Teachers prefer govt over private schools for their kids in Punjab

More than 2,000 teachers and education dept officials opted for government schools in the enrolment drive that ended on April 30

A growing number of schoolteachers and education department officials are admitting their children in government schools in Punjab.

A poster that was part of the enrolment drive during which teachers and education department officials got their children admitted to government schools in Punjab.

Figures released by the education department show that more than 2,000 teachers and officials chose to admit their children in government schools instead of private ones during the enrolment drive till April 30. There are 314 such teachers and education department employees in Fazilka district, the highest in the state, followed by 298 in Bathinda, 208 in Ludhiana, 174 in Patiala and 120 in Fatehgarh Sahib.

In the Doaba region, 91 such teachers and employees in Jalandhar, 55 in Hoshiarpur, 44 in Kapurthala and 41 in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar admitted their children in government schools.

Punjab education secretary Krishan Kumar said that infrastructure in government schools has improved and so has the teaching-learning process over the past few years. “School teachers have put in concerted efforts at the cutting edge. By admitting their wards in government schools, the teachers have reposed faith in their own capabilities, which in turn, gave a fillip to the enrolment drive,” he said.

Smart schools draw 3.86 lakh more students

There are 12,976 smart schools in the state. Nearly 3.86 lakh more students have taken admission in government schools across the state since 2017. There were 22,91,840 students in government schools in the 2017-18 academic session, while 26,78,399 students took admission in 2020-21.

Kulwant Rai, a teacher at the government primary school at Rurka Kalan, who got his four-year-old daughter admitted in kindergarten in the same school, said: “Now, government schools develop the overall personality of kids.”

Naresh Kumar, computer teacher at Chandpur Rurka, shifted his daughter from a private school to get her admitted in Class 6 in a government school, saying the smart schools have the competitive edge.

Extra-curricular activities, English medium draw students

Rajinder Singh, a teacher at Government Primary School, Rastgo, in Bhogpur block of Jalandhar got his son and daughter admitted to the school as it offers opportunities for all-round development through extra-curricular activities unlike private schools that limit themselves to the syllabus.

Gurpreet Kaur, a teacher at the Government Primary School at Vimpalke village, said she chose the school for her daughter, who is a kindergarten student, since English medium has been introduced in government schools. “It’s the need of the hour. When there is complete infrastructure in government schools, why pay extra fee in private schools?”

Over 1.31 lakh children took admission this year

As many as 1,31,261 students shifted from private to government schools during the ongoing enrolment drive that ended on April 30. Of them, 15,398 are students in Ludhiana district, the highest in the state, followed by Patiala with 10,807 students, Hoshiarpur with 10,559 and Jalandhar with 8,854 students.

A total of 18,912 students from private schools took admission in Class 4 and 16,829 students joined in Class 10.