The union budget for the fiscal year 2019-2020 was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday with some very interesting revelations such as the lowered fiscal deficit (from 3.4% to 3.3%) and the projection of a whopping $3 trillion by 2020.
The union budget did have its high and low points, however, according to me, the best and much-needed aspect was an improvement in the education system. The Finance Minister proposed a grant of ₹400 crore to establish world-class higher education institutions by the fiscal year 2020.
Sitharaman showed great enthusiasm for innovation and research and even announced the establishment of NRF (National Research Foundation) for the same. She further mentioned that all the ministers will take part in the funding of the NRF. She also said that the government will be focusing on improving new skills such as AI (Artificial Intelligence), Robotics, Big Data, etc. among the youth of the country. She stated, “These are highly valued within and outside India, and can ensure that our youth can secure high paying jobs across the globe.”
The Finance Minister stated an interesting fact, “From no single Indian institute in top 200 universities ranking until five years ago, we now have three institutions in the top 200 global institutions bracket – two IITs and IISc Bangalore.”
She also announced that another aim of the government is to make our country a hub for higher education by proposing ‘Study in India’ in order to bring students from other countries so that they can experience the improved higher education system of India.
According to me, this is one of the best initiatives taken by our government in recent years as education in fields such as AI and Robotics can prove to be very beneficial for the youth and the economy of the country. Also, the proposed grant of ₹400 crore is sufficient enough to bring these ideas to life.
AI, Big Data, and Robotics along with many other new skills are the hot things to work with nowadays and India will reap great benefits from the same. I think education is one of the most important things in a person’s life and it is high time we saw improvement in the education system of the country.
This initiative will benefit us a lot by giving much-needed attention and emphasis on the practical knowledge of the youth. In my opinion, till now, many higher education institutions focused on theoretical knowledge and marks of the students. This trend was erroneous as anyone can earn good marks in examinations by cramming the subjects, however, practical knowledge holds the importance in the real world.
With companies becoming more and more concerned about the practical knowledge of the employees, it’s time for an upgrade. I must say that this initiative is very promising and holds potential to be very beneficial for the youth of our country.