Education Sector

Introduction:
Education is fundamental for achieving full human potential, developing an
equitable and just society, and promoting national development. Providing universal
access to quality education is the key to India’s continued ascent, and leadership on
the global stage in terms of economic growth, social justice and equality, scientific
advancement, national integration, and cultural preservation. Universal high-quality
education is the best way forward for developing and maximizing our country's rich
talents and resources for the good of the individual, the society, the country, and the
world. India will have the highest population of young people in the world over the
next decade, and our ability to provide high-quality educational opportunities to
them will determine the future of our country..

The global education development agenda reflected in the Goal 4 (SDG4) of the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by India in 2015 - seeks to “ensure
inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning
opportunities for all” by 2030. Such a lofty goal will require the entire education
system to be reconfigured to support and foster learning, so that all of the critical
targets and goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development can be
achieved.

With climate change, increasing pollution, and depleting natural resources, there will
be a sizeable shift in how we meet the world’s energy, water, food, and sanitation
needs, again resulting in the need for new skilled labour, Epidemics and
pandemics will also call for collaborative research in infectious disease
management and development of vaccines and the resultant social issues heightens
the need for multidisciplinary learning. Indeed, with the quickly changing
employment landscape and global ecosystem, it is becoming increasingly critical that
children not only learn, but more importantly learn how to learn. Education thus,
must move towards less content, and more towards learning about how to think
critically and solve problems, how to be creative and multidisciplinary, and how to
innovate, adapt, and absorb new material in novel and changing fields.

