Union Budget 2023: Centre To Recruit 38,800 Teachers for Eklavya Schools

FM Nirmala Sitharaman said that 38,800 teachers would be recruited in 3 years to teach 3.5 lakh tribal students.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget on Wednesday, 1 February. 

(Photo: Aroop Mishra/The Quint) 

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Union Budget 2023: In the last full budget ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that 38,800 teachers will be hired for Eklavya Model Residential Schools.

Key highlights:

• The finance minister announced that the central government would recruit 38,800 teachers and support staff for 740 schools serving 3.5 lakh tribal students over the next thee years.

• She also said that a National Digital Library for children and adolescents will be set up for facilitating quality books across geographies, languages, genres, levels, and device-agnostic accessibility.

• States will be encouraged to set up physical libraries at the panchayat and ward levels and provide infrastructure for accessing the National Digital Library resources.

• Further, 157 new nursing colleges will be established in colocation with the existing 157 medical colleges that have been established since 2014.

• The finance minister said that the government would also launch an integrated online training platform to provide continuous learning opportunities for lakhs of government employees to upgrade their skills and facilitate a people-centric approach.

• 100 labs will be set up for developing applications for 5G services in engineering institutions

• The Centre will also provide an R&D grant to one of the IITs to encourage indigenous production of lab-grown diamonds in a bid to reduce imports

• Sitharaman further announced the setting up of three centres of excellence for artificial intelligence in top educational institutions.

• The Hyderabad-based Indian Institute of Millets Research will be supported as a centre of excellence for promoting best practices, research and technologies at the global level.

Comparison with Last Year's Budget

In the 2022-23 Budget, Sitharaman had announced an allocation of Rs 1,04,278 crore towards education – an increase of Rs 11,054 crore from the previous year.

The key highlights from last year's Budget for education included:

• Expansion of PM eVIDYA's 'One Class-One TV Channel' programme to 200 television channels

• Setting up of virtual labs and skill e-labs to promote critical thinking skills and a simulated learning environment

• Development of e-content for delivery through "digital teachers"

• Establishing a digital university with personalised learning experiences