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‘Budget neglects primary education’
Our Bureau
Kolkata, March 3
Though the Union Budget this year has allocated Rs 34,000 crore for education, an increase of 20 per cent as compared to last year, it has neglected basic issues like corporate-academics inter-linkages and growth of primary education, say some economists from the city.
“The Finance Minister’s decision to set up 16 new Central Universities in each of the hitherto uncovered States and three new IITs in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan are welcome moves. But, he has failed to focus on the spread of primary education.
“While a lot has been said about the prospects of high-tech knowledge institutes, primary education has all the reasons to feel neglected,” said Prof Partha Pratim Paul of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta said here on Monday. He was speaking at a seminar organised by the Eastern India Regional Council of The Institute of Charter Accountants of India.
‘Bridge the gap’
“Unless the budgets contain something to bridge the widening gap between primary and tertiary education, the much needed lower-end skill in the economy will become increasingly scarce,” he said.
Failure on part of the All India Council for Technical Education to facilitate the setting up of foreign institutes has resulted in students leaving the country for higher education, said Mr Rahul Roy, Director, Ernst and Young.
Prof Amitava Chatterjee, Head of the Department (Economics) and ex-Principal of Presidency College said, “We need joint ventures between educational institutes and the corporate sector that will facilitate both. Corporate houses should provide funding to educational institutes, which in turn can be paid back through research work valuable for the industry.”
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