Punjab launches campaign to boost government school enrollment

To strengthen the enrollment drive in Punjab, School Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains launched a statewide campaign to boost student admissions in government schools.

The initiative was inaugurated on Thursday at Government Primary Smart School, Phase-2, SAS Nagar.

As part of the campaign, a specially designed van equipped with banners and loudspeakers was flagged off to spread awareness. A total of 23 such vans will travel across all 228 educational blocks in Punjab, encouraging parents to enroll their children in government schools.

The minister emphasized the department’s goal of increasing enrollment in pre-primary schools by 10%. Last year, over 3.51 lakh students were enrolled in Punjab’s 13,100 pre-primary schools.

This enrollment drive aims to identify out-of-school children, promote government school admissions, and enhance community engagement for universal access to education. Local MLAs, Deputy Commissioners, SDMs, public figures, School Management Committees (SMCs), panchayats, and school heads will actively participate in the initiative. The objective is to raise awareness among parents and the community about the importance of education and encourage school enrollment.

Highlighting the achievements of the School Education Department, Bains shared that 189 students from government schools successfully cleared the JEE Mains examination this year. He praised their success as a testament to the quality of education in government institutions and congratulated both the students and their teachers for this accomplishment.

He also outlined the efforts of the Punjab Government, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, in improving school education and infrastructure over the past three years. Government schools have been equipped with essential amenities, including Wi-Fi, furniture, separate toilets for boys and girls, and transportation facilities for students in Schools of Eminence and 17 girls’ schools. Additionally, over 10,000 new classrooms have been built, 6,000 classrooms renovated, and 1,300 km of boundary walls constructed in 8,000 government schools.

The event was also attended by Director SCERT Amaninder Kaur Brar, Director School Education (Secondary) Paramjit Singh, and other senior officials of the department.