Ludhiana school heads asked to boost registrations under School of Eminence Scheme

The drive to induct students in all 117 schools out of which 16 are in Ludhiana had been started from February 21 onwards; the deadline is March 10

Even as the district hosts the highest number of government schools selected for the School of Eminence (SOE) scheme, it ranks low in terms of students registering for admissions. Only 2,840 students have registered for admissions so far despite the deadline being around the corner.

DEO (secondary) Harjit Singh says smaller districts which have fewer schools have more students registered, but in Ludhiana, the response has been tepid. (HT File)

The drive to induct students in all 117 schools out of which 16 are in Ludhiana had been started from February 21 onwards and an online portal was launched for registration for the entrance test to be held on March 19. The last date for registration is March 10.

The district witnessed the lowest registration. A meeting of school heads of all 553 upper-primary schools was held in view of the same, where they were directed by the education department officials to boost the numbers.

As per the education department, around 30,000 students will be admitted to the schools under SOE.

Citing the performance of other districts, DEO (secondary) Harjit Singh said many smaller districts which have fewer schools have more students registered, but in Ludhiana, the response has been tepid.

The DEO asked the school heads to visit the nearby schools to guide the students about the facilities.

Adding that batches of 35 students under the eminence scheme will be initiated along with regular classes, Singh said no information on the number of students to be enrolled under the SOE in each school has been shared by the department. He added that the same will be decided on the basis of the available infrastructure, teachers, and other facilities.

Increase enrollment: DEO to schools

Addressing the school heads, the DEO directed the school heads to conduct ground level campaigns to increase the student enrollment. The teachers must take one-to-one classes with the students who need assistance before the final exams of class 10 starting from March 24.

Under SOE, the selected schools which have students of Class 6 to 12 will focus on providing a better educational atmosphere to the students of Class 9 to 12, the rest of the classes will be discontinued gradually, one class per year. The DEO asked the school heads of the schools under the SOE to contact the nearby schools to get the students of class 6 to come to their schools and register there.

Selected schools which have students of Class 6 to 12 will focus on providing a better educational atmosphere to the students of Class 9 to 12, the rest of the classes will be discontinued gradually, one class per year.

In these classes, 75 percent of seats have been reserved for government school students while 25 percent of students will be selected from the other schools.

The schools which have been selected are GGSSS Shaheed-E_Azam Sukhdev Thapar, GMSSS Miller Ganj, GSSS Doraha, GSSS Jagraon, GSSS Sahnewal, GGSSS Khanna, GSSS Mundian Kalan, GSSS Gill, GSSS Samrala, GMSSS Model Town, GSSS Baddowal Cantt, GSSS Division no three, GSSS Jawahar Nagar, GSSS Kadiana Kalan, GSSS Dadhahur, GSSS Sekhewal.

Out of 16 schools, 11 are in urban areas while five fall into rural areas.