Chandigarh, April 4: With Manish Sisodia showing renewed interest in Punjab’s education affairs, the state government is gearing up to fast-track its flagship Schools of Eminence (SOE) programme.
Education minister Harjot Singh Bains on Thursday said 30 more senior secondary government schools would be renovated during 2025-26, with the aim of completing most of the work within a year. Punjab has allocated ₹100 crore for the project this fiscal.
So far, 14 of the 118 selected schools have been inaugurated, while work on 26 others is either complete or near completion.
Bains added that the remaining 48 schools—including at least six greenfield institutions—will be taken up in phases.
Ludhiana Tops with 16 SOEs
Launched in January 2023, the SOE initiative prioritises schools with adequate space, infrastructure, and accessibility in urban and semi-urban areas.
Ludhiana leads the list with 16 schools, followed by Patiala (10), Jalandhar (9), and Amritsar and Sangrur (8 each).
The upgraded schools feature smart classrooms with projectors, LED screens, e-content repositories, and coaching for competitive exams like NEET, JEE and CLAT.
Between 2022-23 and 2024-25, Punjab spent ₹168 crore on renovating 40 schools, including four in Amritsar, seven in Ludhiana, and three each in Bathinda, Sangrur and Rupnagar.
New Mentorship Push
The state cabinet has also cleared a school mentorship programme, under which IAS and IPS officers will adopt rural schools and guide students for five years.
The initiative will begin as a pilot in 80 SOEs and is purely voluntary. Officers will not interfere in school operations but act as long-term mentors alongside their official responsibilities.
Read More: Punjab to Inaugurate Upgraded Schools Daily for Two Months
