Subiksha Hari Shankar, an Undergraduate student of MOP Vaishnav college pursuing BCom (Honours) completed her schooling in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) shares her views with Edexlive on the education-focused announcements in the Union Budget and their implications for girls and young learners.
Speaking on measures aimed at improving the enrolment and retention of girl students, Subiksha identified six key provisions in the Budget that she believes collectively strengthen the education ecosystem.
Foremost among them is the proposal to establish girls’ hostels in every district, a move she said would support access to education, particularly in STEM disciplines.
She noted that viability gap funding for such initiatives would boost women’s participation, align with the National Education Policy (NEP), and contribute to the broader goal of a developed India.
Pointing to the 11.28 per cent increase in budgetary allocation for the Department of Higher Education, she observed that dropout rates among women tend to be higher at advanced stages of education.
According to her, increased funding at this level could directly address this challenge. Other measures she highlighted include initiatives linking education with employment and entrepreneurship, the establishment of a National Institute of Design with a focus on animation, visual effects and gaming, provisions for the differently abled, and the development of university townships.
Together, these steps reinforce existing education policies and promote inclusive growth, she said.
Asked which initiative could have the biggest impact, Subiksha singled out the proposed National Institute of Design and its focus on visual effects and gaming industries.
She described this as a progressive shift away from traditional academic streams towards creative fields. With plans to implement such programmes in around 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges, she said the initiative could legitimise and promote career paths that are often socially discouraged.
Reflecting on India’s growing content creation economy, she observed that while sectors such as visual effects are flourishing, encouragement at the grassroots level remains limited.
Students, she said, are often guided towards conventional fields like engineering or computer science, and pursuing alternative careers requires considerable personal effort.
In that context, she viewed the Budget’s emphasis on creative industries as a timely and positive intervention.
On the role of hostel facilities in preventing dropouts among girls, Subiksha spoke from personal experience as an outstation student.
Safety, she said, was her parents’ foremost concern, followed closely by affordability. While she acknowledged her own privilege in being able to access secure accommodation, she stressed that many students are unable to afford private hostels.
Social attitudes that prioritise spending on male children or view girls’ education as secondary, she added, further compound the issue.
Safe and affordable hostels, she argued, would instil confidence among parents, ease safety-related anxieties for students, and allow them to focus on academic and career development and also emphasised the importance of hygiene facilities, particularly for women, as a critical yet often overlooked factor in educational participation.
Discussing the broader impact of education-related Budget announcements on students like herself, Subiksha added that the focus on women acted as a source of motivation and affirmation. While acknowledging that several measures had been introduced in the past, she expressed concern about gaps in implementation at the grassroots level.
Nevertheless, she said the current emphasis made students feel seen and valued, encouraging them to perform better academically. Greater inclusion of women, she added, would foster healthy competition and improve overall efficiency in the system.
Looking ahead, Subiksha suggested that future Budgets should extend support beyond science and technology to arts, commerce and culture, ensuring equal representation across disciplines.
She reiterated the need for stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure effective implementation of policies at the ground level. On reservations, she maintained that while they remain important for representation, greater emphasis should be placed on subsidies, scholarships and free education to support disadvantaged communities, rather than solely on higher cut-offs.
She also called for free provision of sanitary pads and improved washroom facilities in schools and colleges, describing them as basic necessities that directly influence attendance and concentration.
Concluding the interaction, She reflected that meaningful governance ultimately aims to create systems so effective that constant intervention becomes unnecessary, underscoring her belief in long-term, inclusive reform through education.