Budget lays stress an improved education

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 9 (UNI) The Kerala Budget for 2007-08 presented today envisaged an increased outlay for improving the infrastructure and standard of education in the state.

Emphasising the need for increasing the standard of education at the school level in the state, Finance Minister Thomas Issac, who presented the Budget in the state Assembly, said the main source of income for the purpose was from the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and Rs 200 crore was expected in this regard.

The school complexes, a tie up of the schools in a locality, would get Rs five lakh and for noon meal Rs 10 crore was made available in the Budget, he said.

For the development of Higher Secondary and Vocational Higher Secondary Schools, the Budget had earmarked Rs 43 crore, which included Rs 25 crore for establishing libraries and laboratories in all the government schools.

He also said a new scholarship would be introduced and Rs 70 crore had been set aside for this. Scholarships of Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 to higher secondary students and scholarships of Rs 20,000 to degree and Post Graduate students would be given, which would come to a total of Rs 10 crore. An amount of Rs 60 crore had been marked as scholarships for research students, he said.

In a bid to enhance Medical education and research in the state, Dr Issac said Rs three crore had been earmarked for starting a Medical university in the state. An amount of Rs 11.7 crore had been set apart for medical education in the state.

For the development of Ayurveda colleges, Rs 2.25 crore had been allotted in the Budget.

The Kerala, Kozhikode, Mahatma Gandhi, Sanskrit and Kannur Universities would get Rs 163 crore for modernisation.

The government also intended to give more emphasis to the technical education in the state, Dr Isaac said and added the Cochin University of Science and Technology would get Rs 20.86 crore. The Engineering colleges at Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Kannur and Kottayam, and the IHRD would get a total amount of Rs 34 crore for improving their infrastructure. And an additional Rs 2 crore had been set aside for the new engineering colleges, he said.

As part of the World Bank aid for raising the technical education, the state would be spending Rs 15 crore, he said. For polytechnics the Budget had alloted Rs 25 lakh, he added.

The Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment would get Rs 2.25 crore. The budget also envisaged Rs 9.5 crore for the Regional Cancer Centre and Rs 5 crore for the Malabar Cancer Centre, he said.

UNI