A Budget of Exclusion : Education undermined, Future Undefined

Debnil Paul

The education budget of the Government of India for the fiscal year 2025-26 has sparked considerable debate, particularly from a leftist perspective that emphasizes social equity and access to quality education. While there are nominal increases in allocations, deeper analysis reveals systemic inadequacies that hinder the holistic development of the education sector.

Overview of the Education Budget 

Token Increases among Real Cuts. 

The total allocation for the Ministry of Education in 2025-26 stands at ₹1,20,628 crore, which marks a 7% decrease from the revised estimate for 2024-25. Within this, the Department of School Education and Literacy received ₹73,008 crore, a marginal increase of only  0.7%,while the Department of Higher Education faced a significant cut of 17%, bringing its allocation down to ₹47,620 crore. Despite a 7% increase in the higher education budget, it’s actually 10% less than what was spent in 2024-25. The Budget for All India Council for Technical Education has also been halved from 400 crore to 200 crore. The budget for UGC has also seen a notable cut. 

Inadequacies in Funding: Stagnation in Real Investment

Despite claims of increased funding, when adjusted for inflation and actual expenditure trends over recent years, real investment in education has stagnated. The allocation as a percentage of GDP has decreased from 0.55% to 0.37% since 2014. This is also far from the 6% target set by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 following the recommendations of the Kothari Commission (1964-66) which has been branded by the centre as essential for comprehensive educational reform. Therefore,the Government is not even sticking to its own claims as has been reflected through the NEP. SFI has been demanding for allocation of 6% of the GDP towards Education for very long now. 

Disparities in Resource Allocation

‘Research Stifled, Innovation Derailed’ would be the most appropriate way of describing the Union Budget and its outlook on Education, considering the level of comfort that the NDA government at the centre shares with catch lines . Higher Education Faces Cuts Amid Privatization Push.

The budget disproportionately favors higher education institutions like IITs and NITs while neglecting foundational education in public schools. This trend exacerbates existing inequalities, as students from marginalized backgrounds often rely on government schools that lack adequate infrastructure and resources. The focus on elite institutions diverts attention from improving educational outcomes for the majority. Unless the fundamental layers of the country’s Education system see some notable improvement,  the chances of consistent and holistic development of Higher education, that too without increased Public spending on education is nothing but a Utopia. 

Neglect for School Education

The ASER 2024 report, released alongside the Union Budget, reveals ongoing issues in basic reading and math skills in schools, despite some recovery from COVID-19 learning losses. Ambitious higher education reforms, like four-year degree programs and flexible course options, are underfunded in Budget 2025, potentially burdening state governments with the costs. Achieving full Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) by the NIPUN Bharat scheme’s 2026-27 target remains a challenge. 

Infrastructure Deficiencies

Government schools continue to suffer from inadequate infrastructure, including poor classroom conditions, lack of teaching materials, and insufficient teacher training. This hampers student engagement and learning outcomes. A holistic approach must prioritize upgrading facilities and ensuring access to quality teaching resources across all educational levels. The Budget 2025 hasn’t mentioned at all about making strides towards increasing funds. 

Consistent Deprivations: The story of Mid Day Meals

The mid-day meal scheme in India is plagued by issues of deprivation and exclusion. Despite its importance, the scheme is underfunded, leading to inadequate and poor-quality food. Many schools lack infrastructure, resulting in food safety and hygiene issues. Geographical and social exclusions also exist, with marginalized communities and rural areas often left out. The consequences of neglecting this schemes include malnutrition, poor academic performance, and increased dropout rates. In addition to these issues, acording to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), the MDM scheme has a high leakage rate, with around 30-40% of the funds allocated for the scheme being diverted or misused.  Despite these, the PM Poshan Shakti Nirman Yojana hasn’t been allocated an adequate amount. 

The silent Epidemic : Post-Pandemic Dropout Crisis 

The issue of Dropouts from schools has reached such as state that it is the single most important challenge to be tackled by the Indian state if it wants to ensure Education for all. According to a report by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), the dropout rate for children in the age group of 6-14 years increased from 4.4% in 2019-20 to 6.1% in 2020-21. Another report by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) states that the dropout rate for children in the age group of 6-10 years increased from 2.4% in 2019-20 to 3.4% in 2020-21. Another report by the Centre for Catalyzing Change (C3) found that 55% of students who dropped out of school did so due to lack of access to digital education, while 26% cited lack of support from teachers as a reason.

A World Bank report estimates that the pandemic has resulted in a loss of 2.5 million years of schooling for Indian children. Despite this miserable state of affairs,the central government has not taken any significant steps to address the issue of dropout rates, despite the alarming numbers. The Education budget of 2025-26 is no exception as well. 

Conclusion

The current education budget reflects systemic issues that prioritize elite private sector institutions over equitable access to quality education for all students through public sector educational institutions . A commitment to increasing funding alongside strategic changes  is essential for fostering an inclusive educational environment that empowers every learner, especially those from Working Class families and marginalized sections of society. 

All efforts on part of the Government deny responsibilities  towards the Education sector must be resisted. Only by addressing these inadequacies through targeted Government  investments, India can move towards a more holistic development of its education sector that benefits all segments of society. But that path ahead is not going to be utilized by the government in the foreseeable future, because the political philosophy and economic planning of the Central Government led by RSS-BJP is fundamentally antithetical to that of Education and Holistic development of the Indian people. 

So the path ahead is clear for us. We would fight tirelessly till the anti-people and anti-student policies and politics of this central Government has been undone, paving the way for an education system that the millions of Indian students deserve. 

References:

[1] Ministry of Education https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/PIB2036125.pdf

[2] Rutvik Upadhyaya https://prsindia.org/files/budget/budget_parliament/2024/DFG_2024-25_Analysis_Education.pdf

[3] Demand for Grants 2024-25 Analysis : Education https://prsindia.org/budgets/parliament/demand-for-grants-2024-25-analysis-education

[4] Shri Dharmendra Pradhan lauds Interim Budget 2024-25 as stepping stone to make India a developed country by 2047 https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2001706

[5]India’s education Budget grows, but lags behind global trends https://www.business-standard.com/education/news/union-budget-2025-education-allocation-growth-global-comparison-125020600340_1.html

[6] Indian Budget Series: Budget for Education https://www.cdpp.co.in/articles/indian-budget-series-budget-for-education

[7] Public Education is not a Priority in Union Budget 2025-26 https://www.newsclick.in/public-education-not-priority-union-budget-2025-26

[8] Indian Union Budget 2024-25: Highlights & Updates | PwC India https://www.pwc.in/budget/union-budget-2024.html

[9] Learning steps: On the Union Budget and education  https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/learning-steps-on-the-union-budget-and-education/article69180892.ece 

[10] India Education Spending 1997-2025 | MacroTrends https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/countries/ind/india/education-spending

[11] Budget 2025: Education and healthcare spending betrays India’s demographic advantage https://frontline.thehindu.com/economy/union-budget-2025-26-education-healthcare-expenditure-spending-viksit-bharat/article69187308.ece 

[12] The Annual Status of Education Report – https://asercentre.org/

[13] Status of Digital Infrastructure in Indian Schools: A Detailed Analysis Using UDISEplus 2021-22 Data https://educationforallinindia.com/status-of-digital-infrastructure-in-indian-schools-a-detailed-analysis-using-udiseplus-2021-22-data/

[14] Budget 2025: Govt says school education is priority, but do allocations say so? https://www.thenewsminute.com/news/budget-2025-govt-says-school-education-is-priority-but-do-allocations-say-so