less than in 2020- they express disappointment that is that while the finance minister’s
21. the pandemic crisis didn’t result in inability to augment the public edu-
As a result, outlays for several overdue structural reforms in the cation outlay in the unprecedented
projects of the recently renamed education sector. pandemic year is understandable,
Union education ministry (hitherto “Greater participation of the private she missed a great opportunity to
the Union HRD ministry) have been sector and NGOs in managing and liberalise and deregulate India’s
slashed. The budget of the Integrated operating funds-starved govern- over-regulated and under-perform-
Child Development Services (ICDS) ment schools would have enabled ing education sector. Congratulat-
early childhood nutrition and educa- them to modernise and upgrade. ing the BJP/NDA government and

12 EDUCATIONWORLD FEBRUARY 2021