The current budget goes down to a 10 – year low in allocation for Education

According to the hard-hitting piece in the Financial Express, which maps the dismal track-record of all our government budgets when it comes to allocation for education.

The Budget fails to meet the conservative suggestions of the recent National Plan of Action for Children (NPAC), which chalked out the target for children over five years—2017-21. The plan document recommended that at least 5% of the Budget must be spent on schemes and programmes directly related to children. One of the guiding principles of the National Policy for Children clearly states “Every child has the right to life, survival, development, education, protection and participation “, and yet, here we are, in 2017, struggling with 17% drop-out rate in secondary education alone – according to the DISE.

The current budget increase of Rs 1,305 crores for the National Education Mission, interestingly, is a combined amount which includes even teacher training and adult education. With in the budgetary allocation context, priority for children and their education sadly seem to have been relegated to the background.

Union Budget 2017-18 | Education and Skill Development for ‘Youth’