According to the 2011 census, literacy rate in India was found to be 74.04 per cent.
According to All India Survey of Higher Education, 2018-19, Number of colleges and
universities in India reached 39,931 and 993, respectively, in FY19. India had 37.4
million students enrolled in higher education in FY19. Gross Enrolment Ratio in
higher education reached 26.3 per cent in FY19, gender parity index 1 and Pupil-
Teacher ratio 29.
India has the world’s largest population of about 500 million in the age bracket of 5-
24 years, which provides a great opportunity for the education sector. There are
about 1,500 management institutes, 3,500 engineering institutes, and 1,200 medical
colleges in the country. With an increase in the average income of Indian household,
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more money is being kept aside for education purposes. The Indian education
industry is poised for growth. Also, because of the initiatives of the government,
more students are enrolling themselves for higher education. This means that more
colleges are needed to cater to these students. Also, the demand for education is
inflexible; that is, no matter what, the education sector is not going to collapse. The
medical industry is also revamping itself. There is a need for more doctors and skilled
professionals in this area. Thus, engineering and medical colleges are going to be in
demand. The demand for management education is also rising. Many international
management institutes are creating ties with Indian colleges or setting up their own
centers in India. Specialized courses, such as aeronautics and biotechnology, are also
popular. There is immense scope in India for universities offering specialized courses
and research potential. The R&D sector requires more expertise and quality
professionals to cater to its design and needs.
The education sector in India was estimated at US$ 101.1 billion in FY19. This sector
is changing rapidly with more private players entering the field. The government is
also taking many measures to improve the quality of education in India. This
industry is going to achieve its peak as the idea of business via education catches up.
Fifty percent of India's population is the youth. Many foreign universities operate via
the twinning mode as of now. This essentially means the collaborating institution can
offer the curriculum of the other university in its first half. These students thus gain
credits, which are transferable to the foreign university. This helps the students
choose from an array of subjects and also complete a year in India itself. Thus, these
programmes are successful and present a good opportunity for investment. Even
primary education is expanding. Many foreign schools are making their presence felt
in India. Parents are enrolling their kids into international schools for better
education directly from the primary level.
Technology-oriented courses are gaining in popularity due to the rising demand in
these industries. The country has become the second largest market for E-learning
after the US. The sector is expected to reach US$ 1.96 billion by 2021 with around 9.5
million users. E-learning and Distance learning programmes are also gaining
popularity. Many students and working professionals are taking these courses to get
a quality education. The drawing factors for these programmes are the world-class
curriculum, comfort, and low costs. As many Indians go to foreign shores for quality
education, the market for foreign universities is very present in India. The
government is also encouraging FDI in this sector to improve the quality of education
in the country. 100% FDI is allowed in this sector as long as the rules and regulations
are met. Thus, this sector offers multiple benefits and is becoming a favorable area
for investment.
Government Initiatives
Education sector has seen a host of reform and improved financial outlays in recent
years that could possibly transform the country into a knowledge haven. With human
resource increasingly gaining significance in the overall development of the country,
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development of education infrastructure is expected to remain the key focus in the
current decade. In this scenario, infrastructure investment in the education sector is
likely to see a considerable increase in the current decade
The Government of India has taken several steps including opening of IIT’s and
IIM’s in new locations as well as allocating educational grant for research scholars in
most Government institutions. Furthermore, with online mode of education being
used by several educational organisations, the higher education sector in India is set
for major change and development in the years to come.
Various Government initiatives are being adopted to boost the growth of distance
education market besides focusing on new education techniques, such as E-learning
and M-learning.
Some of the other major initiatives taken by the Government are:
 In May 2020, Government launched PM eVIDYA, a programme for multi-
mode access to digital/online education. Other initiatives to be launched
include Manodarpan, New National Curriculum and Pedagogical framework,
National Foundational Literacy and Numeracy [Link] this direct GoI has
announced in the budget 2022-23 that ‘one class-one TV channel’ programme
of PM eVIDYA will be expanded from 12 to 200 TV channels which enable all
states to provide supplementary education in regional languages for classes 1-
12.
 According to Union Budget 2022-23, Government allocated Rs 69,907 crore
(US$ 8.56 billion) for Education Sector.
 Allocations towards the Samagra Shiksha Scheme has increased by around
20.3 per cent, from Rs 31,050.16 crore in 2021-22 BE to Rs 37,383.36 crore in
2022-23 BE.
 With a view to promote crucial critical thinking skills, to give space for
creativity, 750 virtual labs in science and mathematics, and 75 skilling e-labs
for simulated learning environment, will be set-up in 2022-23.
 Under the Union Budget 2022-A Digital University will be established to
provide access to students across the country for world-class quality universal
education with personalized learning experience at their doorsteps. This will
be made available in different Indian languages and ICT formats. The
University will be built on a networked hub-spoke model, with the hub
building cutting edge ICT expertise. The best public universities and
institutions in the country will collaborate as a network of hub-spokes.
 A competitive mechanism for development of quality e-content by the
teachers will be set-up to empower and equip them with digital tools of
teaching and facilitate better learning outcomes.
 Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) by 2022 was
announced in Union Budget 2020-21 with a proposed outlay of Rs 3,000 crore
(US$ 429.55 million).

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  In order to boost the Skill India Mission, two new schemes, Skills Acquisition
and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) and Skill
Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE), have been
approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA),
Government of India, with an outlay of Rs 6,655 crore (US$ 1.02 billion) and
will be supported by the World Bank.
 The Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB) campaign is undertaken by the
Ministry of Human Resource Development to increase engagement between
states, union territories, central ministries, educational institutions and
general public.

National Education Policy 2020: The National Education Policy 2020 (NEP
2020), which was approved by the Union Cabinet of India on 29 July,2020, outlines
the vision of India’s new education system. NEP 2020 is the first education policy of
the 21st century and aims to address the many growing developmental imperatives of
our country. This policy envisages that the extant 10+2 structure in school education
will be modified with a new pedagogical and curricular restructuring of 5+3+3+4
covering ages 3-18. Currently, children in the age group of 3-6 are not covered in the
10+2 structure as Class 1 begins at age 6. In the new 5+3+3+4 structure, a strong
base of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) from age 3 is also included,
which is aimed at promoting better overall learning, development, and well-being.

