Budget expectations 2026: Education sector seeks skilling push, digital access and student-centric financing
Ravin Nair, Managing Director, QS I-GAUGE, said the upcoming Budget must focus on outcomes, especially in underdeveloped regions.“We look forward to seeing a meaningful increase in this year’s budget to strengthen skilling, accelerate digital transformation, and invest in infrastructure to improve learning outcomes, particularly in underdeveloped and rural regions,” Nair said.“Amid changing geopolitical dynamics, India is increasingly viewed as a stable, consistently growing economy, and a strong education budget will be critical in reinforcing our ambition to emerge as a global educational hub,” he added.He said the National Education Policy’s target of raising education spending to 6 per cent of GDP would play a decisive role in achieving this goal.Sanjay Salunkhe, Founder, Jaro Education, said continued recognition of education as a core economic driver is essential for the Viksit Bharat vision.“Building workforce readiness through outcome-led skilling, industry-aligned learning, and practical capabilities will be crucial as India’s young and working population navigates an increasingly competitive, skills-driven job market,” Salunkhe said.He said focused support for digital and online education could expand access to higher and executive education across regions.“Strengthening India’s higher education ecosystem through globally competitive curricula, research-led learning, and deeper university-industry collaboration will be critical to developing future-ready talent at scale,” he added.Flagging the employability gap,Swapnil Sahoo, faculty at Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon, said Budget 2026 should move beyond headline allocations.“While the India Skills Report 2026 shows graduate employability has risen to 56.35 per cent, the gap between academia and industry remains stark,” Sahoo said.“With Rs 500 crore already allocated for AI Centres of Excellence, Budget 2026 must now incentivize ‘Last-Mile Skilling’,Sahoo added, calling for targeted support to bridge gaps in the gig economy workforce.“Over the last few years, the government has introduced important reforms in higher education, including the establishment of the National Research Foundation.
I hope this reform-oriented approach continues and gathers further momentum.” said Vineet Gupta, MD at Jamboree Education.
Sumeet Mehta, CEO and Co-Founder, LEAD Group, said the focus must shift from access to classroom impact.“As digital learning becomes integral to school education, the real challenge lies in translating potential into consistent classroom impact,” Mehta said.He said Budget support for digital infrastructure and teacher upskilling was essential.“Rationalising GST on essential education inputs would make a meaningful difference, including removing the 18 per cent GST on paper used for textbooks and lowering the tax burden on digital learning tools,” he added.Vinu Warrier, Managing Partner and Founder, eduVelocity, said the sector expects structural reform rather than incremental funding.“Higher education—especially postgraduate and global pathways—has become increasingly out of reach for middle-income families,” Warrier said.“The expectation from this Budget is a student-centric financing model that combines affordable credit, income-linked repayment mechanisms and transparent scholarship disbursal,” he added.He said public spending should prioritise employability, completion and workforce readiness, with stronger public-private collaboration.
