Union Budget 2023: School education outlay rises by Rs 5,355 cr

NEW DELHI: In the Union Budget 2023, school education has been allocated Rs 68,804.85 crores for the next financial year of 2023-24, an increase of more than Rs 5,000 crores as compared to last year, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced.

Education Budget 2023 Live Updates

This represents an 8% increase. Last year, the budget allocated to the Department of School Education and Literacy was Rs 63,449.37 crores.

The country’s biggest school education scheme, the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, has been allocated Rs 37,453.47 crore, a slight increase from last year’s Rs 37,383 crore in the education budget 2023.

The PM Poshan scheme, which replaced the Mid Day Meal scheme, has been allocated Rs 11,600 crores, a Rs 600 crore increase from 2021-22. The scheme had received reduced allocations last year with only Rs 10,233 crore being allocated to it.

The PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI), a scheme to develop and upgrade nearly 15,000 schools, has been allocated Rs 4,000 crores.

School Education Budget 2023: KV, JNV

The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan saw an increase of nearly Rs 70 crore for the financial year taking the total allocation to Rs 8,363 crores. The Navodaya Vidyala Samiti saw an increase of over Rs 1,300 crores in allocations compared to last year’s budget. The Navodaya Vidyala Samiti has been allocated Rs 5486.50 for 2023-24.

This year, no budget was allocated for teachers training, adult education, which had received Rs 127 crore in last year’s budget.

In the Education Budget 2023, allocations for Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States (STARS) project was doubled from Rs 400 crores in this financial year to Rs 800 crores for 2023-24. The project, which includes a World Bank loan, focusses "on enhancing state capability” in six states -- Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha.

The Accelerating State Education Program to Improve Results (ASPIRE) has not been allocated any funds this year, despite being allocated Rs 600 crore last year. The Asian Development Bank assisted project was supposed to help the central government in implementing Samagra Shiksha, to improve education outcomes in Assam, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, and Uttarakhand.