Budget Expectations: ‘More Emphasis on Education Need of the Hour’

With the Union Budget set to be presented on 1 February, many people are expecting Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to give priority to the education sector.

Incentivising education loans by means of lowering the interest rates is one of the top demands raised.

Living in Delhi-NCR, 21-year-old student Damandeep wants the government to take appropriate measures so that the poor in India have access to better education.

"The interest rates on education loans should be reduced so that the lower middle-class is able to access them and take admission in good schools and colleges," she says.

Suyash Bhatt, a teacher in Mumbai, also calls for a relaxation with regard to higher education loans.

In the Union Budget 2017-2018, no new concessions or provisions were given to those seeking education loans, as reported by Hindustan Times in February 2017. However, the report did detail the setting up of a central scheme, aimed at providing subsidies on education loan interest rates subject to certain conditions.

Apart from talking about educational loans, Bhatt also calls for a greater emphasis on education for the girl child.

Giving a subsidy or complete waiver on tuition fees for the girl child should be the focus. At the higher education level too, there should be scheme for promoting loans and freebies for the girl child.

Suyash Bhatt

Meanwhile, Bengaluru resident Isaac P Elias, who also works as a teacher, wants the government to give an account of how the education cess that is being collected is being utilised.

"I expect the finance minister to look into this aspect in a serious manner and do the needful," he says.

Now, as per the previous year's Budget, an education cess of two percent, along with a secondary and higher education cess of one percent, was levied on the income tax.

The total outlay put forward for the education sector in the Union Budget 2017-18 was Rs 79,685.95 crore, which represented an increase of 9.9 percent over the previous fiscal.