Higher education gets 13% hike

New Delhi: In a boost to higher learning with a stress on "world class" centres of learning, India on Thursday earmarked Rs 27,656 crore for higher education, an increase of almost 13 per cent over 2013.

For the year 2014-2015, the government allocated Rs 27,656 crore to the department of higher education under the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry compared to Rs 24,485 crore in 2013-14, registering an increase of 12.9 per cent.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, said the country needed a large number of "world class" centres of higher learning.

The allocation for the department of school education and literacy saw an increase of 9.93 per cent over 2013-14. The government has set aside Rs 55,115.1 crore for the department for 2014-15.

HRD Minister Smriti Irani in a statement said the focus of the budget has been on education and skill development.
"In particular, the plan budget on higher education has been considerably increased in 2014-15. In the school education and literacy sector also, the increase has been substantial," she said.

"This (the allocation to SSA and RMSA) would strengthen the elementary and secondary school infrastructure in the country and will improve access and quality of education across the school sector and will benefit nearly 23 crore children in schools," Irani said.