The Delhi government on Friday presented its annual budget worth ₹75,800 crore for the upcoming financial year. Out of the total budgetary allocation, the Delhi government has allocated ₹16,278 crore for the education sector. Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who is also the education and finance minister of Delhi, announced several big ticket initiatives in the education sector, including boarding school for homeless children and a science museum in a city-based school.
The ruling Aam Aadmi Party has been contesting elections on the basis of its work in the education sector in the national capital. AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal has been promoting what he calls Delhi model of governance focusing on the upliftment of schools and colleges in the national capital. Here we bring a lowdown on how education has fared in the Delhi budget in the past five years.
Read: 20 lakh jobs, new electronic city: Top highlights of Delhi’s 75,800 crore budget
2021
The Delhi government in its Annual Budget 2021-22 had allocated ₹16,377 in its total budget of ₹ 69,000 crore. Manish Sisodia had announced major initiatives including a patriotism syllabus, an army school, a new syllabus for classes nursery to eighth standard, a Delhi education board and 100 schools of excellence.
2020
In its 2020 budget, the Arvind Kejriwal government had allocated ₹15,815 crore to the education sector which is around 24.33 per cent of the total budgetary allocation of ₹65,000 crore. Sisodia had announced schemes including conversion of 10 classrooms in Delhi government schools into digital classrooms. The Delhi government had also announced at least five English medium state-run schools of excellence in all districts of the city.
2019
In the year which witnessed the Lok Sabha polls, the Delhi government presented a ₹60,000 crore budget out of which ₹15,600 crore was allocated to education. They key announcements made during the budget included allocation of ₹42 crores to be given as the seed money to students studying in class 11 and 12 in government schools, colleges and universities under the ‘Entrepreneurship Curriculum’.
2018
In its 2018 budget, the Delhi government allocated ₹13,9997 crore to the education sector. The AAP government had proposed installation of CCTV cameras in the school buildings, self-defence training for girl students, promotion of sports in schools and setting up a world-class skill centre.
2017
In the 2017 budget, the Delhi government had allocated ₹11,300 crore for the education sector. Building 10,000 new classrooms, 400 libraries, providing tablets to teachers to help track students’ progress, ten early childhood learning centres were among the big announcements by the Delhi government.
