Now Reading: 3.6 lakh students moved from private to Punjab govt schools since 2022
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3.6 lakh students moved from private to Punjab govt schools since 2022
Punjab education minister Harjot Singh Bains on Tuesday said 3.6 lakh students have shifted from private to government schools since the Aam Aadmi Party government took office in March 2022. He credited the trend to improved infrastructure, teacher training and learning outcomes, claiming Rs 2,300 crore has been spent on school upgrades in four and a half years.
Bains said the government inherited a system where over 5,000 schools had no functional toilets, 4 lakh children sat on the floor and 500 schools lacked drinking water. He said investments have added 13,920 new toilets, 2 lakh desks, over 9,000 classrooms and labs, and 10,000 interactive panels. All government schools now have Wi-Fi and 99.9% have boundary walls, he claimed.
On academic results, Bains said 786 government school students qualified JEE and 2,166 cleared NEET in the past four years. NEET-UG qualifiers from government schools rose from 80 in 2021 to 882 in 2026, he said. He also claimed Punjab topped the NITI Aayog Report 2026-27 on classroom learning outcomes, ahead of Kerala.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The 3.6 lakh figure, if independently verified, would mark one of the largest student shifts from private to government schools in any Indian state in recent years. Punjab has around 19,000 government schools and about 13,000 recognised private schools. The AAP government's heavy infrastructure spending follows years of complaints about dilapidated school buildings, especially in rural areas. However, the quality of learning outcomes beyond exam results and the sustainability of the shift once post-pandemic distortions fade will be key tests. The next state budget, expected in March, will show whether this spending pace continues.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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