Rs 3638 cr spent on infrastructure upgradation of 19,125 school: Harjot Bains

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Chandigarh, August 6
Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains on Thursday said that the state has emerged as the top performer in the NITI Aayog School Education Quality Index 2026, saying years of investment in infrastructure, teaching and student support have transformed government schools.

Speaking during a discussion on an education-related resolution in the Punjab Assembly on Thursday, Bains said the state had moved from struggling with basic facilities in 2022 to producing hundreds of successful competitive exam candidates and introducing Artificial Intelligence as a core subject from Classes I to XII.

Recalling the condition of schools when he took charge in July 2022, the minister said more than 8,000 government schools lacked boundary walls, around 3,200 had no functional toilets and nearly four lakh children were forced to sit on classroom floors. He also said textbooks often reached schools months after the academic session had begun.

According to Bains, the situation has changed significantly, with textbooks now reaching district headquarters by mid-February and being distributed before the new academic year begins.

The minister said he had personally visited more than 2,000 government schools, including those in border and remote areas, to monitor improvements and understand local challenges.

Highlighting the government’s flagship Mission Samarth, Bains said the programme groups students according to their learning levels rather than their age or class, helping children strengthen basic reading, writing and mathematics skills before moving ahead. The initiative now covers nearly 12 lakh students and involves more than 70,000 teachers each year, he added.

Bains said government school students have also recorded a sharp improvement in competitive examinations. According to him, the number of students from government schools qualifying the NEET-UG medical entrance examination has risen from 80 in 2021 to 882 in 2026 under the Punjab Academic Coaching for Excellence (PACE) programme.

He cited the example of Harnoorpreet Kaur, who secured an All India Rank of 3,140 in her category and highlighted successful students from government schools in Majitha and Dinanagar as evidence of the sector’s progress.

Responding to criticism over falling enrolment in government schools, Bains argued that the trend reflected a nationwide post-pandemic pattern rather than a Punjab-specific issue. He referred to enrolment declines in states including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra and said the introduction of the APAAR student identification system had also helped remove duplicate enrolments.

The minister said infrastructure projects worth ₹2,638 crore have been completed across 19,125 government schools while an additional ₹1,000 crore in World Bank funding has been approved for further upgrades.

He also highlighted the redevelopment of several Schools of Eminence, including one in Ludhiana named after freedom fighter Shaheed Sukhdev Thapar, where he said ₹18 crore is being invested and 17 students cleared NEET this year.

Bains said the Punjab government aims to make government schools the preferred choice for families by improving infrastructure, teaching quality and learning outcomes. He added that schools are now receiving adequate funding, eliminating the need for teachers to seek donations for routine operations.