National Education Bank, GST Relief: Here Is What Education Sector Expects From Budget 2022

Budget 2022 News: Experts want the government to consider establishing a 'National Education Bank,' like the 'National Housing Bank,' to give education loans at the lowest possible interest rate. This would help In expanding the reach of education in India.

New Delhi: Budget 2022 comes at a time when people across the sectors are looking towards the government for support. No sector has remained untouched from the economic harm caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The schools and colleges across the country have, largely, remained shut to prevent the spread of the virus. Virtual classrooms have replaced physical ones. Amidst all this, the education sector expects the government to provide financial assistance to the private educational institutes so that they can adopt new teaching methods.

The government of India introduced the New Education Policy (NEP) in 2020. This policy aimed to make several significant changes in the way education is imparted in the country. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the policy has not been tested enough to know the results on the ground. According to Manoj Singh, CEO, RUBIKA India, the budgetary allocation towards education needs attention.

“National Education Policy, 2020 (NEP) demonstrated commitment to the educational reforms and reaffirmed the recommendation of increasing public investment on education to 6% of GDP as recommended earlier in NEP in 1968. This will be a welcomed move but budgetary allocation merits detailing and attention”, he said. He further said that the allocation towards funding research and development in India needs to go up.

National Education Bank On The Lines Of National Housing Bank

Singh further suggested that the government should think about setting up a National Education Bank just like a National Housing Bank. “The budget should also consider establishing a ‘National Education Bank,’ like the ‘National Housing Bank,’ to give education loans at the lowest possible interest rate”, he said.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the parent body of the National Housing Bank. It regulates the housing finance companies in the country. It was set up in 1988 under the National Housing Bank Act, 1987. The bank comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance.

Singh also suggested that the government should think about providing financial assistance to private education institutes. According to him, it will help these institutes in adopting the new methods of teaching and encourage them to provide more courses to the students.

More Budgetary Allocation, Academia-Industry Collaboration

Singh added that the government should increase budgetary allocation to the private and public institutes and encourage them to offer creative courses to the students. This includes the courses like animation, design, advertising and media. He also suggests a cut in the GST slab for investment in the education sector from the current 18 per cent to 5 per cent.

“Another expectation from the budget is reduction in the GST slab for education from 18% to 5% so that more people can invest in education and help shape a brighter future”, he said. Apart from this, he added that the interaction between academia and industry needs to go up.

“The government should also look at providing research incentives to encourage academia-industry collaboration, as well as research credits for multidisciplinary research and pedagogical implementation. This will assist the country in capitalizing on global prospects due to the demographic dividends”, Singh said.