Punjab education dept sends notices to DEOs for failing to meet enrolment target

The Punjab education department has issued notices to district education officers (DEOs) for failing to achieve the enrolment target

Sangrur : The Punjab education department has issued notices to district education officers (DEOs) for failing to achieve the enrolment target.

The Punjab education department has issued notices to district education officers (DEOs) for failing to achieve the enrolment target.

There are around 12,880 primary, 2,670 middle, 1,740 high and 1,972 senior secondary schools in Punjab. Around 27.95 lakh students were enrolled in the academic session 2022-23 and the education department had given the target of 10% increase in enrolment from the last academic year, said officials privy to the matter.

The districts that failed to achieve the target include Sangrur, Barnala, Bathinda, Patiala, Mohali, Faridkot, Moga, Rupnagar, Hoshiarpur, among others.

Officials familiar with the matter say these districts managed to increase admissions, but did not meet the target of 10% jump in enrolment. The notices were served under Section 5 and 10 of the Punjab Civil Services Rules, 1970.

Since the admissions for the current academic session began on April 1, 29.22 lakh students have been enrolled in government schools, up from 27.95 lakh in 2022-23.

To encourage more parents to send their wards to school, the education department had started a door-to-door awareness drive this year. A special admission campaign was also organised on March 10, where the department claims to have enrolled over 1 lakh students in a single day

“I have received the notice but I did not issue it further to block primary education officers. I have given them time till Monday. If they fail to meet the target by then, I will be forced to take action against them,” said Sangrur DEO Shivraj Kapoor.”

Barnala DEO SS Toor said: “We are very close to the target and will achieve it in the upcoming two-three days.”

“I have issued notices of BPEOs of those blocks where the enrolment jump is below 10%,” Moga DEO Anita Puri said.

Vikram Dev Singh, state president of the Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF), said: “The department is threatening teachers through notices. Instead of issuing notices, the department should take steps to improve the education system and admission rate. We condemn the show cause notice and demand withdrawal of these notices.”

When contacted, special secretary, school education, Churchill Kumar said: “The notices are official communication and I cannot reveal the details.”