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- According to reports, Union Budget 2018 is a huge disappointment to IITs, NITs, IIMs and RUSA scheme.
- The budget failed to consider the lack of infrastructure and teachers in higher learning institutes.
The Union Budget 2018 presented by Finance Minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley on February 01, 2018, called for replaying grants by loans and Graded Autonomy. Expressing their views on Union Budget, Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) mentioned that the government would treat education in a holistic manner from pre-nursery to Class 12. However, the current budget did not consider huge infrastructural deficit in educational institutes and lack of teachers. Instead, the budget focused on raising intake in educational institutes that is not possible without adequate infrastructure and teachers, commented DUTA.
Further, DUTA criticised the government’s idea of Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) by 2022, that will be funded through Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA).
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DUTA pointed that the government’s intention is to make higher learning institutes to rely on loans to meet the infrastructural needs. The move will commercialise the education system where institutes will take all measures to raise the revenue to repay loans. The commercialisation of education will slowly cripple the standards and quality of education, as well as the content of education, will have an aversive impact. If the market determines the content and quality of education, it will undermine the unique nature of higher education, democracy and independent thinking, explained by DUTA.
The association clarified that the introduction of HEFA and RISE would shift the burden of sustaining public funded higher education on students and parents. The move will increase the expenditure of parents towards educating their children.
Also Read: - Compare Education Budget 2018 with Education Budget 2017
While presenting the Union Budget, Mr. Arun Jaitley revealed that the government is planning to improve the digital intensity in education.
The Union Budget 2018 is a huge disappointment to UGC, premier institutes like IIMs, NITs and RUSA schemes. The budget has not laid much emphasis on the deplorable condition of many public-funded educational institutes.
