The students of government schools in Punjab will get uniforms and books by February 28, before the next academic session, the state Assembly was informed today.
State Education Minister Aruna Chowdhary shared this information while allaying the fears of MLAs regarding the Punjab School Education Board (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
Chaudhary said that quality education was being ensured by the Punjab Government. The state government has taken a revolutionary step by starting pre-primary classes and Punjab has become the first state to undertake such a measure, she said.
Now, kids of 3-6 years of age would be able to take admission in pre-primary classes in government schools, she said. Earlier, children under six years of age were faced with the option to sit at home or take admission in the private schools, the minister added.
To a query concerning the highhandedness of private schools, she said the regulatory authority is doing its job and if any school increases the fees more than 8 times then the parents or the students can lodge a complaint with the commissioner at the divisional level.
The minister while speaking on the issue of closing 800 schools said the government was only merging schools having less than 20 students with nearby schools.
She said that many schools in the state had less than five students.
Chaudhary said that for constructive educational atmosphere in the state, there ought to be atleast 20 students in a school.
Elaborating on recruitment of teachers, the minister said that recently 1,600 teachers were recruited and the process of recruiting 3,582 teachers is under process.
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