401 students on merit list, only 29 from govt schools

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, May 11

Only 29 students from government schools have made it to the merit list of the PSEB Class X exams, the results of which were declared recently. The names of 401 students figure on the state merit list.

Further, no government school student from 10 districts could produce a single merit holder. These districts are Amritsar, Barnala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Kapurthala, Pathankot, Ferozepur, Faridkot, Tarn Taran, Rupnagar and SAS Nagar.

Hoshiarpur district leads the number of merit holders from government schools with nine students, followed by Gurdaspur, Patiala and Ludhiana with three students each. Two students each from Bathinda, Mansa and SBS Nagar districts and a student each from government schools in Jalandhar, Moga, Muktsar, Sangrur, and Fazilka districts have their names on the merit list. Ludhiana district with 94 students, Patiala (42), Hoshiarpur (32), Sangrur (31) and Jalandhar (30) lead the overall merit list.

Even on the pass percentage front, the performance of government schools has been dismal 58.14, only better than aided schools which registered a pass percentage of 51.60. In comparison, the pass percentage of affiliated and Adarsh schools is 72.66 and those of associated schools is 64.11 per cent.

Prashant Goyal, DGSE, said, “The fact is that infrastructure and facilities at private schools are far better than those at government schools. Private schools have smart and virtual classrooms. Moreover, private schools turn out poor students, which government schools cannot do. The ‘Parho Punjab’ and smart classroom projects have been started to improve the performance of government schools.”

10 districts draw blank

No government school student from 10 districts could produce a single merit holder. These districts are Amritsar, Barnala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Kapurthala, Pathankot, Ferozepur, Faridkot, Tarn Taran, Rupnagar and SAS Nagar.

CM forms panel to suggest reforms

Chandigarh: Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday ordered the constitution of a core group of teachers from across the state to suggest reforms in the school education system. The CM issued directions to Secretary, School Education, in this regard during a high-level meeting to review the results of PSEB Classes X and XII. The core group, which will focus on bringing reforms in the existing curriculum to bring it on a par with that of private and convent schools, will submit its report by June 15, according to an official spokesperson. TNS