For the purpose of developing holistic individuals, it is essential that an identified set
of skills and values will be incorporated at each stage of learning, from pre-school to
higher education. This policy envisions a complete overhaul and re-energising of the
higher education system to overcome these challenges and thereby deliver high-
quality higher education, with equity and inclusion.

Given the emergence of digital technologies and the emerging importance of

leveraging technology for teaching-learning at all levels from school to higher
education, this Policy recommends the following key initiatives:

 Pilot studies for online education

 Digital infrastructure
 Online teaching platform and tools
 Content creation, digital repository, and dissemination
 Addressing the digital divide
 Virtual Labs
 Training and incentives for teachers
 Online assessment and examinations
 Blended models of learning
 Laying down standards
Financing: Affordable and Quality Education for All

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The Policy commits to significantly raising educational investment, as there is no
better investment towards a society ’s future than the high-quality education of our
young people. Unfortunately, public expenditure on education in India has not come
close to the recommended level of 6% of GDP, as envisaged by the 1968 Policy,
reiterated in the Policy of 1986, and which was further reaffirmed in the 1992 review
of the Policy.

The current public (Government - Centre and States) expenditure on education in

India has been around 4.43% of GDP (Analysis of Budgeted Expenditure 2017-18)
and only around 10% of the total Government spending towards education
(Economic Survey 2017-18). These numbers are far smaller than most developed and
developing countries.

In order to attain the goal of education with excellence and the corresponding
multitude of benefits to this Nation and its economy, this Policy unequivocally
endorses and envisions a substantial increase in public investment in education by
both the Central government and all State Governments. The Centre and the States
will work together to increase the public investment in Education sector to reach 6%
of GDP at the earliest. This is considered extremely critical for achieving the high-
quality and equitable public education system that is truly needed for India's future
economic, social, cultural, intellectual, and technological progress and growth.

In particular, financial support will be provided to various critical elements and

components of education, such as ensuring universal access, learning resources,
nutritional support, matters of student safety and well-being, adequate numbers of
teachers and staff, teacher development, and support for all key initiatives towards
equitable high-quality education for underprivileged and socioeconomically
disadvantaged groups.

In addition to one-time expenditures, primarily related to infrastructure and

resources, this Policy identifies the following key long-term thrust areas for financing
to cultivate an education system:

(a) universal provisioning of quality early childhood care education;

(b) ensuring foundational literacy and numeracy;

(c) providing adequate and appropriate resourcing of school

complexes/clusters;

(d) providing food and nutrition (breakfast and midday meals);

(e) investing in teacher education and continuing professional development of

teachers;

(f) revamping colleges and universities to foster excellence;

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 (g) cultivating research; and

(h) extensive use of technology and online education.

Even the low level of funding on education in India, is frequently not spent in a
timely manner at the District/institution level, hampering the achievement of the
intended targets of those funds. Hence, the need is to increase efficiency in use of
available budget by suitable policy changes. Financial governance and management
will focus on the smooth, timely, and appropriate flow of funds, and their usage with
probity; administrative processes will be suitably amended and streamlined so that
the disbursal mechanism may not lead to a high volume of unspent balances. The
provisions of GFR, PFMS and ‘Just in Time’ release to implementing agencies will be
followed for efficient use of government resources and avoiding parking of funds.

Mechanism of performance-based funding to States / HEIs may be devised.

Similarly, efficient mechanism will be ensured for the optimal allocation and
utilization of funds earmarked for SEDGs. The new suggested regulatory regime,
with clear separations of roles and transparent self-disclosures, empowerment and
autonomy to institutions, and the appointment of outstanding and qualified experts
to leadership positions will help to enable a far smoother, quicker, and more
transparent flow of funds.

The Policy also calls for the rejuvenation, active promotion, and support for private
philanthropic activity in the education sector. In particular, over and above the
public budgetary support which would have been otherwise provided to them, any
public institution can take initiatives towards raising private philanthropic funds to
enhance educational experiences.

