The education sector in Kerala received a significant allocation in the state budget, with a total outlay of Rs 2,391.13 crore. This represents an uptick of Rs 111.84 crore over the previous budget.
A significant amount of the money for school education has been set aside for continuing key initiatives such as midday meals and free uniforms, The New Indian Express reports.
While Rs 84.28 crore has been set aside for the development of basic infrastructure in government schools, an additional Rs 60 crore has been set aside for the construction of new blocks and rooms with modern facilities, such as smart classrooms, educational office infrastructure development, and woman-friendly washrooms and toilets.
The budget has allocated Rs 10 crore to create a barrier-free environment for students with disabilities in schools by providing specific learning aids/equipment.
Institutions that care for intellectually impaired children will receive Rs 62 crore, and the budget includes Rs 5 crore for a new plan implemented by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) to improve the 'efficiency' of school teachers.
In the higher education sector, the budget introduced a new plan called the CM Researchers Scholarship with a provision of Rs 20 crore to provide a monthly fellowship of Rs 10,000 to regular PhD students who do not receive any other fellowships.
The budget has allocated Rs 25 crore for the first phase of building seven centres of excellence in universities, engineering institutes, and the Higher Education Council.
Funds have been granted for various activities at the University of Kerala, University of Calicut, Sree Sankaracharya University Of Sanskrit, Mahatma Gandhi University Kottayam, and National University of Advanced Legal Studies Kochi.
In addition, Malayalam University and Sree Narayana Guru Open University have received financial assistance for infrastructure development.
