NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the establishment of a digital university in the country while presenting the Union Budget 2022-23 in Parliament on Tuesday, citing the plight of countless youngsters as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic-induced shutdown of educational facilities.

"A digital university will be built to provide students around the country with world-class quality universal education and a tailored learning experience right at their doorstep," said the Finance Minister. The university would be established on a 'hub and spoke' format, She said. "Our networked hub and spoke approach will be used to build cutting-edge ICT competence at the university," she added.

The Finance Minister went on to say that instruction at this university would be provided in a variety of Indian languages and ICT forms."Our country's greatest public universities and institutes will collaborate as a hub and spoke network," she stated.

Children, particularly in rural areas and those from Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes and other vulnerable sectors, have lost nearly two years of formal education as a result of the pandemic-induced school closures, according to Sitharaman.

She stated that the majority of the children affected were from government schools, and that the Centre recognises the need for supplemental instruction and the development of a resilient education delivery system.

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