Chandigarh, 18 August (H.S.): Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains on Tuesday presented a four-and-a-half-year status report on school education, claiming that the Bhagwant Mann government has transformed the state’s education system through a ₹2,300-crore reform programme. He said Punjab has surpassed Kerala to emerge as No. 1 in school education in the NITI Aayog Report 2026-27.

Addressing a press conference at Punjab Bhawan, Bains said 3.64 lakh students have shifted from private to government schools since 2022, which, according to him, reflects growing public confidence in government schools.

He said the government inherited serious infrastructure gaps in 2022, including schools without functional toilets, boundary walls, drinking water and adequate furniture. Since then, 13,920 toilets have been constructed, two lakh desks distributed and over 9,000 classrooms and laboratories built. More than 10,000 interactive panels have been installed, while 5,012 schools have received advanced computer labs. He added that all government schools now have Wi-Fi and 99.9 per cent have boundary walls.

Bains said government schools have also been provided sports facilities such as swimming pools, shooting ranges, basketball and tennis courts, kabaddi mats, wrestling and boxing rings.

The minister highlighted teacher training initiatives, saying principals were sent to Singapore, primary teachers to Finland and headmasters to IIM Ahmedabad. Ex-servicemen have also been deployed as campus managers in senior secondary schools, while larger schools have been provided security guards and monthly cleaning funds.

On academic performance, Bains said 786 government school students qualified JEE and 2,166 cleared NEET over the last four years. He said NEET-UG qualifiers increased from 80 in 2021 to 882 in 2026, while 361 students qualified JEE Main and 64 cleared JEE Advanced.

He also highlighted initiatives such as Artificial Intelligence education from Classes I to XII, the Business Blasters programme involving 2.30 lakh students, 40 skill education schools, free bus services for over 15,000 students daily and a cap of 5 per cent on annual school fee hikes.

Bains said more than 7,000 schools were affected by floods in 2023 and 2025, and 500 severely damaged schools are being restored with World Bank support. He said the government’s next target is to ensure that within two years, no government school in Punjab lacks essential facilities.

Hindusthan Samachar / GURSHARAN SINGH