Kerala Budget Highlights: State announces new pre-matric scholarship after Centre pulls out

NEW DELHI: The Government of Kerala has allocated Rs 20 crore for a new pre-matric scholarship, named Maargadeepam, for students of Classes 1 to 8, following the union government’s decision to limit the pre-matric scholarship to Classes 9 and 10.

The central government, through a notification in November 2022, limited the pre-matric scholarship scheme meant for backward and minority communities to students of Classes 9 and 10. It did so by citing the Right to Education Act 2009 which guarantees free and quality education to all children till Class 8.

Earlier, the pre-matric scholarship used to also cover students of Classes 1 to 8 belonging to historically-marginalised SC, ST, OBC and minority communities. The new scheme aims to continue the scholarship for students in Classes 1 to 8.

The Kerala State Budget 2024 has earmarked Rs 1,032 crore for the general education sector and Rs 456.71 crore for the higher education sector.

Kerala budget 2024

Kerala finance minister KN Balagopal also announced that the state is planning to upgrade one school in every district as a model school. He also announced that a new grading system will be introduced to assess the quality of schools.

Rs 50 crore has been set aside for a new scheme for giving financial assistance to institutions providing care for the intellectually-challenged children. Rs 52 crore has been set up for infrastructure development in government higher secondary schools.

The state has also set up a separate fund to teach students about the pitfalls about AI-generated fake news.

“Artificial Intelligence and deep-fake technology has further complicated our information landscape. We will set aside Rs 1 crore for the Department of Education to continue the training and prepare the next generation of Keralites to meet the challenges that AI and its allied technologies pose to our polity and society,” the finance minister said in his speech.

The minister said that new interdisciplinary research centres will be established in government engineering colleges. Also, Rs 1.5 crore has been earmarked for a pilot project to launch stem cell therapy in Government Medical College, Kottayam.