INDIA

IITs corner over 40% of higher education increase
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced on 1 February a 10% increase in the overall budget for education with a bigger thrust on higher education. Of the Rs7,292 crore hike (Rs72.92 billion or US$1 billion), a large chunk of Rs3,000 crore will go to the Indian Institutes of Technology or IITs, writes Ritika Chopra for The Indian Express.Interestingly, most of the education-related announcements made by Jaitley while presenting the Union budget had little or no financial implications.
The government announced its intention of setting up a National Testing Service, which will be an independent body dedicated to conducting all entrance tests for higher education, on the lines of the Educational Testing Service in the United States. The Human Resource Development Ministry has already moved a Cabinet note on this. The National Testing Service, according to officials, will only need a one-time capital grant of Rs50 crore.
Full report on The Indian Express site