Budget 2023: Increase Allocation, Funding In Research To Boost Higher Education

In order to reach the twin goal of establishing ourselves as an education powerhouse and GER of 50 per cent, investments need to be channelled in two key areas, including research and skilling

The higher education sector in India is at a crossroads. Notably, the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP), consolidation of different higher education regulators to a single ‘Higher Education Commission’, ‘Common University Entrance Test’, and entry of foreign universities are expected to transform higher education and catapult India to the top of the league.  

The Budget allocation for 2022-23 for education was Rs 1,04,278 crore. Though this was an increase of 11.8 per cent over that of 2021-22, the share of education in the total social sector allocation had actually come down from 50.79 per cent in 2021-22 to 47.22 per cent in 2022-23.

The government spending on education in most of the developed countries such as the US, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark etc is upwards of 6 per cent of their GDP. Given India’s size and population, even 6 per cent spend will be inadequate. In fact, way back in 1968, the National Policy on Education (NPE) recommended that the government should spend 6 per cent of the GDP on education, which was reiterated by the NPEs in 1986 and 1992 and subsequently by the NEP 2020. However, over the past 50 years, the spending on education has been hovering at just around 3 per cent of the GDP, which is quite disappointing.

The allocation for higher education in the Budget is around 39 per cent of the overall allocation for education and this is just Rs 40,828 crore. One of the key objectives of NEP 2020 is to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) to 50 per cent by 2030 from the present 27.5 per cent. Considering the target of doubling of GER over the next eight years, the investment towards higher education by the government has been quite dismal. The allocation towards higher education must be at least doubled to Rs 80,000 crore.

Two key initiatives of higher education proposed by the 2022-23 Budget are Digital University and DESH stack e-portal for skilling. Both are yet to see the light of day, though an announcement about National Digital University has been made in early January.

If we need to reach the twin goal of establishing ourselves as an education powerhouse and GER of 50 per cent, investments need to be channelled in two key areas:

Higher funding for research

One, there should be a special focus and funding to create high quality research intensive universities. The investment can be channelled into strengthening the research of specific existing public universities through funding towards infrastructure and intellectual capital. These Universities can be encouraged to bring back foreign educated Indian academics working abroad. The foreign trained academics in turn will bring in their valuable collaborative academic network which in turn can enhance the quality of research. 

Also today, research grants by the government are available only to a select few elite institutions - public institutions or accredited private institutions. But the opportunity and the need for research that can alter life and livelihood is deeply felt across the country, specifically in semi-urban and rural areas. Hence, the forthcoming Union Budget can provide for research grants to all institutions that are approved by the states/ central government. This way research culture can percolate much deeper.

Focus on skilling, Incentivise institutes to run programmes

The second focus area remains ‘skilling’.  We are almost seeing the demographic dividend which India supposedly had from 2005 onwards, slipping away without any great impact on the economy. The peak opportunity of demographic dividend will be reached in 2031 and subsequently, will start declining. If we have to seize the opportunity, it is essential that the government invests in skilling. To ensure skilling happens at scale, the government can incentivise Universities and Higher Education Institutions (including private) that run vocational programmes, specifically B Voc programmes by subsidising the programmes or partially reimbursing the cost directly to the students.

The public expenditure on higher education is too low and the pace of reforms is too slow. Education and health are two areas that yield long-term benefits for the economy.

Over the past two years, it was observed that there is a clear intent of the government towards improving education. What is required now is matching action on the ground with adequate investments so that India can grow beyond IITs and IIMs and can truly arrive at the global education stage.

Dr. Sugant R is the Dean of School of Management and School of Economics & Commerce, CMR University, Bengaluru.

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