Government Initiatives

Some of the other major initiatives taken by the Government are:

• Union Minister for Education, Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, announced the establishment of three AI Centres of Excellence (CoE) in New Delhi, focusing on Healthcare, Agriculture, and Sustainable Cities. These CoEs, aimed at realizing the vision of "Viksit Bharat," will be led by leading educational institutions in collaboration with industry partners and startups.
• The Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, has approved the PM Vidyalaxmi scheme, aimed at providing financial support to meritorious students to ensure that financial constraints do not hinder their pursuit of higher education. This initiative aligns with the recommendations of the National Education Policy, 2020.
• According to the Union Budget 2025-26:
• The government allocated Rs. 78,572 crore (US$ 8.99 billion) for the Department of School Education and Literacy in FY26, an increase of 16.28% compared with the revised Union Budget 2024-25.
• The government has allocated 50,077.95 crore (US$ 5.73 billion) to Department of Higher Education in FY26 an increase of 5.16% from previous year.
• Allocation towards the Samagra Shiksha Scheme increased to Rs. 3,750 crore (US$ 429.11 million) in FY26.
• The Union Budget 2025-26 allocates Rs. 500 crore (US$ 57.57 million) for a Centre of Excellence in AI for Education, aiming to enhance skills, personalize learning, and transform education.
• The Union Cabinet approved the continuation and restructuring of the Skill India Programme till 2026 with an outlay of Rs. 8,800 crore (US$ 1.01 billion) to enhance industry-aligned, tech-driven training nationwide.
• In March 2024, Union Minister of Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship launched various initiatives namely, District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETS) of Excellence and National Mission for Mentoring. This program is to strengthen teacher training.
• Financial assistance, totalling to US$ 1.08 billion (Rs 9,000 crores) will be delivered to States/UTs for upgradation of all DIETs to develop them as DIET of Excellence in the country in a phased manner in the next five years.
• In May 2024, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, launched the ‘Capacity Building on Design and Entrepreneurship (CBDE)’ program. This program target to build a problem-solving approach that encourages creative and innovative solutions in students. 
• In August 2023, Union Minister for Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE), marking an important and transformative step towards the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020. The development of the NCF-SE was guided by a vision to align education with the demands of the 21st century and the ethos of the Indian knowledge system. 
• In the Union Budget 2023, it was announced that District Institutes of Education and Training to be developed as vibrant institutes of excellence for teachers’ training.
• In Union Budget 2023, it was announced that a National Digital Library for Children and Adolescents to be set up for facilitating the availability of quality books across geographies, languages, genres and levels, and device-agnostic accessibility.
• 100% FDI under automatic route is allowed in the Indian education sector.
• In November 2022, Minister of Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, suggested constituting a joint working group between India and Zimbabwe on education, skill development and capacity building.
• To liberalise the sector, the Government has taken initiatives such as the National Accreditation Regulatory Authority Bill for Higher Education and the Foreign Educational Institutions Bill.
• In July 2022, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi inaugurated a three-day Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Samagam at Varanasi to discuss how the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020 can be taken further across the country with various stakeholders.
• As part of a comprehensive initiative known as PM eVIDYA, the Department of School Education and the Ministry of Education were recognised by UNESCO for their use of information and communication technology (ICT) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSE&L), Ministry of Education, has planned to solicit opinions from various stakeholders through an online public consultation survey. This will be helpful in gathering especially useful and important inputs for the formulation of the National Curriculum Framework.
• The government schemes of Revitalising Infrastructure and System in Education (RISE) and Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP) are helping the government tackle the prominent challenges faced by the education sector.
• Under the Interim Budget 2024-25, the Department of School Education & Literacy's budget allocation for FY 2024–2025 is Rs. 73,498 crores (US$ 8.82 billion), the highest amount ever.
• In February 2022, the Central Government approved the “New India Literacy Programme” for the period FY22-27 to cover all the aspects of adult education to align with the National Education Policy 2020 and Budget Announcements 2022-23.
• In February 2022, the Ministry of Education approved the scheme of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) to continue till 2026.
• The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 emphasis on early childhood care and education. The 10+2 structure of school curricula is to be replaced by a 5+3+3+4 curricular structure corresponding to ages 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18 years, respectively.
• The Cabinet accepted the continuance of the Samagra Shiksha School Education Scheme in 2021 from April 1, 2021-March 31, 2026.