While education and skill development remain focus areas in every budget, this year the focus is on improving the quality of education. Various measures announced include training programmes for in-service teachers on modern teaching concepts and increasing use of digital technologies for improving learning outcomes through a ‘blackboard to digital board’ initiative — Anindya Mallik, partner, Deloitte India, Delhi The biggest good news from the Union budget is for the education sector. Specifically, the announcement that 1,000 of the country’s top engineering (BE/B.Tech) students will be chosen to become PM Research Fellows — and thus become eligible to pursue doctorate programmes at IITs or IISc. Besides, the launch of RISE (Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education) will also give much needed impetus to the quality of education infrastructure in the country — D. Venkat, CEO, Strides India Consulting, Chennai The finance minister’s focus on teacher training and digital education is welcome and much needed! While the emphasis is on increasing digital intensity in education, appropriate allocation of funds for technology upgradation will be critical. So far, the budget is silent on this while allocating over Rs.1 lakh crore to education research. Also while untrained teachers are explicitly mentioned in the FM’s speech, training for leveraging technology in education across the board will be critical to see the impact of digitisation on education — Prateek Bhargava, CEO, Mindler Education Pvt. Ltd, Delhi The announcement by the finance minister to increase digital intensity in education, is indeed very welcome. Today’s global economy and high-speed broadband infrastructure demand a workforce that can keep pace with unprecedented technological advances. But we must have a blueprint to guide schools in the adoption of technology — Ambarish Datta, MD & CEO, BSE Institute, Mumbai To rejuvenate the infrastructure of educational institutions, the FM has announced several initiatives. The Revitalising of Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) by 2022 with a total investment of Rs.1 lakh crore in the next four years is to be particularly lauded — Prof. C. Raj Kumar, founder-vice chancellor, O.P. Jindal University, Gurgaon This is a balanced budget as far as education is concerned. The government has rightly focused on improving educational infrastructure in the country, and expressed clear intent to strengthen capacity building through improvement in teacher training. The decision to treat education holistically without any segmentation is also a welcome move and will lend greater synergy in planning and execution of important schemes and programmes — Ratnesh Jha, managing director, Cambridge University Press, South Asia Education for once got due attention from the finance minister in the budget speech. Mr. Jaitley acknowledged that technology will be the biggest driver in improving the quality of education. Among other major announcements are Eklavya schools in tribal districts on the lines of Navodaya schools, integrated B.Ed and initiatives for teachers training — Col. Rajendra Prasad Nadella, co-founder, managing director, iScholar, Bangalore Budget 2018-19 has highlighted technology as a key driver in the education sector. The efforts of the government will give impetus to tech-based educational reforms and further boost digital…
