Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced Union Budget in parliament on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015 aiming at high growth, saying the pace of cutting the fiscal deficit would slow as he seeks to boost investment and ensure that ordinary people benefit.

KVS Seshasai, chief executive officer Zee Learn said, "The Union budget of 2015 seems to be a forward looking budget with education being one of the top priority areas for the government."

The sector getting a total allocation of Rs 689.68 billion proves the importance it holds for our country. "The higher budget allocation is welcome with an inclusion of almost the entire education sector ranging from Secondary Schools to Higher Education Institutions and Research centers."

With the proposals of establishing institutions in different parts of the country, government aims to empower children and youth of the country with equal opportunities supported by an ease of reach. However, the budget has not really focused on creating incentives for corporates who are participating in the education space to encourage them to bring in greater investments and drive higher Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) and lower drop-out rates.

"To accelerate the above, there is a pressing need for a collaborative effort between Private sector and the Government, to strengthen India's education system. Addressing this concern, proposals or initiatives in the budget which supported public-private partnership in the education sector would have worked better."

"There are no specific allocations towards teacher skill development and training which is critical for improving quality of education in schools. Also, we expected some incentives and ease of approvals for corporates foraying in education through softer loans and step up repayment plans. Tax benefits to corporates investing in research and development of content is another area where we expected some positive announcements but did not see anything on from the budget."

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