Govt to spend 25% of budget on education: Sisodia

The Delhi government will spend 25 per cent of its annual budget on education. The government will lay emphasis on quality education by focusing on training programmes and infrastructure.

“We will spend 25 per cent of our annual budget (2016-17) on education. Perhaps in the country, this is the highest percentage of the total budget to be spent on education sector,” said Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds finance and education portfolios. He will present the 2016-17 Budget in the Assembly in March.

In the 2015-16 Budget, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had allocated Rs 9,836 crore to the education sector, of which Rs 4,570 crore was given under the plan outlay, an increase of around 106 per cent. “In other states, only 10-12 per cent is spent on this sector,” Sisodia said, adding that the Centre too was lagging behind in this regard.

He said in the upcoming Budget, the government would focus on training programmes, infrastructure and international collaborations to improve the quality of education being imparted in its schools. “A significant share of the Budget is being given to boost education sector now. In view of this, our educational schemes will focus on quality education, training, infrastructure and international collaboration,” Sisodia said.

Earlier this month, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced a loan of Rs 551 crore to North and East Delhi Municipal Corporations for paying arrears to their staff. The loan amount was diverted by the government’s education department.

Sisodia said the government had also planned to develop a model school village in North-east Delhi. As per the plan, 10 schools of different streams will be built in the area.