Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann welcomes principals back from Singapore tour

NEW DELHI: Welcoming the first batch of 36 principals who returned after training at Singapore, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday said the paradigm shift of equipping them with the best global teaching practices has heralded a new era of education revolution in the state.

Interacting with the principals in the presence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Mann said the enhanced and enriched expertise of the principals will help in grooming the future of the students. It is a red-letter day in the history of the state as these principals will act as a catalyst in imparting quality education to the students, Mann said.

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The chief minister said the state government has started the programme with the aim to rejuvenate the education system in the state on one hand and to ensure a bright future for the students on the other, according to an official statement. He said this first-of-its-kind initiative by the state government is part of a scheme for teachers' foreign training cleared by the Cabinet.

Speaking about the "unique" initiative, he said when a new policy is introduced, voices of dissent crop up. But, I will never hesitate to take any decision which is in the interests of the state, he said. Mann said he is well aware of the basic problems of teachers as he is the son of a teacher.

He said his government will utilise the services of teachers only for teaching and not for any other work. The chief minister said he had got a letter from the Union government to depute teachers for census duty but he categorically refused and asked them to deploy educated youngsters for the job. Exhorting the teachers to become role models for students, the chief minister said the programme aims at enhancing the professional skills of the teaching fraternity so that they can deliver the best quality education to students.

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Mann said the initiative will open doors of quality education for the students of government schools thereby, enabling them to compete with their convent-educated peers and excel in life. The chief minister said as part of this guarantee, the first batch of 36 government school principals had gone to Singapore on February 4 for professional training. These principals, during their stay in Singapore, had participated in a professional teacher training seminar from February 6-10, he said.

Mann said after the completion of training, the first batch returned on Saturday. Addressing the gathering, the Delhi chief minister said the knowledge-sharing interaction will prove fruitful in the coming times and stressed that it will become a regular feature in future. Sharing his experiences to rejuvenate the education sector, Kejriwal said he is a votary to imbibe positive energy in principals and teachers through such programmes, besides laying thrust on building and upgrading infrastructure.

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When we delivered results, people showed interest in enrolling their wards in government schools instead of private schools, he said. The Delhi CM said it is a matter of great pride and satisfaction that the reformatory work in health and education done by AAP in Delhi over a period of years was accomplished by Punjab in merely in 10 months under the leadership of Mann.

He also hit out at those "creating undue obstacles" in the way of the Delhi government trying to implement pro-poor initiatives in the national capital. The various designs of these people will never succeed and this pro-poor initiative will soon be implemented in Delhi, he asserted. Advocating international training for teachers, Kejriwal said global learning experience is the need of hour to groom the students for future challenges.