No government school will function with single or no teacher by March, says Punjab education minister

CHANDIGARH: There will be no government school in Punjab with a single or no teachers in Punjab by March, the state government informed the assembly on Wednesday.

Of the 20,000 state-run schools, 3,500 were either teacherless or working with a single teacher before the Bhagwant Mann dispensation assumed charge in March 2022, education minister Harjot Singh Bains said during Question Hour on the concluding day of the assembly's two-day session. "Now, the number of such schools is less than 600. By March, Punjab will be the first state in the country where there will be no school without a teacher or (with) a single teacher," Bains informed the House.

The minister was replying to a question from Shiromani Akali Dal MLA Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi, who sought to know if there is any policy of reservation in admissions for the education of children belonging to Scheduled Caste, backward classes and economically weaker families in private schools. The minister also informed that all 20,000 government schools will be equipped with WiFi by March. "So far, the WiFi system has been installed in 4,000 schools," he said.

He further said 10,000 new classrooms are being set up. Free and quality education is being provided to students of all classes in government and government-aided schools, according to the Right to Education Act, Bains said in response to the MLA's question. "Each student, irrespective of social category/class/economic status/or any other parameters, has the right of admission to government and government-aided schools. All possible efforts are being made by the government to improve the standard in schools," said Bains.

Replying to a question on Schools of Eminence by Congress MLA Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, the education minister said the state government proposed to convert 117 government senior secondary schools into Schools of Eminence. "Government Senior Secondary School Chheharta, Amritsar, has been converted into a School of Eminence from March 2022," he said.

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As the schools to be converted into Schools of Eminence already have excess land available, the government has not acquired any new land. New blocks are being constructed on this excess available land in 60 schools, Bains said. A provision of Rs 204.80 crore was made in the budget for 2023-24 for these schools, the minister added.