• Education Minister calls for unified support to fulfil the dream of quality education for every child in Punjab
*•It is a fight against private school mafia and powerful negative forces that profited from neglect of Govt education: Bains
Chandigarh/ SAS Nagar, April 7:*
Launching a scathing attack on opposition leaders, the Punjab Education Minister S. Harjot Singh Bains, on Monday, slammed their criticism of the Punjab Government’s education reforms as hypocritical and self-serving.
Addressing the inauguration event organised at Government Senior Secondary School, Phase-11 Mohali under “Sikhya Kranti”, the Education Minister said, “Those who neglected government schools for decades are now seems to have problem seeing ‘Padhda Punjab’. When Punjab’s education system was failing, they remained silent. Now that our children are thriving, they feel threatened.”
S. Harjot Singh Bains underlined the significant improvements made since the Aam Aadmi Party led government took office in the state. He said,” We inherited approximately 20,000 government schools in deplorable conditions—without boundary walls, without proper bathrooms, without adequate educational facilities for our children. Today, nearly every government school in Punjab has boundary walls, functional and separate toilets for girls & boys, furniture, drinking water facilities and 90% have WiFi connectivity,” he said, while adding that yet, instead of appreciating this progress, leaders of previous governments question why these developments are being inaugurated.
The Education Minister, while particularly stressing the government’s commitment to providing equitable educational opportunities, said that 189 students from government schools have recently cleared JEE Mains, a remarkable achievement that showcasing the effectiveness of our reforms.
“It is a fight against the private school mafia and powerful negative forces that profited from the neglect of government education,” said S. Harjot Singh Bains, adding that “The opponents are comfortable when their children attend expensive private schools having security guards and modern facilities, but feel threatened when poor children receive the same quality education.”
S. Harjot Singh Bains said that he personally visited over 1200 schools across districts including Ferozepur, Fazilka and Tarn Taran, some multiple times, to ensure proper implementation of all the reforms on ground.
“Being Punjab’s Education Minister is not easy, it was previously called the department of protests. But we are committed to our promise that we made to the people who gave 92 seats to AAP under the leadership of Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann”, he added.
While acknowledging that completely transforming 20,000 schools serving around 28 lakh students is a long journey, the EM Harjot Singh Bains stressed that significant progress has been made in just three years. “If every child in Punjab receives quality education, wouldn’t that benefit us all? Education will thrive, Punjab will thrive and our children will thrive,” said the Education Minister, calling for unified support to fulfil the dream of quality education for every child in Punjab.
