Education Dept plans to boost enrolment in primary schools

Banking on Punjab’s recent achievement of ranking number one in the country in the field of education as per the National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2024, primary government schools in the district are asking teachers to go door-to-door to convince parents to enroll their children in government schools. Apart from visiting houses, teachers are also taking the help of NGOs and Sarpanches in the area for their mission.

District education officials have been directed to oversee enrolment drives in primary schools as the focus is on increasing admissions over last year. Kanwaljit Singh Sandhu, District Education Officer (Elementary and Secondary), Amritsar, has been visiting schools in the district to oversee the admissions and has also constituted teams in each school to take charge of door-to-door campaign.

“Over the last few years, government schools in Punjab have undergone tremendous development and technological upgrade. The recent top ranking in National Achievement Survey 2024, outshining states like Kerala where there is 100 per cent literacy rate, is another positive outcome of this improvement. The government schools are offering free facilities to the students while they push to become at par with private schools in every aspect,” he said.

Earlier in March this year, the department had announced a mega enrolment drive for admissions to government schools in senior classes. The department had claimed to achieve an increase in enrolments by 20 per cent as compared to 2024.

The teachers from primary schools, however, are now spending two to three hours in the field to visit homes and ask parents to enroll their kids in government schools. “The recent development works being undertaken in several schools under Sikhiya Kranti drive have left a positive impression on parents, especially in the rural belt. We hope that this year, we will be able to improve our numbers over previous years,” said CHT Narinder Singh Khiala, from Government Elementary School, Khiala Kalan.

Amritsar