Chandigarh: Punjab School Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains kick-started a statewide campaign for boosting student enrollment in government schools at Government Primary Smart School, Phase-2, SAS Nagar, on Thursday.
To launch the campaign aimed at increasing access to quality education, Bains flagged off a specially designed van equipped with banners and loudspeakers. A total of 23 such vans will traverse all 228 educational blocks in Punjab to amplify the campaign's reach and encourage parents to enroll their children in government schools. He further highlighted the department's goal to increase enrollment in pre-primary schools by 10%. Last year, over 3.51 lakh students were enrolled in the state's 13,100 pre-primary schools.
The School Education Minister said that this enrollment drive would play a pivotal role in identifying out-of-school children, promoting government school admissions, and strengthening community engagement to ensure universal access to education. Local MLAs, Deputy Commissioners, SDMs, local public figures, School Management Committees (SMCs) members, panchayats, and all school heads will participate in the drive.
The main objective of the campaign is to raise awareness among parents and the community about the importance of education and encourage them to enroll their children in school, he added.
Sharing the achievements of the School Education Department, Bains said that 189 students from government schools have cracked the JEE Mains examination this year. This laudable accomplishment is a testament to the quality of education in government schools.