Education sector needs fund boost

Organisations, which are partnering with various state and Central government in offering skill-building programmes to the country's potential workforce in diverse sectors are looking forward to Budget 2018 with a lot of hope. 

"We expect the Union Finance Minister to take measures which will facilitate giving market-relevant training to crores of youth in the country. One of the first things the government needs to do in this regard is cap the GST rate for all type of skill training irrespective of whether they government funded/CSR funded/ Self or Employer funded at 5 per cent. Alternatively it should provide for a refund mechanism for GST. Second, the National Skill Development Corporation's interest rate charged from skill partners should be reduced from the present six per cent to two per cent. The government needs to make adequate budgetary allocation so that in every taluka at least 10, 000 people can be given some sort of skill training. The number of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras and budgetary support for them should also be increased. Finally, we are also looking forward to some income tax concessions tocompanies providing skill-development services.There should be 150% weightage for depreciation or expenditure on skilling". - Dr Narendra Kumar Shyamsukha, Chairman, ICA Edu Skills

"Government should create fund and set up Center of excellence on emerging technologies such as IOT, Robotics, and Artificial Intelligence within government and private institutions of higher education. 

• Funding to institutions of higher eduction for Research and development aimed towards IT Product development. 
• Government should set aside budget allocations for international globally accepted certification and training programmes which are standard Inez's skill development tools for creating a baseline skill benchmark. Government should also spruce up apprenticeship programme that helps industry and academic institutions get on same page on skill required from fresh graduates. 
• All institutions should have mandatory curriculum on cybersecurity so that we have adequate cyber defenders and penetration testers. Government funded awareness programmes should be mandatory for IT users across India.

Pradipto Chakrabarty, Regional Director, CompTIA India

"The scope of Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA) should be expanded to provide long-term loans for private players to set up new universities. Institutes and colleges having research capabilities should also be given adequate tax breaks and help in conduct research." - Dr SD Gupta, Chairman, IIHMR University, Jaipur 

"We expect Budget 2018 to stimulate the domestic economy by creating opportunities for job growth and new incentives for doing business. IT and ITES sectors, once the mainstay of the services economy, could be at the focus of this year's Budget. Government should take a view of measures that will help spurring demand of services generated from this sector by giving adequate tax breaks and making these services more competitive globally." - Rajeev Bhardwaj, VP, HR, Sun Life Financial Asia Service Centre