Education Budget 2023: Eklavya Schools to get 38,800 teachers, staff; budget rises 197%

NEW DELHI: The central scheme for setting up Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) for tribal students has been allocated Rs 5,943 crore for the next financial year in the union budget 2023-23, presented in parliament today by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. This represents a massive 197% increase in allocation from the last budget which had budgeted Rs 2,000 crore for the scheme.

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In her budget speech, FM Sitharaman announced that in the next three years, the centre will recruit 38,800 teachers and support staff for the 740 EMRS, serving 3.5 lakh tribal students. A total of 41% teaching posts in EMRS are vacant, according to a reply given to parliament by the ministry of tribal affairs (MoTA) in December 2022.

The tribal affairs ministry had spent Rs 1,057.74 crore on the EMRS scheme in the financial year 2021-22.

The EMRS scheme was introduced in 1997-98 to impart quality education to tribal students living in remote blocks. In the union budget of 2018-19, the central government announced that every block with more than 50% ST population and at least 20,000 tribal persons, will have an Eklavya School by 2022. Subsequently, the government approved the setting up of 452 but could sanction only 396 EMRS.

Education Budget 2023: Schemes for tribal students

Among the educational schemes run by MoTA, the funding of two schemes – National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education of ST Students and Scholarship to the ST Students for Studies Abroad – have been stagnant from 2022-23 to 2023-24. The Pre-Matric Scholarship for Tribal Students and Tribal Research Institutes have received a minor fund cut.

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In her budget 2023 speech, FM Sitharaman has announced that the government will launch ‘Pradhan Mantri PVTG Development Mission’ to improve socio-economic conditions of the particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs).

“This will saturate PVTG families and habitations with basic facilities such as safe housing, clean drinking water and sanitation, improved access to education, health and nutrition, road and telecom connectivity, and sustainable livelihood opportunities,” she said while earmarking Rs 15, 000 crore for the implementation of mission in the next three years.