Haryana: Free Education, Books For Class 9 To 12 Govt School Students, Eight Medical Colleges

In a move to prevent school students from dropping out, the Haryana government has announced free education for students of classes 9 to 12 studying in the government-run schools. The decision was notified during the presentation of the state budget on Friday, March 12.

The Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP-JJP coalition government presented its budget for the fiscal year amid the COVID-19 pandemic and focussed on crucial sectors such as health, schooling, agriculture and infrastructure. The Chief Minister said that the 'Education Budget 2021' was in accordance with the National Education Policy (NEP 2020).

The state government allocated ₹18,410 crores to the education sector (2021-22) as against the revised estimates (2020-21) of ₹15,629 crores —an increase of 17.8 per cent, reported the Hindustan Times. It is also going to provide books and study material free of cost to the students to reduce the financial burden.

"We will also provide books free of cost to students of Class 9 to 12, apart from not charging any fee. The concept of free education is already in place till middle school, now we have extended this up to Class-12 in government schools," said Education Minister Kanwar Pal.

To modernise the institutions and bring them at par with their private counterparts, a sum of ₹700 crores was allocated to promote technology-based learning in all government schools that will be equipped with digital classrooms, improved learning models, provision of digital tablets to students among other facilities.

"In this light, the state government aims to achieve a distinct place on the educational map of the nation by implementing most of the components of the National Education Policy (NEP) before 2025," the Chief Minister told the Vidhan Sabha.

A new scheme called the 'KG to PG' programme has also been introduced to help students complete their education with ease. Under this 'nursery to university scheme, the students in Haryana will be able to get access to education from nursery to post-graduation in the same institution.

According to media reports, around ₹20 crores have been allocated for this programme which will initially be introduced in Rohtak's Kurukshetra University and Maharshi Dayanand University.

"Such a system would be beneficial for students as they can access all levels of education in a single institution. This will curtail the dropout rate and provide an ecosystem for holistic learning with focus on higher education and vocational training," CM Khattar said.

As many as eight medical colleges would be set up to strengthen the existing healthcare system. The medical colleges would be set up in Jind, Kaithal, Yamunanagar, Faridabad, Kaithal, Mahendragarh and Sirsa along with a new dental college in Nuh as part of the new initiatives for the upcoming year.

Additionally, Khattar allocated ₹192 crores for ensuring quality education and opportunities for the students belonging to disadvantaged groups. Special Economic Zones (SEZs) would be created to focus on such groups and boost participation from this group.

A Gender Inclusion Fund (GIF) of ₹115 crores will also be created to give financial assistance to girl students in these SEZs.

Earlier during the month, Haryana Co-operation Minister Dr Banwari Lal had said that the state government had planned to open Model Sanskriti Schools in every block of the state so as to provide quality education. Such schools lay special emphasis on English as the medium of instruction.

He also said the government was providing free coaching to candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes with an annual income up to ₹2.50 lakh through various competitive examinations to help them prepare for entrance exams like Civil Services Examination, Banking, Railways, SSC, HTET, CGL and NEET and JEE etc.

State Budget 2021-22

Haryana government presented a ₹1.55 lakh crore-budget for the next fiscal year which is reportedly an increase of 13 per cent over ₹1,37,738 crore for the current financial year ending 31 March.

"It is important for the budget to prioritise specific sectors that are key to leverage a rebound in the economy, particularly in times of crisis. We have identified health, agriculture and infrastructure as key priority areas that we need to focus recovery and resurgence," Chief Minister said, reported Live Mint.

"While focusing on health is of paramount importance in these times of unprecedented public health crisis, agriculture which forms the foundation of our economy and which is the sheet anchor of our self-reliance is critical," he added.

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