Education Budget 2024: Schooling sees outlay increase by 6.1%; PM SHRI gets Rs 6,000 crore

NEW DELHI: In the interim budget 2024, presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday, school education has been allocated Rs 73,008.10 crore for the next financial year 2024-25. The outlay to school education has seen a marginal increase of 6.11%. A large chunk of the Rs 4,200 crore increase has been claimed by the PM SHRI – an education ministry scheme which upgrades existing government schools into model schools.

For the current financial year, the Department of School Education and Literacy was allocated a budget of Rs 68,804.85 crore.

The outlay for all important schemes, such as the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya Vidyalayas, have seen a marginal increase in the interim budget except the The PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme.

According to the ministry, this is the highest ever budget outlay for school education. "The Budget allocation for the FY 2024-25 of Rs 73,498 crore is the highest ever for the Department of School Education & Literacy," a statement by the education ministry said.

The PM SHRI programme’s budget has risen by over Rs 2,000 crore, from Rs 4,000 crore in 2023-24 to Rs 6,050 crore in 2024-25, an increase of close to 50% and the sharpest increase in the school education budget 2024.

Budget 2024: School education outlay (2020-2024)

Education Budget 2024: SSA, Mid-day meal schemes

In the education budget 2024, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, which is the country’s biggest school education scheme, has been allocated Rs 37,500 crore for the next financial year, a very minor Rs 47 crore increase from the current one.

The PM Poshan scheme, which replaced the mid-day meal scheme, has been allocated Rs 12,467 crore for the 2024-25 financial year, up from Rs 11,600 crore this year. It is one of the largest school meal programmes in the world and was a highlight in Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget speech.

PM SHRI has been allocated Rs 6,050 crore. The scheme had received Rs 4,000 crore in its inaugural year.

In the education budget 2024, allocation for Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States (STARS), a world-bank supported project, has increased to Rs 1,250 crore, a Rs 450-crore increase from last year.

School Education Budget Highlights: Major schemes (In Rs Crore)

However, what was presented on February 1 was an interim budget as the general elections will be held this year. The full-fledged budget will be presented by the new government after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.