Punjab to get 13 Schools of Excellence by August 15, says Education Minister

Shivani Bhakoo

Ludhiana, June 26

The Punjab Education Minister, Harjot Singh Bains, said that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had created a sense of panic in the Centre. He said that due to this, when his release orders were going to be announced by the Supreme Court, the CBI arrested him today. He said this may be compared with the Emergency era when freedom was crushed.

Bains shared these views here during a visit to the Senior Secondary Residential School for Meritorious Students. He visited the school as a 22-day preparation camp held for the students of the meritorious schools and SOEs culminates tomorrow.

Elaborating the government vision for the government schools, Harjot Bains said that by August 15, 13 more Schools of Eminence would be established, which would be a great step towards quality education. He said, “We have already opened 14 such schools in the state, with 13 more to come by August 15. Our aim is to have a total of 117 SOEs. A total of 14,000 students took admission to these schools this year, as compared to 8,000 last year. There are few problems in areas such as Moga, Division 3 in Ludhiana and Mansa, among others, where expansions are difficult; however, we are doing our bit to do

the same.”

He said the state government is set to establish a total of 117 schools within the next year and a-half, adding that Schools of Happiness would also start by the end of this year. He said these would focus on primary schooling.

He said that it was good to see students gaining knowledge on important exams such as NEET, CLAT, and JEE, as domain experts were called to provide training to students. He said that although the weather was very hot, the students benefited from the camp, adding that the state government would continue for anyone who wants to get training from experts.

About unsafe buildings

Talking of unsafe school buildings in the state, Bains said there were a total about 20,000 government schools. He said that out of these, approximately 1,200 buildings were not fully equipped so far. He said the department made efforts, and 350-400 schools were constructed (to make the buildings safe); however, there are some school buildings that may be in trouble, adding that these buildings are in a shambles during the monsoon. Bains said the buildings need immediate reconstruction.

Stopping of funds under SSA

He said that it was bad that funds under Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan were stopped by the Central Government. He said the project approval board report says the state has improved a lot and has set an example of how funds are used on infrastructure.

Meritorious, SOEs same

He also said there was no competition among the Meritorious Schools and Schools of Eminence, adding that both are treated equally by the department. The minister had a detailed interaction with the faculty members and the students and spoke about their experiences at the school. The students asked several questions of the minister, which were pleasantly answered by Bains.