The Union Budget of 2014-15 has a ray of hope for almost all sectors in education. While the Government has not reversed the 5 per cent reservation of seats for foreign students in Indian Universities, it has come up with exciting schemes to boost primary and secondary education through attractive funds for teacher training and school assessment programmes. There is a proposal to set up new AIIMS centres alongside IITs and IIMs in every nook of the country. This will make world class education accessible to all. The Budget has allocated funds to better vocational education in India which will ensure that unemployability is no longer an issue. Sangeeta Yadav gives you a lowdown on how this year’s Budget will impact the career and education sectors
Foreign shores
Pursuing higher education at a foreign university of repute is a dream every student harbours. With the current cut-offs sky rocketing, the need for a global degree has become all the more necessary. But not all of them can afford a degree course in a college of choice. The innumerable scholarships and entrance test guidance provided online by foreign institutions make it possible for the student in India to realise his/her dream.
But is the reverse also gaining momentumIJ Is foreign student inflow in the country being monitoredIJ According to Indian academia, the Government is making some strides in that front but still a lot needs to be done to make India an overseas study destination.
The Union Budget of 2014-2015, has no notable change on the foreign education sector. “It has not altered the 5 percent reservation for foreign students in any Indian university and that is a positive sign. Although we must do much more to better our standard of education and make India an attractive destination for pursuing higher studies. That will help boost the GDP like never before,” Naveen Chopra, chairman and founder, The Chopras, says. According to him, Government colleges and universities need to be ramped up. “Their teaching method and curriculum should be given a serious thought and improved to make it more relevant with today’s time,” Chopras, tells you.
As per the recent Assocham report, over 2.9 lakh students go overseas every year for higher studies, which costs India a foreign exchange outflow of $15 to $20 billion pa. Destinations like the US, UK, Australia and France are top choices for Indian students. Apart from bettering the standards of education and providing world class facilities, Chopra also stresses on the self promotion and marketing strategies.
“Offering a new range of courses, providing foreign students with proper scholarship programmes, guiding them about the new courses on offer, promoting inter-cultural development, providing them with longer stay-greater benefits etc are not enough to attract students to India.
“Foreign delegates tour India often to talk about their universities and what it has to offer. They do so because they see India as a potential market for investment. Our delegates should do the same,” Chopra says.
Countries abroad not only assist in providing quality of education but also encourage Indian students to work on part-time basis and cover their expenses over and above their scholarship entitlement. The Indian Government has taken many steps to ensure more inflow of foreign students by engaging them in exchange programmes etc, but they should consider revising work visa rules to make it more overseas student friendly.
Primary & secondary relief
Be it the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, exemption in service tax, the Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya New Teachers Training Programme or promoting virtual learning, the main priority of this year’s Budget has been to better the foundation of education — both primary and secondary.
“Initiatives like providing proper toilets and drinking water facilities to the students in the first phase of the Union Budget will help to retain the students in schools. A lot of money goes into infrastructure but it is of no benefit if no proper maintenance is done. It is the lookout of the Government employees that this allocation is not misused by the schools and that parents don’t have to face the burden of huge infrastructure bills. This is a good step taken by the Government and I hope they will come up with more such initiatives to boost primary and secondary education,” Amol Arora, vice chairman and MD, Shemrock and Shemford Group of Schools, tells you.
One of the biggest assets of schools are teachers and their teaching method. But in reality, most of the teachers, are not qualified and have had no prior training before entering the field. As per the revised student—teacher ratio, there has to be one teacher for every 30 students in lower primary schools and for 35 students in the upper primary schools, which is not been followed by many institutions.
Also, with the changing time, the primary and secondary school’s curriculum needs to be revamped, so that students can have fun while learning and can put their learning into practice.
“Passing NET exam doesn’t mean that the teacher is well trained to teach. There are a lot of factors that needs to be looked in to before selecting proper teachers.
“The Budget has allocated Rs 30crore for various school assessment programmes and Rs 500 crore for the Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya New Teachers Training programme which will ensure quality of education to the students. Through this, Government can keep a tab on the child’s progress and the functionality of the school and teachers,” Sushma Paul Berlia, President of Apeejay Education Society, says.
In this technology driven era, it has become a must to involve technology in the education sector. “Government’s allocation of Rs 100 crore for setting up virtual classrooms as Communication linked Interface for Cultivating Knowledge (ClICK) and online courses is a worthy step to bring virtual learning and encourages MOOC studies. Though community radio service is not oriented to education but it will help in keeping children up-to-date with the recent news,” Berlia adds.
The biggest change vis-a-vis school education is the exemption on educational service tax. According to the new scheme, services like transportation, catering service including any mid-day meals sponsored by the Government; security or cleaning or house-keeping services performed and services relating to admission to, or conduct of examination by, such institutions would be free from service tax.
“This is also a commendable initiative taken up by the Government. But the only worry is that this exemption will add to the school’s expense. If the schools are not able to absorb this extra cost, there may be rise in the school fee of the students,” Berlia says.
let’s skill India
With an aim to generating skilled manpower, a national multi-skills programme called Skill India is proposed by the Budget. This programme will train youth in traditional professions like carpenters, masons, blacksmiths, cobblers, welders, weavers etc. The only emphasis of this initiative is to make the coming generation employable and develop leadership and entrepreneur skills.
