Bhubaneswar: With an aim to provide quality education in the State, the Odisha Government has allocated a whopping Rs Rs.30,030 crore for the education sector in the Budget 2023-24, which is about 12.3 percent of the total budget outlay for the financial year.
While presenting the Budget, the Finance Minister said that quality school education is our government’s priority. In the words of our beloved Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, “It is the common responsibility of all of us to help children realize their dreams and it is dreams that chart the way forward in a student’s life.” With this in mind, we have launched a path breaking initiative of High School Transformation. Driven by the 5T principles, this programme has unleashed new aspirations and opened new horizons for high school students of our State.
Today the Government Schools have smart classrooms, modern e-libraries, well equipped laboratories, separate usable toilets for girls and boys with provision of safe and adequate drinking water facility, advanced sports infrastructure and child-friendly campuses. An aspirational curriculum with modern teaching learning methods aims to produce students ready for the future.
In the first phase, 1075 High Schools across the State have been transformed with project cost of Rs.620 crore and 3461 High Schools in the 2nd phase with project cost of Rs.1699 crore. Further, under the third phase of 5T High School Transformation Programme, about 2336 High Schools are being taken up with a total project cost of Rs.1092 crore. The Government has introduced academic calendar, house systems and school level clubs under 5T High schools transformation to support students within and beyond the class room from the academic year 2023-24.
Key Highlights of Budgetary Allocation for Education Sector:
Rs.30,030 crore in Education Sector which is about 12.3 percent of the total Budget outlay for 2023-24.
Rs.22,528 crore for the School and Mass Education Department.
Rs.805 crore under Mo School Abhiyan
Rs.139 core under new scheme Chief Minister’s Awards for Education for best performing Districts, Blocks, Schools, Head Teachers, Teachers, Elected PRIs, SMC/SMDCs, CRCCs, BEOs, DEOs, Alumni Committees and DIETs.
Rs.155 crore under the Gangadhar Meher Sikshya Manakbrudhi Yojana (GMSMY) for supply of Free Bi-Cycle to all Students studying in Class-IX of Govt., Govt. Aided, Block Grant High Schools, Sanskrit Tols and Madrasa.
Rs.811 crore under Mukhyamantri Medhabi Chatra Protsahan Yojana for disbursement of scholarship to eligible students.
Rs.4 crore under AKANKSHYA Scheme to provide students pursuing higher studies in Urban Areas with residential accommodation.
Rs.3,173 crore for Higher Education Department
Rs.163 crore for infrastructure development of higher education institutions.
Rs.170 crore under Mo College Abhiyan and Rs.50 crore for distribution of laptop under Biju Yuva Sashaktikarana Yojana.
Rs.20 crore for Odia University at Satyabadi, Puri to be made operational in December, 2023.
Rs.228 crore for infrastructure development of Government Universities and Colleges under the Odisha Higher Education Programme for Excellence and Equity (OHEPEE).
Rs.986 crore for Skill Development and Technical Education.
Transformation of Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology, Burla and Odisha University of Technology & Research with an outlay of Rs.2,000 crore and Rs.1,500 crore, respectively, over a period of 5 years to make them world class technical institutions.
Rs. 241 crore provided for development of Technical Universities, Engineering Colleges, Polytechnics and ITIs.
Rs. 10 crore under Sudakhya scheme to cover girl students, irrespective of category, studying in Government ITIs and Polytechnics.
Rs.100 crore provided under Odisha Skill Development Project to promote industry linked training program and to enhance the employability of youth of the State.
Rs.22 crore provided to Directorate of Employment for creation of self-employment opportunity for the unemployed youths.
Rs.100 crore for new scheme NUA Odisha (Nutana Unnata Abhilasha) to train one lakh youth in future technologies like Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality-Virtual Reality, Data Science, 3D printing etc.