While education and skill development remain focus areas in every budget, this year the focus is on improving the quality of education. Various measures announced include training programmes for in-service teachers on modern teaching concepts and increasing use of digital technologies for improving learning outcomes through a ‘blackboard to digital board’ initiative — Anindya Mallik, partner, Deloitte India, Delhi
The biggest good news from the Union budget is for the education sector. Specifically, the announcement that 1,000 of the country’s top engineering (BE/B.Tech) students will be chosen to become PM Research Fellows — and thus become eligible to pursue doctorate programmes at IITs or IISc. Besides, the launch of RISE (Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education) will also give much needed impetus to the quality of education infrastructure in the country — D. Venkat, CEO, Strides India Consulting, Chennai
The finance minister’s focus on teacher training and digital education is welcome and much needed! While the emphasis is on increasing digital intensity in education, appropriate allocation of funds for technology upgradation will be critical. So far, the budget is silent on this while allocating over Rs.1 lakh crore to education research. Also while untrained teachers are explicitly mentioned in the FM’s speech, training for leveraging technology in education across the board will be critical to see the impact of digitisation on education — Prateek Bhargava, CEO, Mindler Education Pvt. Ltd, Delhi
The announcement by the finance minister to increase digital intensity in education, is indeed very welcome. Today’s global economy and high-speed broadband infrastructure demand a workforce that can keep pace with unprecedented technological advances. But we must have a blueprint to guide schools in the adoption of technology — Ambarish Datta, MD & CEO, BSE Institute, Mumbai
To rejuvenate the infrastructure of educational institutions, the FM has announced several initiatives. The Revitalising of Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) by 2022 with a total investment of Rs.1 lakh crore in the next four years is to be particularly lauded — Prof. C. Raj Kumar, founder-vice chancellor, O.P. Jindal University, Gurgaon
This is a balanced budget as far as education is concerned. The government has rightly focused on improving educational infrastructure in the country, and expressed clear intent to strengthen capacity building through improvement in teacher training. The decision to treat education holistically without any segmentation is also a welcome move and will lend greater synergy in planning and execution of important schemes and programmes — Ratnesh Jha, managing director, Cambridge University Press, South Asia
Education for once got due attention from the finance minister in the budget speech. Mr. Jaitley acknowledged that technology will be the biggest driver in improving the quality of education. Among other major announcements are Eklavya schools in tribal districts on the lines of Navodaya schools, integrated B.Ed and initiatives for teachers training — Col. Rajendra Prasad Nadella, co-founder, managing director, iScholar, Bangalore
Budget 2018-19 has highlighted technology as a key driver in the education sector. The efforts of the government will give impetus to tech-based educational reforms and further boost digital learning and Moocs to reach out to more students and thereby provide access to quality education — Dr. Uday Salunkhe, group director, L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management, Mumbai
The measures announced by the FM for the education sector will go a long way in helping scholars from IITs and IISc to publish their work in top-ranked journals. Currently, the quality of academic output is quite bad and the slew of measures announced by the FM — in particular, investment in research and the PM’s fellowships initiative — will certainly encourage scholars to publish their research in world class journals — Prof. Madhu Veeraraghavan, director and T.A. Pai chair professor of finance, T.A. Pai Management Institute, Manipal
Mr. Jaitley’s proposal to integrate the current B.Ed programme with technology is a welcome initiative. Today’s teachers are expected to use technology to help students learn more effectively but teachers themselves receive little instruction on how to do it. Jaitley’s budget speech highlights a solution to this problem: the HRD ministry’s digital portal, DIKSHA which keeps quality instructional practices at the heart of its mission — Kiran Pai, director, Vidyashilp Academy, Bangalore
I welcome the government’s focus to move from blackboards towards digital boards. I also welcome the emphasis to be given to training of untrained teachers and allocation of Rs.1 lakh crore for education research — Pradeep Jolly, founder, Early Learning Village School, Gurgaon and Wonderland School, Delhi
I congratulate the government on the Union budget. Especially its focus on improving the quality of education and intensifying the Digital India programme. Aiming for a switch from blackboard to digital boards for all by 2022, will advance teaching and learning for both teachers and students — Dr. Prashant Bhalla, president, Manav Rachna Educational Institutions, Delhi
The government in the budget has clearly acknowledged the need to improve the quality and scale of education across the country through a continued digital push. A significant population within India has been deprived of access to quality education and infrastructure in the past and the introduction of Eklavya schools for tribal children will help bring them into the ambit of the formal education model and empower them to explore a bright future. The ministry’s announcement on giving formal training to teachers through the recently launched DIKSHA programme will boost the quality of teachers, a key pivot to improve the quality of education — Venguswamy Ramaswamy, global head, TCS iON
The allocation of Rs.1 lakh crore for the development of education infrastructure responds well to the needs of India’s schools and colleges that need upgradation in facilities. This allocation ties in well with the intent to augment digitisation and the ‘shift from blackboard to digital board’, which is consistent with the Digital India mission, and will resonate with India’s young demographic — Sivaramakrishnan V, managing director, Oxford University Press India
The proportion of GDP spent on education has been declining for the past three years, and is way below the global average. It is heartening to see that the government is recognising the need to grow this sector and converting that recognition into action. Instead of — or in addition to — increasing the cess on education, government should open up and encourage more tie-ups with private organisations, with schools run under PPP mode, with infrastructure of government and teacher training, skills, and other investment provided by private edupreneurs — Nirvaan Birla, head-business development, Birla Edutech Ltd, Mumbai
Despite all the benefits provided in last fiscal to promoting women’s inclusiveness at the workplace, the lack of any mention of support in Budget 2018 to corporates that provide these benefits to women, is disheartening. This will further increase the discrimination against women’s employability and make it difficult for companies that are striving for gender equality — Priya Krishnan, founder & CEO, KLAY Schools
Budget 2018-19 has efficiently fulfilled the need to provide quality education through various schemes and reforms to boost the sector in the country. The move to increase digital density and the mission to upgrade blackboards to digital boards is a step forward to improve quality education for students in the digital era — Aakash Chaudhary, director Aakash Institute, Delhi
Capitalising on digital influence for quality education is a welcome move. We sincerely believe technology has a very important role in education and we are glad the government aligns with it — Zishaan Hayath, CEO & co-founder, Toppr.com
The 2018 budget will provide an important thrust for established firms as well as start-ups in the edu-tech sector. Mr. Jaitley’s increased emphasis on digital forms over traditional forms of learning is a major boon for the industry. This paradigm shift will increase literacy rates across the country, ensuring that quality education is available for all — Minal Anand, founder & CEO, GuruQ
It is commendable that the Central government has given a significant push to education and digitalization. We whole-heartedly welcome the government’s plan and focus to move classrooms from blackboards to digital boards — Association of Publishers of India
It is very encouraging to see the sharp focus to further digitize education in India. Technology has just about started making an impact on education. Full-fledged intervention of technology in education will create a level playing field for students across geographies solving core issues like access to good quality content and teachers — Byju Raveendran, founder-CEO, Byju’s — The Learning App
The reskilling of teachers through the portal DIKSHA will not only improve the quality of education but could well become a gamechanger for the entire education ecosystem — Rohit Manglik, founder, EduGorilla
The staggering outlay of Rs.100,000 crore to give a fillip to research excellence in premier educational institutes through the new RISE initiative is very welcome. - Dr. P. Venkat Rangan, vice chancellor, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore