Union Budget Neglects General Education, Says Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty

Thiruvananthapuram: Education Minister V Sivankutty said it is extremely unfortunate that the Union Budget has completely neglected the public education sector, which plays a decisive role in shaping the future of the country. Addressing a press conference, he said the budget presented by the Union Finance Minister fails to give any emphasis to infrastructure development or quality enhancement in Classes 1 to 12.

He pointed out that most of the education-related proposals in the budget are focused on higher education and skill development. The Centre, he said, has forgotten the general education sector, which forms the foundation for higher education. There are no clear plans to improve the physical infrastructure of the lakhs of government schools across the country or to bridge the digital divide. Existing schemes such as Samagra Shiksha have received only a nominal increase in allocation, and even that is not being provided to Kerala, he added.

The minister said the Centre should learn from Kerala’s budget, which envisages initiatives such as an insurance scheme for schoolchildren and universal education up to the degree level. While Kerala places great importance on public education, the Centre is pushing this sector backward, he alleged.

He further said that the failure to significantly increase the allocation for the school mid-day meal scheme amounts to a challenge to students from ordinary backgrounds. The Centre’s approach of ignoring the rights of common students must be corrected, and special packages should be sanctioned to protect and strengthen public education, the minister demanded.