Education Minister O.P. Soni today said that the department has decided that District Education Officers (DEOs) and Principals of the Schools would be made accountable for the poor academic results in their respective schools.Interacting with the media persons after reviewing the implementation of the government schemes in the district here today at District Administrative Complex, the Minister said that if the result of any school was below 70% in the current academic year then the concerned DEO and the Principal of the school would face strict action by the department. He said that the sole motive was to ensure that the level of Education was improved in the state. Mr. Soni said that teachers and the DEOs have been passed these directions and have been asked to ensure that the results in their schools were the best.Slamming the previous Akali-BJP government in the state, the Minister said that due to their decade long misrule the state lagged behind in Education sector. However, he said that now the Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has accorded top priority to Education and Health, which were the two key sectors concerned with the masses. Mr. Soni said that the state government would restore the pristine glory of the state in Education sector.
The Minister said that the state government was spending Rs 1000 crore for infrastructural development in the government schools. He said that currently around 25 lakh students were studying in 15,000 government schools across the state. Mr. Soni said that besides introducing new Transfer policy shortly recruitment drive has been initiated for overcoming shortage of the staff adding that IELTS has been introduced in government schools with an aim to enable the students of the government schools to compete with their peers globally.Likewise, the Minister said that Smart Classes were being constructed in the government schools to ensure that students were imparted quality education. He said that a special provision of Rs 120 crore has been made to give facelift to the schools with dilapidated buildings. Mr. Sharma said that MLAs from all the 117 assembly segments have been asked to submit list of 10 unsafe school buildings in their respective constituencies, so that they could be upgraded.Prominent amongst others present on the occasion included MLAs Mr. Pargat Singh, Mr. Sushil Kumar Rinku, Mr. Rajinder Beri, Chaudhary Surinder Singh and Mr. Hardev Singh Laddi, Mayor Municipal Corporation Jalandhar Mr. Jagdish Raj Raja, President of District Congress Mr. Daljit Singh Ahluwalia, Additional Deputy Commissioners Mr. Jitendra Jorwal and Mr. Jasbir Singh, Commissioner of Municipal Corporation Mr. Diperva Lakra, Chief Executive Officer Smart Office Mr. Vishesh Sarangal and others.