Punjab cabinet's nod to increase parental participation in management of government schools

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab cabinet on Friday gave its nod to amend the Punjab Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2011 to increase the parental participation in the management of government schools and further enhance the quality of education.

A decision to this effect was taken in a meeting of the state cabinet held here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann at his office in Punjab Civil Secretariat, an official statement said.

The statement quoting a spokesperson of the Chief Minister's Office said the amendment aims to enhance parental and community participation in the School Management Committees to enable holistic academic development in government schools across the state.

This amendment proposes to enhance the number of members in the School Management Committee of government schools from 12 to 16, which includes 12 members from parents of students and four other members from allied fields such as education, sports and extra-curricular activities.

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This will provide specific expertise and increase parental participation and community involvement in subject-specific activities. In another significant decision, the cabinet also gave its consent to amend Transfer of Prisoner Act, 1950 to transfer the undertrial prisoners from one state to another.

This process will be carried out with the consent of both the states, where the undertrial prisoners are currently lodged and the state to which they are to be transferred and after approval of the trial court. This step will help ease the situation of overcrowding in jails of Punjab, the statement said.