The matter of commercialization of education has been dealt with by the Policy
through multiple relevant fronts, including: the ‘light but tight’ regulatory approach
that mandates full public self-disclosure of finances, procedures, course and
programme offerings, and educational outcomes; the substantial investment in
public education; and mechanisms for good governance of all institutions, public and
private. Similarly, opportunities for higher cost recovery without affecting the needy
or deserving sections will also be explored

Investments/ Recent Developments

The total amount of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow into the education sector
in India stood at US$ 3.24 billion from April 2000 to March 2020 according to the
data released by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
The education and training sector in India witnessed some major investments and
developments in the recent past. Some of them are:

 In January 2020, Harappa Education raised an undisclosed amount from

James Murdoch-led Lupa Systems in a funding round.
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  In February 2020, Unacademy raised US$ 110 million in Series E round from
Facebook and General Atlantic.
 In March 2020, EdTech platform Univariety raised US$ 1.1 million from Info
Edge.
 In April 2020, Class Central (a free online course aka Massive Open Online
Courses (MOOC) aggregator from top universities like Stanford, MIT,
Harvard, etc.) released the list of 30 best online courses of 2019, out of which,
six courses were from SWAYAM.
 In May 2020, a new mobile app called ‘National Test Abhyas’ was launched to
enable candidates to take mock tests for upcoming exams such as JEE Main
and NEET under NTA’s purview.
 In May 2020, Class plus, a business-to-business (B2B) EdTech start-up, raised
US$ 9 million in Series A funding round led by early stage tech investor RTP
Global.
 In August 2019, Maharashtra International Education Board (MIEB) signed a
collaboration agreement with Google for Education in India.
 In October 2019, IIT Madras reached agreement with ExxonMobil Research
and Engineering Company (EMRE) for research on Energy and Biofuels.

Achievements in the Sector and Road Ahead

Following are the achievements of the Education Sector in the past four years:
 In private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) funding, companies in the
education sector attracted US$ 500 million by end of 2019.
 In February 2020, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi signed a
memorandum of understanding (MoU) with New Zealand universities to
establish a New Zealand Centre at the institute with an investment of US$
50,000 each from both parties.
 Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) introduced artificial
intelligence as a subject in class ninth from the session 2019-20.
 In August 2019, Maharashtra International Education Board (MIEB) signed a
collaboration agreement with Google for Education in India.
 Under the Mid-Day Meal Scheme initiated by the Government of India, about
95 million students of around 1.14 million schools enjoy fresh meal every day.

In 2030, it is estimated that India’s higher education will:

 combine training methods that involve online learning and games, and is
expected to grow 38 per cent in the next 2-4 years
 adopt transformative and innovative approaches in Higher education
 have an augmented Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of 50 per cent
 reduce state-wise, gender based and social disparity in GER to 5 per cent
 emerge as the single largest provider of global talent with one in four
graduates in the world being a product of the Indian higher education system

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  be among the top five countries in the world in terms of research output with
an annual R&D spend of US$ 140 billion
 have more than 20 universities among the global top 200 universities.
Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir
Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir has made Perceptible progress in the
education sector by creating necessary infrastructure besides enhancement of
enrolment checking of dropout rate, capacity building, addressing gender inequality
etc. As far as educational Infrastructure of J&K is concerned, ending March 2020
there were 14792 Primary schools, 9689 Middle Schools, 4382 High/Higher
Secondary Schools.

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Jammu was established by Government of India

in 2016, and initiated after the Cabinet approval accorded for IIT Jammu in
November 2017. Furthermore, its maiden academic session began in August, 2016
with an intake capacity of 90 students. The admission for second batch of 113
students was also made in August, 2017 in four [Link] programs. It is expected to
reach a target of 220 faculty and staff members with 1260 students by 2022.

Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Jammu was established by Government of

India in 2016. Academic session started in November, 2016 with an intake capacity
of 54 students. Institution is presently functioning in Old Campus of the University
of Jammu at Canal Road, Jammu.
Higher Education institutes exist in both public as well as private sector. UT of
Jammu & Kashmir has got 142 Government Degree Colleges. The students enrolled
during 2017-18 in these degree colleges were 1,59,463 and sanctioned staff strength
in these colleges are Principals-96, Associate/ Assistant Professors-3501, Librarians-
96, Physical Training Instructors-95

Jammu Division Kashmir Division

No. of No. of
[Link]. District Colleges [Link]. District Colleges
1 Jammu 19 11 Srinagar 11
2 Kathua 09 12 Baramulla 12
3 Udhampur 09 13 Anantnag 11
4 Rajouri 09 14 Budgam 07
5 Poonch 04 15 Pulwama 06
6 Doda 05 16 Kupwara 08
7 Reasi 04 17 Ganderbal 02
8 Kishtwar 04 18 Kulgam 05
9 Ramban 05 19 Shopian 02
10 Samba 05 20 Bandipora 06
Total 72 Total 70

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 Besides investment in school education, over the years private sector in Jammu &
Kashmir has made inroads in higher education as well with 208 colleges
providing degrees in various disciplines.

Jammu Division Kashmir Division Total

B. Ed. 75 B. Ed. 76 151
[Link]. =01 (MIER COE)
Degree Colleges 22 Degree Colleges 19 41
Offering following Offering
courses: Arts, Sciences, following
MBA, BBA, MCA, BCA courses:Arts,
& PGDCA Sciences, MBA,
BBA, MCA, BCA
& PGDCA
Law 06 Law 04 10
Craft Management and Nil Craft 01 01
Entrepreneurship Management and
Programme (CMEP) Entrepreneurship
Programme
(CMEP)
Engineering College 04 Engineering 01 05
College
Total 107 101 208

NAAC Accreditation: Nineteen Government Degree Colleges have qualified NAAC

accreditation, 6 of which have been accredited by NAAC Peer Team-Bangalore
during 2017 viz College of Education Jammu, GDC-Poonch, SP College-Srinagar,
Women College-Nawakadal, GDC-Anantnag and GDC-Shopian. Out of 9 universities,
5 universities viz CUK/ CUJ/ SMVDU/IUST/JU have already been accredited with
different grades by NAAC Peer Team, Bangalore.
Union government has approved the setting up of two All India Institutes of Medical
Sciences (AIIMS) in the state which shall add to tertiary healthcare of the state.
Besides Government is also setting up five new Govt. Medical Colleges one each at
Kathua, Doda, Rajouri, Baramulla and Anantnag, having 100 MBBS seats each.
Government announced setting up of first Medical University in Jammu and
Kashmir, which would cover 16 professional Medical Colleges and 113 para-medical
institutes in the UT.

With the introduction of centrally sponsored schemes like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan,
NPEGEL, Mid –Day –Meals in Schools and Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya and

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other initiatives taken by the Central and State Governments, the Literacy level has
improved together with Gross Enrolment ratio.

The ultimate progress in the education sector is visualized by the literacy rate.
Census 2011, derived literacy rate of the UT at 67.16% with 76.75% male literates and
56.43% female literates. These figures show signs of improvement in the literacy
when compared with the literate population of 2001 census. The overall literacy rate
improved by 13.22 percentage points. In comparison to male literacy, female literacy
has improved at a faster rate i.e. against 11.66 percentage points in male literacy
female literacy increased by 15.01 percentage points. At all- India census-2011
determined 74.04% population as literates with 82.14% (male literate population)
and 65.46% (female literate population). With this improvement in the literate
population of the state, the gender gap has also reduced to 20.25% in 2011 as against
23.60% in 2001. It is pertinent to mention that literacy rate is derived after excluding
the children in the age group 0-6 years, which are by the definition of census treated
as illiterate.

Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) is another impressive indicator applied for measuring
progress in the education sector. This indicator for the year 2016-17 has been 80.30%
for boys, 83.70% for girls and 81.9% overall for the class I-VIII (6-13 years). These
figures for the similar year at all- India were 97.00 % (boys), 98.70 % (girls) and
overall, 97.80%. On this indicator the position of J&K well compares with all India.

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