CM wants education standards to improve
Disappointed with the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) Class 10 results, chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, on Tuesday, asked education minister Aruna Chaudhary to prepare a blueprint for raising the standards of education.
The chief minister directed the finance department to make all necessary funds available to the education department to undertake urgent measures to improve the quality of education and infrastructure in government schools, an official spokesperson said.
The overall pass percentage in the PSEB Class 10 exam declared on Monday slipped to 57.5% this year from 72.2% in 2015-16. The pass percentage of girls was 63.9%, while that of boys was 52.3%.
Amarinder spoke to Chaudhary to express disappointment over the 15-point dip in students’ performance.
He asked her to personally work on an agenda to raise the standard of education and equip students to compete in the market for jobs and career progression.
“I am disturbed at the deteriorating standards of education in Punjab, as a result of which our children are falling by the wayside in the race for good jobs and professional career growth, with most of them even failing to clear the exams for getting into the armed forces,” he said.
Amarinder said the fact that only 24 students from government schools had made it to the merit list was a cause for concern, pinning the liability for the poor performance on the education department, as it is responsible for maintaining the standards of government schools and the overall quality of education in the state.
Earlier this month, Amarinder asked the principal secretary, finance, to make a special provision in the budget to ensure infrastructure in terms of electricity, furniture, toilets and playgrounds for students in all government schools of the state. The school education department was directed to work out the estimated expenditure for raising the demand with the finance department.
Amarinder has asked officials to expedite the process on a “war footing”.