The Financial Minister, Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman, presented the Union Budget for FY 2022-2023 on 1st February 2022. This was her fourth budget and the tenth one by the Narendra Modi Government.
Digital education and digital learning is all set to get a significant boost with the Union Budget 2022. Let’s take a look at key highlights considering the impact of the budget on education sector.
Digital Universities for EdTech
- Establishment of digital universities to provide universal access to the best quality education and personalized learning to the students at their doorstep.
- The digital universities would be made available in different local languages and ICT formats to ensure that no one is left out.
Top-notch e-content
- Digital teachers will deliver exceptional e-content through different modes like radio, television, mobile phones, internet.
- Use of the latest digital tools and technologies for better results in digital education.
Expansion of the One Class-One TV Channel Programme
- The COVD-19 pandemic has resulted in the loss of quality education for children, especially those from rural areas, scheduled tribes, scheduled castes, and other economically weaker sections.
- Expansion of the ‘One Class-One TV Channel’ programme from 12 to 200 TV channels.
- This initiative will help the states to provide education in regional languages for students of Class 1-12.
Setting up of virtual labs and skilling e-labs
- 750 virtual labs for Science and Mathematics, along with 75 skilling e-labs for stimulated learning environment will be set up in 2022-23.
- The virtual labs will provide students with the required training, promote creativity, and make them industry-ready.
Launch of DESH-Stack E-Portal
- The DESH-Stack E-Portal, a digital ecosystem for Skilling and Livelihood will be launched.
- The purpose of launching this portal would be to help the citizens acquire new and relevant skills through upskilling, reskilling, and online training.
Alignment of the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF)
The finance minister also announced the alignment of the NSQF in the ever-changing industry requirements.
Establishment of world-class foreign universities in the GIFT city
- The establishment of world-class foreign universities and institutions will be allowed in the GIFT city in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
- These foreign universities will be free from domestic regulation to offer courses in various disciplines such as Engineering, FinTech, Mathematics, Science and Technologies for skilled employees in the financial services sector.
Revision of syllabus of agricultural universities
To meet the needs of natural, zero-budget, and organic farming, and the modern-day agricultural techniques, states would be encouraged to revise the syllabus of agrarian universities.
Latest technologies for more employment opportunities
- Artificial Intelligence, coding, genomics and pharmaceuticals, green energy and clean mobility systems, geospatial systems, and drones have great potential to bring about a revolution in the country in various industry verticals.
- These technologies have also got the power to generate substantial employment opportunities for the country’s youth.
The EdTech companies will benefit immensely from the Union Budget 2022 since a lot of focus has been made to promote digital education and digital learning in the country for the learners.
The word ‘digital’ was mentioned 35 times, ‘tech’ 26 times, by Finance minister, in her budget speech, “Promoting digital economy & fintech, technology-enabled development” was mentioned early on the speech among her three major goals. For India’s IT & Technology industry, this could be a big opportunity.
AI-led innovation is going to pick up in a big way especially in the Drone segment as Budget 2022 has focused on Drone Shakti and its benefits across all sectors like Agriculture, Healthcare, etc. Our school education must now ensure the students are taught Artificial Intelligence from primary grades so that the students develop interest and be prepared for the AI-driven world.
About Mr. Ramana Prasad:
Ramana Prasad an alumni of IIT Madras 1977 batch also holds two MS degrees in Engineering from the University of Cincinnati, USA. With this recognition, he achieved new heights in the field of STEM and Robotics as the Chairman of Robotix USA and India.
The award received by him reflects on the nature and quality of his work in training young minds to use AI and other latest technology to solve real-world problems. As a Member of the Advisory Board for the Department of Engineering Design and Centre of Innovation at IIT Madras, he aims to make the new generation industry-ready to come up with innovative solutions to transform the world into a better place to live in.
Robotix Learning Solutions Private Limited, a Meritus AI company are the makers of Phiro, Robobricks, Playbits, CSTEM Math kit, and STEM Maker kit which are products used in classrooms around the world.
Besides Meritus AI operates 2 online portals to teach Artificial intelligence and Coding viz.
AI World School (AIWS) – an online remote learning platform providing transformational AI & coding technology education to school students, teachers, and in K12 schools globally.
AI School of India (AISI) which is an online self-directed and tutor-led platform providing AI & coding to Indian students, teachers, and in K12 schools.
AI LAB with a global curriculum offered by AISI is the brainchild of Mr. Ramana Prasad and is aimed at providing students transformational Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Coding learning experiences to students in schools.
Mr. Ramana Prasad has recently co-authored of a research paper on “ AI Snap! blocks for speech input & output, computer vision, word embeddings, neural net creation, training, and use “ which has been accepted for presentation at the prestigious 12th Symposium on Educational Advances in Artificial Intelligence (EAAI-22) to be held at Vancouver Canada, between February 26-27, 2022.
Ramana Prasad was recently honoured at The 22nd World Education Summit held at the Leela Ambience Convention Center, in New Delhi. India, for his outstanding work in the field of Education. The World Education Summit 2021 is a Global Initiative to recognize and promote innovation in the field of Education.
