Mann said that to upscale the expertise of the teachers, they were being sent abroad and within the country for professional training.
Published Sep 14, 2023 | 12:31 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 14, 2023 | 12:31 PM
Punjab CM Bhagawant Mann and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal during the inauguration. (X)
In what is bound to revolutionise education in Punjab, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced an overhaul of school education in the state at a whopping ₹1,600 crore.
Kejriwal who was in Amritsar on Wednesday, 13 September, to inaugurate the state’s very first School of Eminence addressed the ‘Sikhiya Kranti Rally’ along with Mann.
Addressing the gathering Mann said that ₹358 crore would be spent on the construction of boundary walls in over 7000 schools, ₹25 crore on benches and furniture, ₹60 crore for washrooms and ₹800 crore to build 10,000 new classrooms, which is underway.
Each school would also get a campus manager along with two security guards.
“After Delhi now Punjab is in for an educational revolution. We firmly believe education to be the tool that could change the fate of youth and eventually the state. Within six months all schools in the state will be equipped with internet facilities,” said Mann.
“Artificial Intelligence (AI) courses will be introduced in government schools across the state and teachers will be trained for them. The state that excelled in the green revolution and white revolution will now be the front runner in the education revolution,” he added.
Mann further said that ultra-modern state-of-the-art infrastructure was created in the schools of the state.
He said that to upscale the expertise of the teachers, they were being sent abroad and within the country for professional training.
“Students are also being sent to places like ISRO and others for enhancing their knowledge”, added Mann.
Attacking the previous governments Mann said that this revolution should have started 70 years ago but unfortunately, it never happened.
“Education was a key need but never became a priority for 70 years. During previous regimes ‘smart schools’ were merely of name due to lack of facilities. We have converted them into smart ones in a real sense,” said the chief minister.
“Things will change now and this school of eminence is the example. It will transform the destiny of students, especially from weaker and underprivileged sections of society,” he added.
Mann said that the state government set up a School of Eminence on the land where drugs were openly distributed in the past.
He said that this first hi-tech school would transform the destiny of students of the state and would act as a catalyst in providing quality education.
Mann, while crediting Kejriwal for laying the foundation stone of this revolution during the crusade against corruption from Delhi’s Ram Leela Ground, said that people could see results in Punjab also.
Taking a jibe at his political opponents, Mann said even though those leaders didn’t have the knowledge about Punjab they were giving sermons to the state government.
Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday asserted that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was the only political outfit that asked for votes on the promise of providing quality education.
The AAP supremo, who was in Amritsar to inaugurate a School of Eminence, quoted Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan from his latest blockbuster film Jawan, in which the actor asked people to choose their leader wisely.
In the movie Jawan, Shah Rukh Khan said not to give votes based on religion and caste and instead ask them (candidates) if they could provide good education and medical aid.
“Today, there is only one party — AAP — that asks for votes on the promise of providing education to their children,” Kejriwal told the media.
He also opposed the much-debated simultaneous polls, asking the public not to let this system be implemented. He said in such a situation, the politicians would not show the voters their faces frequently.
