Though the unprecedented pandemic Covid-19 has forced the closure of schools for the past about six months, the Education Department

Chandigarh: Though the unprecedented pandemic Covid-19 has forced the closure of schools for the past about six months, the Education Department as a whole and teachers in particular at the ground zero level, have virtually transformed this challenge into an opportunity.

Disclosing this here today Krishan Kumar, Secretary, School Education Department said that they have been forced to close schools to maintain social distance, still the department has taken new initiatives in the field of education and it has opened up new avenues during this pandemic.

Krishan Kumar

He said that the department adhering to the precautions of the Covid-19 has been accomplishing many tasks with incredible zest, be it ‘Mission Cent Percent’, ‘Smart Schools’, ‘English Medium’, ‘Each One, Bring One’, ‘Ghar Baithe Sikhia’, ‘Punjab Achievement Survey’.

"Vidhayak Muqable" to commemorate the 400th Parkash Purb of Sri Guru Teg Bahadur ji, distribution of text books, Mid Day Meal and above all strengthening bond with the parents in particular and society in general to make all the drives into mass movement. As a result, the change in public perception has visibly been witnessed.

The public has started reposing faith in Govt. Schools, which is quite evident from the fact that an increase in enrollment of about 3.45 Lakh students has been recorded, out of which more than 1.50 students have shifted from private schools.

Punjab School Education Board

Krishan Kumar said that the change in public perception is attributed to the augmentation of infrastructural facilities, quality education and the affectionate care being provided by the dedicated teachers.

Now, the challenge before the Department is to fulfill the hopes and aspirations of the parents, who have got their wards shifted from the private schools as well as those belonging to rural background to provide them conducive environment for developing skills in English language along with our mother tongue Punjabi so that their wards can face the challenges of the present era.

As per feedback, the majority of parents do expect that the government schools should provide an environment where their wards can speak fluent English. However, this should not be at the cost of our mother tongue Punjabi, he said.

Punjab governmentKeeping in view the hopes and aspirations of the parents of students of our government schools, our hardworking teachers have come out with another innovative initiative- English Booster Clubs (E.B.C.).

The Secretary, School Education said that the E.B.C. will provide good environment where all of our students and teachers can participate and share knowledge.

The main emphasis will be to remove all type of hesitations which one faces while speaking English. He hoped that this initiative of Teachers like many other initiatives including Welcome Life will bring good results.