The Union Budget for 2024-25 marks a significant step towards enhancing education, advancing skills development, and creating job opportunities. It allocates ₹1.48 lakh crore to education, employment, and skills development, with an additional ₹3 lakh crore for schemes benefiting women and girls. This investment underscores a commitment to improving educational infrastructure and promoting gender equality. However, equitable distribution and robust accountability are essential to maximize impact.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced enhanced support for education loans, offering up to ₹10 lakh for higher education at domestic institutions with a 3% interest subsidy. While this makes education more accessible, it is crucial to ensure the sustainability of these supports and focus on the quality of education to ensure meaningful outcomes.

The budget allocates ₹2 lakh crore to train 20 lakh youth over the next five years, including upgrading 1,000 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) to address the skills gap and improve job prospects. Effective implementation and monitoring are vital to assess the impact of these programs. A new initiative offers internships at 500 top companies, with stipends supported by Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds. Expanding this initiative to include more employers could enhance its impact.

Despite increased social service expenditure, the share allocated to education has declined. Improvements in school facilities are noted, but access to computers and the internet remains limited. Current investment in primary education is below the internationally recommended level. To achieve a 50% Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) by 2035, an increase of at least 1.5% in the education budget is needed. The budget lacks specific details about the skills to be developed under skilling initiatives and provisions for teacher training.

The Union Budget 2024-25 presents a strategy to advance education, skills development, and employment. Effective implementation, coordination, and long-term planning are essential to achieve these objectives and contribute to sustainable economic development.