Covid proves boon for Punjab govt schools department; 3.30 lacs children enrolled in pre-primary wing
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in
The Punjab Government has transformed the school education in the state during current year, by taking the decisions to distribute smart phones to the students, to provide free education to all the students from pre-primary to XII, to make great strides towards building smart schools, to fill the vacancies about 15,000 teachers and to improve the school infrastructure.
Under the visionary leadership of Chief Minister Punjab Capt. Amrinder Singh and the guidance of Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla, the School Education Department has launched a campaign to provide free smart phones to 1.74 lakh students studying in Class XII in government schools. At the same time a revolutionary decision has been taken to provide free education to all students from pre-primary to class XII.
According to a spokesperson of the school education department, the process has been started to fill the vacancies of 8393 teachers for pre-primary education during the current year. The posts of 154 Principals, 672 Head Teachers, 38 Block Primary Education Officers, 375 Centre Head Teachers and 1558 Head Teachers have been appointed. Simultaneously, recruitment process of 3704 posts of Master Cadre, 2364 posts of ETT Cadre and recruitment of 173 Principals, 337 Headmasters and 75 Block Primary Education Officers has been started through direct recruitment.
According to the spokesperson, the education department has also made great strides in increasing the enrolment in govt schools and also achieved marvellous results this year. As many as 3.30 lakh children have been enrolled in pre-primary classes in government schools across the state. The enrolment of students in government schools has increased by a record 14.08 per cent this time. Government schools performed brilliantly with 96.95 per cent pass percentage in the Class XII results for March 2020. The department has also introduced a new subject ‘Welcome Life’ to develop moral values in students from pre-primary to class XII. At the same time, steps have been taken to enhance the English language skills of the students.
During the lockdown due to COVID-19, the ‘Educare App’ was also launched to provide online education to the students of government schools and to keep them constantly connected with the curriculum. The teachers have been teaching the students regularly during Corona time by setting up online video and audio classrooms under the ‘Home Sitting Education’ program.
For the first time under the direction of Singla, the Education Department conducted a “Punjab Achievement Survey” to assess the learning outcomes of the students. This has increased the knowledge of the students. The Education Department also conducted Orientation program under the Capacity Building for all the teachers and staff.
To provide better learning facilities and constructive environment to the students, 6832 smart schools have been set up in the state and Rs. 341.17 crore has been spent for the construction of 4543 new classrooms in government schools. An amount of Rs. 35.15 crore has been spent for providing furniture in schools. Meanwhile, the projectors and tablets have also been provided to schools in the state. According to the spokesperson, new computer labs have been set up in 613 schools and 3048 new toilets have been constructed in government schools.
According the spokesperson, students participated enthusiastically in the online educational competitions dedicated to the 400th birth anniversary of Sri Guru Teg Bahadur ji.
December 29,2020
