Covid effect: 33K pupils move from private to govt schools in Punjab

Sanjeev Singh Bariana
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 12

The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed several private schools into a fiscal crisis in Punjab. As many as 33,132 students shifted from private to government schools in the state during the first week of the new academic session (2021-2022). In fact, a number of private schools have closed down over the past few months. Owner of a private school said, “Without any financial support from government, we were finding it difficult to pay our staff.

Better results attract people to govt schools

Better results of pre-school education are believed to be another main reason behind the increased rush for government schools. The government has spent considerably on making specially designed classrooms, besides recruiting 8,393 teachers.

When some of our staff have been laid off, we don’t have teachers to teach students. The government, in fact, should think seriously of coming to the help of private schools, financially.” “Private schools cannot compete with the government arrangement of holding online classes and providing education through television channels. Very few private schools have been able to manage the situation well. Parents are, thus, opting for government schools,” a teacher said.

Government authorities, meanwhile, have shown a lot of innovation and teacher participation in making the student contact programme successful. Education Secretary Krishan Kumar himself made use of the public address system of gurdwaras and visited homes “door-to-door” in various villages.

The data compiled by the Education Department indicated that the overall increase this year would outdo the increase of around 15 per cent recorded during the last academic session. The number of students in 2019-2020 was 24,02,548 and it rose to 27,20,616 in 2020-2021.

As per information, 3,450 students have shifted to government schools in Ludhiana, 3,145 in Hoshiarpur, 2,548 in Patiala, 2,178 in Gurdaspur, 2,080 in Bathinda, 2,041 in Jalandhar, 1,790 in Amritsar, 1,527 in Sangrur, 1,227 in Fatehgarh Sahib, 1,209 in Pathankot, 1,200 in Fazilka, 1,180 in Nawanshahr, 1,151 in Tarn Taran, 1,093 in Mohali, 1,089 in Ferozepur, 1,074 in Moga, 1,035 in Barnala, 1,005 in Ropar, 983 in Muktsar, 919 in Kapurthala, 635 in Faridkot and 573 in Mansa.

Better results of government pre-school education are believed to be another main reason behind the rush.

The shift

• Ludhiana 3,450
• Hoshiarpur 3,145
• Patiala 2,548
• Gurdaspur 2,178
• Bathinda 2,080
• Jalandhar 2,041
• Amritsar 1,790
• Sangrur 1,527
• Fatehgarh Sahib 1,227
• Pathankot 1,209
• Fazilka 1,200
• Nawanshahr 1,180
• Tarn Taran 1,151
• Mohali 1,093
• Ferozepur 1,089
• Moga 1,074
• Barnala 1,035
• Ropar 1,005
• Muktsar 983
• Kapurthala 919
• Faridkot 635
• Mansa 573