Punjab school education department enrolls over one lakh students in a day

CHANDIGARH: Punjab School Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains on Saturday said the department has set a benchmark by enrolling over one lakh students in a single day.

The minister said that on the very first day of a special admission campaign, the target of enrolling one lakh new students in government schools has been achieved. The department has recorded 1,00,298 admissions during the campaign organised on Friday between 8 am to 10 pm, Bains said.

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"The enthusiasm could be gauged from the fact that even as the server of the departmental website was down, the admission work continued till late at night," the minister said in a statement, adding that many students on a large scale have shifted in government schools from private schools.

He said that district Fatehgarh Sahib registered 134.6 per cent admissions against the target, while students in Ferozepur, Barnala, Amritsar, Bathinda, Kapurthala, Patiala, SBS Nagar, Malerkotla, Fazilka, Tarn Taran and Sangrur also enrolled in government schools in a high number.

"It is quite clear from the overwhelming response to the admission campaign that the people have endorsed the policies of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann-led government," he said. Bains said that the state government has taken many initiatives such as launching schools of eminence, providing uniforms and books well in time, ensuring clean bathrooms and constructing new rooms and boundary walls for ensuring qualitative school education.

Besides this, the state government has recruited teachers in large numbers in the past year, he added. The minister said that this campaign will continue till March 31 in every government school in the state.