The Budget-2009 has allocated Rs.15, 429 crore (Rs.154.29 billion), including a planned allocation of Rs.9,600 crore. The break up is as follows:
1) UGC has been provided Rs 4,374.95 crore, which includes expenditure for both Central and Deemed Universities.
2) The allocation for Central Universities includes allocation of Rs 1,033 crore for implementation of OBC reservation in terms with Oversight Committee recommendations.
3) Rs 900 crore for National Mission for Education through ICT.
4) Rs 827 crore allotted for one Central University in each uncovered state.
Rs 215 crore for Indian Institutes of Science for Education and Research (IISERs).
5) Rs.3,902 crore for Technical Education that includes assistance to IITs, IIMs and NITs.
6) Rs. 494.5 crore for setting up and up-gradation of Polytechnics under the Skill Development Mission.
As I see it, again there will be large amounts of money doled out to the education sector and most of it will enter the pockets of various middlemen/babus or whatever you might want to call them. The effective money will be too less to do anything substantial and that will be the end of story for Indian education reforms. On the contrary, things might not be as bad as I picture them out to be and something might come out of the education budget after all. However, when I see no change in governments thinking and planning for the cause of higher education, I strut back to my pessimism.
We do need more funds on education; no denying that, but with that we also need a new direction in which these funds would be utilized. Apart from the incessant focus on students, shouldnt we focus on teachers? Much has been talked about the importance of teachers education and development to uplift the education sector in India. Is it not peculiar then that there is no allocation of budget exclusively for teachers education and training in the present Budget-2009?
Over the years, teachers have received substandard training in India which shows that it is not a section recognized by the government as worthy of paying attention to. The attention is always paid to the end product; i.e. the quality of the students coming out of the institutes. Tough entrance exams ensure that the students who enter sail through on their own (without much input from the teachers) which in turn ensures that the incompetence of teachers does not become a matter of much concern.
Education for teachers should follow a periodic certification system as followed by many corporate organizations around the world. This means that the teachers should revise their knowledge by a periodic certification examination system in which they are able to upgrade their knowledge as per industry requirements. Of course it should be additional to high quality research which should be compulsorily undertaken by all teachers especially in the higher education sector. Teachers should also be encouraged to take workshops with people from the industry to impart the latest information to their students. And all of that will only be possible if the teachers have their own budget to start with.
Unless focus shifts to the input in education, little change can be expected in the output. The government should realize that a good teacher is rarely born, but can always be trained.