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Context:
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled today a spate of big initiatives in education, skilling and research, the overarching theme for which is innovation, digital learning, and infrastructure development.
Major Announcements
Increase Atal Tinkering Labs in Schools
- 50,000 new Atal Tinkering Labs to be added over the next five years in Government schools.
- Develops scientific temperament and curiosity with innovative ideas among students.
Broadband Connectivity for Schools & Health Centres
- To connect all secondary government schools and primary health centers across the country under the BharatNet initiative.
Higher Education & IIT Expansion
- For the past decade, the count of enrollment in 23 IITs has nearly doubled to 1.35 lakh from 65,000.
- Five new IITs set up after 2014 with additional infrastructure to accommodate 6,500 more students.
- Hostel and other facilities at IIT Patna are being expanded.
Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme
- Digital Indian-language books for school and higher education to improve subject understanding.
National Centres of Excellence for Skilling
- Five Centres of Excellence for Skilling to be set up with global expertise and industry partnerships.
- Focus areas include curriculum design, trainer training, certification framework, and periodic reviews.
Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Education
- ₹500 crore allocated for a dedicated AI Centre of Excellence in education.
₹20,000 Crore for Private Sector-Led R&D & Innovation
- Investment in private sector-driven research, development, and innovation.
- 10,000 fellowships under PM Research Fellowship Scheme to IIT and IISc students will have increased financial support.
Conclusion
The budget aims to encourage innovation and education through:
- Backing STEM education with new labs and digital resources.
- Improved rural broadband to cover schools, sub-health facilities and other vital buildings.
- Scalable infra at IIT for more enrollment of students. This will drive investments in strategically pushing research in AI and upscaling skill developments.
- These reforms shall prepare future ready skills across Indian youth besides developing global superiority of education and technological competencies.
