With the pandemic dragging on, there is a need to ensure that digital education penetrates even further. So it was expected that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who began her Union Budget speech by expressing empathy for all those who were affected by COVID-19, would make important and major announcements with regards to budget allocations for EdTech, technology in education and son. After all, it was just in November last year when a report by Azim Premji Foundation revealed that over 60 per cent of school children don't have access to online learning opportunities.
The highlight
So under the Digital India e-learning initiatives, particularly referring to the National Mission in Education Through ICT (Information and Communication Technology), the funds allotted in the Union Budget 2022-2023 is Rs 400 crore. This is a bump from the Rs 150 crore that it was allocated last year. The National Mission in Education Through ICT is a centrally-sponsored scheme that leverages ICT for the benefit of the teaching and learning process of learners in higher education institutions.
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The downers
But overall, the initiatives under Digital India e-learning initiatives received big cuts. The overall budget from Rs 645 crore last year has come down to Rs 421 crore this year. That's a cut of over 200 crore in an age where everything is going increasingly virtual. The major cuts are in setting up virtual classrooms and massive open online courses (MOOCs) which received Rs 200 crore last year and got nothing this year. e-ShodhSindhu, the initiative to provide access to qualitative electronic resources to academia, received no funds while last year it was allotted Rs 154 crore. From Rs 20 crore last year, the National Digital Library received no funds this year. Even Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) went from Rs 50 crore last year to Rs 10.90 crore this year.
Interesting to note is that the PMeVidya scheme received a nominal Rs 1 lakh. This is after it was announced that under its One class, one TV channel programme, from 12 TV channels, the number will be expanded to 200 to provide supplementary education in regional languages for Classes I to XII. It had received Rs 50 crore last year.
There is no substantial allocation in the space of Digital India e-learning initiatives and in this scenario, one wonders if the need-of-the-hour digital education penetration will reach those who need it the most. It also remains to be seen if these funds are being reallotted under different scheme names/departments for the same purposes.
