The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced by the next year 10,000 seats additional will be added in medical colleges and hospitals while 75,000 seats to be added in the next 5 years. While presenting the Budget 2025-26, she announced that the Centre will create additional infrastructure in five IITs started after 2024. Ahead of the Bihar elections, the Finance Minister also announced that IIT Patna’s hostel and other infrastructure capacities will be given a boost.

“The total number of students in 23 IITs has increased by 100 per cent from 65,000 to 1.35 lakh in the past 10 years,” the Finance Minister added.

In the next 5 years, 10,000 fellowships for technology research in IIT and IISc to be provided.

Moreover, 50,000 Atal Tinkering Labs will be set up in next five years to cultivate scientific temper in young minds. Further, broadband connectivity will be provided to all government secondary schools and primary healthcare centres.

The minister last year allocated Rs 1.48 lakh crore for education and employment and skill.

Moreover, the government will launch Bharatiya Bhasha Pushtak scheme to provide a digital form of Indian language books for schools and higher education. The government will set-up Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence for education with an outlay of Rs 500 crore.

She said Viksit Bharat will have zero poverty, quality education, high-quality, affordable and comprehensive healthcare.

The Ministry of Education has been allocated more than Rs 1.28 lakh crore in the Union Budget 2025-26, higher than the revised estimate of Rs 1.14 lakh crore in 2024-25. While the Higher Education department has been allocated an amount of Rs 50,067 crore, the school education department has received Rs 78,572 crore.

From University Grants Commission (UGC) to National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT), most bodies under the Ministry of Education have received an increased allocation. Top business schools — Indian Institutes of Managements (IIMs), which witnessed consistent cut in their allocated budget in a push to make them self-reliant, have also received an increased allocation of Rs 251 crore as against a revised estimate of Rs 227 crore last year.

However, the budget granted to the Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISERs) has seen a drop of Rs 137 crore. Similarly, the allocated amount for world class institutions, has been reduced by more than 50 per cent. Last year, the amount allocated was Rs 1000 crore which has now been reduced to Rs 475 crore.

On January 31, the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also tabled the Economic Survey 2024-25 in the Parliament.

The Economic Survey 2024-25 stated that India’s school education system serves 24.8 crore students across 14.72 lakh schools with 98 lakh teachers (UDISE+ 2023-24). 

Government schools which make up 69 per cent of the total, enrolled 50 per cent of students and employed 51 per cent of teachers, while private schools account for 22.5 per cent, enrolling 32.6 per cent of students and employing 38 per cent of teachers. 

The NEP 2020 aims for a 100 per cent Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) by 2030. The GER is near-universal at the primary (93 per cent) and the efforts are underway to bridge the gaps at the secondary (77.4 per cent) and higher secondary level (56.2 per cent), driving the nation closer to its vision of inclusive and equitable education for all.

According to the Economic Survey 2024-25, school dropout rates have steadily declined in recent years, standing at 1.9 per cent for primary, 5.2 per cent for upper primary, and 14.1 per cent for secondary levels. However, challenges persist, with retention rates at 85.4 per cent for primary (class 1 to 5), 78 per cent for elementary (classes 1 to 8), 63.8 per cent for secondary (classes 1 to 10), and 45.6 per cent for higher secondary (classes 1 to 12). 

Improvements in basic facilities and infrastructure, including medical check-ups, sanitation, and information and communication technologies (ICT) availability, have been notable, reflecting a positive trend in school infrastructure development, the Economic Survey 2025-26 added.

The government has been striving to achieve the objectives of NEP 2020 through a range of programmes and schemes, including the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (along with its sub-schemes such as NISHTHA, Vidya Pravesh, District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs), Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV), etc.), DIKSHA17, STARS18, PARAKH19, PM SHRI20, ULLAS21, and PM POSHAN22, among others.

— with inputs from PTI