Budget 2018: Check what Arun Jaitley has for the education sector

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who presented the fifth budget of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA government on Thursday, announced a Rs 1 lakh crore infrastructure revitalising scheme for schools in the country.

The scheme called RISE - Revitalizing Infrastructure in School Education - will be beneficial for the schools, from pre-nursery to Class 12, in rural parts of the country which do not have adequate infrastructure for the children.

Apart from RISE, the central government has announced to start Eklavya schools, especially for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) population.

By 2022, every block with more than 50 per cent ST population and at least 20,000 tribal people will have 'Ekalavya' school, which will be at par with Navodaya Vidyalayas.

Jaitley also announced an integrated B.Ed programme for the teachers to improve and enhance the quality of teaching across the country.

Also Read: Budget 2018 : No change in Income Tax exemption for individuals

The government is planning to shift from 'black-boards' to 'digital-boards'. Over 13 lakh teachers will be trained through digital means for the purpose, said Jaitley.

A dedicated portal 'Deeksha' has been introduced to train the teachers.

What else Jaitley announced for betterment of educational system in the country?

• 'Institute of Eminence' will be established.
• Proposal for setting up a Railway University in Vadodara.
• Sixteen new Planning and Architecture schools will be established in autonomos more in IITs and NITs.
• Apart from this, a lot of initiatives will be taken under the National Social Assistance programme.