This story is from February 29, 2016

Look at allocation in edu sector as an investment

Look at allocation in edu sector as an investment
Nagpur: Education is one of the key areas for government spending and considering the 1 billion plus population, preparing human resources for a tough competitive market is always a challenge. Academicians feel that increasing the budget allocation by at least 100% should be the first task of the finance ministry. Baban Taywade, a senior academician and senate member at Nagpur University, said, “Treat higher education as a capital investment and not as an expenditure.
This one sentence sums up everything I want to say because otherwise there’s too much to talk about. Invest in higher education in a big way, encourage research and build a conducive learning atmosphere. When you invest in education and students, the returns will come after a decade.”
Ashok Gavhankar, general secretary of Vidarbha Junior College Teachers Association, said, “The basic problem lies in the allocation for education. No government has ever gone over 2.5% allocation for budget whereas it needs to be around 6% so that we can provide quality education. Since a majority of our children attend government and government-aided schools, the infrastructure needs to be at par.”
Anees Ahmed, a Congress leader and former state education minister, said, “Skill based development and professional courses should be given proper due in the budget. We should take a leaf out of German education system where students are taught skills which will help them in the job market.China is our biggest competitor and we must prepare our human resources to counter that threat. The government has to invest here and ensure that our students are prepared to take on the competition later on.”
Deaven Dasture, who owns both a CBSE and state board school, said, “I hope the government also allocates funds for career guidance and counselling so that mental health of students is taken care of. For at least two years, every student must get professional guidance to help them cope with exam and other stress.” Ujjwala Patil, former state board chairperson, believes that budget allocation has to be doubled. “We need a lot funding to ensure proper development of administration infrastructure, something which we have to start right from the ground level. There has to be a special provision for laboratories in schools to encourage students to learn. Also teacher approvals have been put on hold and many have not received proper salaries, which is not a conducive atmosphere for teaching,” said Patil.
EDU EXPECTATIONS
* Increase education’s budget to 6% from current 2.5-3%
* Focus on skill development
* Invest in laboratories to foster research
* Spend on providing career guidance and counselling to students
* Focus on vocational courses to make students ‘job-ready’
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