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Punjab conducts fourth mega parent-teacher meeting; over 2.33 million parents attend
Education department says MLAs and senior officials visited more than 7,500 government schools as part of the exercise.
Punjab’s school education department on Saturday held the fourth edition of its statewide “mega” parent-teacher meeting (PTM), reporting participation from more than 2.33 million parents across government schools.
Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains attended the state-level programme at the Government Senior Secondary School (Girls) in Sri Anandpur Sahib. Aam Aadmi Party’s Punjab in-charge Manish Sisodia participated in the PTM at the Government Senior Secondary Smart School, Paddi Sura Singh, in Hoshiarpur district, according to the department.
The department said the drive also involved visits by legislators and senior officials to schools across the state. These included School Education Secretary Anindita Mitra, SCERT Director Kiran Sharma, deputy commissioners and other officers, who collectively visited more than 7,500 schools during the event.
Officials said the initiative is designed to strengthen engagement between parents and teachers and to encourage parents to play a more active role in their children’s learning and overall development, including academic, emotional and social aspects. The PTM covers students from pre-primary to senior secondary classes, the department said.
As part of preparations, the department stated that over 40,000 teachers—at least one from each government school—received structured training at block and cluster levels to conduct parent workshops. These workshops are intended to provide a common framework for discussions with parents and to align messaging across schools.
According to the department, each PTM begins with a parent workshop lasting about one to one-and-a-half hours, followed by parent-teacher interactions. Handouts are also provided to parents during the sessions. The workshop component focuses on clarifying the role parents can play at home, encouraging consistent and positive participation in a child’s education, and building coordination among teachers, parents and school management committees (SMCs).
The department said SMC members support the process by coordinating with parents, mobilising attendance and assisting in the logistics of the sessions. It added that trained teachers facilitate structured dialogue, which is intended to help parents better understand their child’s learning progress and needs.
During PTM discussions, teachers and parents are encouraged to begin by acknowledging student efforts and parental support, the department said. The conversations then cover areas such as students’ interests, aspirations and academic progress, with feedback exchanged between teachers and parents.
The department said it expects the regular, structured engagement to contribute to better learning outcomes and improved attendance, while also supporting students’ emotional well-being by strengthening coordination between home and school. This PTM is part of a series of similar statewide exercises conducted by the department to expand parental participation in school education.