“Skill India is a great initiative. If there is anything that our students lack, it is creativity. And this initiative will cover that as well. Aspirants will be encouraged to work in teams and create things while learning. They’ll get to understand the nuances of the profession and will be given freedom to innovate. Apart from learning the basic skills like communication, presentation etc, these children will self learn while working on their projects and may consider opening their own start-ups and incubators. It will also provide training and support for traditional professions,” Sushma Paul Berlia, president of Apeejay Education Society, says.
In a few public schools, students are encouraged to do internships in their choice of field so that they get a clarity on which field they would like to make a career in, instead of wasting time and figuring out at the last moment about what one wants. By making students employable in the market, they’ll contribute to the GDP of the economy. Also merging higher education with vocational training is a good step to impart practical training,” Pankaj Bansal, CEO of PeopleStrong HR Services Pvt. ltd, says.
The NSDC’s Star (Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme) programme which was launched last year, will continue this year as well and will be more demand driven. This programme help skill development of the youth and provide monetary rewards for successful completion of the programme.
Hiring repercussions
More than 50 lakh students graduate per year but very few are fit to be employed. 50 per cent of Indian graduates lack basic employability skills.
Around 10 lakh Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) for higher education people will join the labour force every month for the next 20 years without adequate training.
80 per cent of the India’s higher education system of the year 2030 is yet to be built, says a report conducted by www.inspiria.net.in, a non-profit organisation.
The biggest issue that has taken over the education sector is the unemployability of educated people more than unemployment. Pankaj Bansal, CEO of PeopleStrong HR Services Pvt. ltd opines: “Skilling has no meaning if it doesn’t prepare an employer to be industry ready. By 2021, around 64 per cent of working population will age between 20 to 35 years. With less number of jobs in the market, it’s important to encourage self-employment through start-ups and entrepreneurs. Budget 2014-2015 allocated Rs 10,000 crore for new businesses, national accelerators and incubators for startups will encourage self-employment and support start-ups,” Bansal tells you.
The Government’s initiatives to launch new agricultural universities, rural Internet connectivity, agro-technology institute in Assam and Jharkhand and to promote agriculture and horticulture universities in Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, will help to recognise the unorganised job sectors and work towards generating jobs.
“Around 60 per cent of India’s GDP comes from the services sector which employs 26 per cent of the workforce. There are around 10 per cent of organised jobs in India whereas 90 percent of the jobs are unorganised, mostly catering to the agriculture sector. Agriculture that employees more than half of India’s total workforce, contributes merely 30 per cent to the GDP. Thus there is a huge gap in fulfilling the requirement. Also, 13 per cent of this sector goes to disguised unemployment. All this will see a change with this year’s Budget and may provide better job opportunities with satisfactory returns, encouraging people to opt for this field,” Bansal explains, adding that apart from the service sector, there is a lot of job prospects in healthcare, IT, manufacturing, infrastructure and insurance sector.
As per the World Health Organisation, there is only one doctor per 1,700 citizens in India. While the Union Health Ministry figures claim that there are about 6 to 6.5 lakh doctors available, India would need about four lakh more by 2020—50,000 for Primary Health Centres, 0.8 lakh for community health centres, 1.1 lakh for 5,642 sub-centres and 0.5 lakh for medical college hospitals.
“Setting up more AIIMS centres will not only provide quality healthcare to the people but will also help in imparting health education and produce more qualified doctors.
“Moreover, due to rise in manufacturing, fiscal deficit will come down. If the expectations of GDP growth of 7 to 8 per cent are met, we might look at creating about 10 million jobs in the next three to four years.
“Moreover, rise in FDI would encourage investment in capital especially by foreign companies, leading to rise in hiring and more job openings.
One area which has not been directly addressed is archaic Apprenticeship Act 1961 which needs to be amended and new reforms for internships can be created to provide better work experience to the freshers,” Bansal says.
Points
A sports university to be set up in Manipur and the Govt has allocated Rs 100 crore towards this facility. Government will set up national sports academy for different sports in various places
The Government has alloted Rs 100 crore for Beti Padhao, Beti Badhao yojana, proposes to allocate Rs 100 crore for upgradation of Madrasas and has taken steps to ease and simplify norms to facilitate education loans for higher studies
Up gradation of Traditional Skills in Arts programme would be launched for the upgradation of skills in ancestral arts for development of the minorities
Two new biotechnology clusters to be established at Bangalore and Faridabad
The Government proposes Rs 100 crore for Young leader Programme. Also, to establish National level institutes for Universal Inclusive Design and Mental Health Rehabilitation. It also proposes a seperate Centre for Disability Sports
Apprenticeship Act will be amended to make it more responsive. MSMEs will be encouraged
Proposal to set up a Hastkala Academy for the preservation, revival & documentation of the handloom sector in PPP mode in Delhi. Five technical research centres to be strengthened National Academy for Customs and Excise to be established at Hindupur, Andhra Pradesh
