Bhubaneswar: Education and skilling sectors received a major boost in the state budget on Friday, with chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi announcing a host of new institutes and initiatives aimed at expanding higher and technical education infrastructure across districts.Education received an outlay of Rs 42,565 crore, of which the allocation for school education is Rs 31,997.53 crore, a 3.2% increase over the previous financial year, while the remaining Rs 3,664.40 crore is for higher education. With the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020 in place, the govt proposed an allocation of Rs 1,131 crore under state support to Samagra Shiksha, out of which Rs 32 crore was earmarked for the supply of uniforms to Sishu Vatika students.The govt proposed spending Rs 1,010 crore in 2026-27 to develop model primary schools at the gram panchayat level under the Godabarish Mishra Adarsha Vidyalaya initiative. Under ‘Aitihya Vidyalayas’, 51 heritage Odia-medium govt high schools will be renovated and revitalised as centres of excellence.The SC/ST/OBC and EBC school student scholarships got an outlay of Rs 2,095 crore, which will be given to 22 lakh students under these categories. The govt also allocated Rs 1,070 crore for improving the infrastructure of residential schools for ST and SC students.In higher education, the CM announced the establishment of four new greenfield universities at the district headquarters of Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak and Jharsuguda. “Unlike brownfield universities, which are upgraded from existing colleges, greenfield institutions have the unique advantage of implementing fundamentally new organisational models and innovative pedagogy in PG courses from day one, in line with the NEP-2020 mandate,” the CM said.The govt earmarked Rs 470 crore for improving infrastructure in public universities, govt and non-govt aided colleges, against Rs 375 crore allocated for the purpose last financial year. There is a special focus on improving labs.The CM further proposed two new campuses of World Skill Centre at Sambalpur and Berhampur at an investment of Rs 278 crore; a centre of excellence in mining and metallurgy at the Govt College of Engineering, Keonjhar, to meet the rising demand for skilled professionals in the mining and metals sector; and two new govt engineering colleges at Paradip and Balangir. An outlay of Rs 235 crore was earmarked for infrastructure development of technical education institutions.
