Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday ordered the constitution of a core group of teachers from across the state, including the border areas, to suggest reforms in the school education system.The Chief Minister issued the necessary directions to Secretary School Education in this regard during a high-level meeting to review the results of Class X and XII of the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB).The core group, which will focus on bringing reforms in the existing curriculum to bring it at par with that of private and convent schools, will submit its report by June 15, according to an official spokesperson.Captain Amarinder offered full support by the state government for providing necessary infrastructure and manpower for the development of government schools, said the spokesperson, adding that the meeting was attended by Education Minister OP Soni, along with top brass of School Education Department, besides representatives of teaching staff.Secretary Education Krishan Kumar informed the Chief Minister that there was 5% and 7% improvement, respectively, in the Class X and XII results, even though the department had cracked down completely on unfair practices during the examinations.
The Chief Minister, while directing the core group to put in place a mechanism to stimulate student interest in education, urged it to involve teachers with a track record of achieving 100% results in Class X and XII in the improvement process. He assured of all steps by the government to overcome shortage of teaching staff in schools and to ensure regular upgradation of the skills of the teachers.He directed the education minister to ensure time-bound implementation of reforms and also sought from the Education department a detailed proposal for the introduction of foreign languages such as French, Chinese and German etc. in the schools as optional subjects to equip the students to compete in the global job market.The Chief Minister also reviewed the progress in the 'Padho Punjab, Padhao Punjab' programme, lauding the efforts made by teachers to promote the same.Captain Amarinder Singh instructed the Education Minister to honour the school teachers who have excelled in achieving better results on the occasions of Independence and Republic days in order to motivate them and exemplify their services for others to emulate.Prominent amongst others present in the meeting were Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh, Principal Secretary Finance Anirudh Tiwari, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Tejveer Singh, Special Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, Secretary Education Krishan Kumar, Director General School Education Prashant Kumar Goyal, Chairman PSEB Manohar Kant Kalohia, Secretary Punjab School Education Board Hargunjit Kaur, DPI Schools Paramjit Singh and DPI Elementary Inderjit Singh.