Ludhiana, December 12
Mr Harnam Dass Johar, Education Minister of Punjab, has informed that under the Education Guarantee Scheme for children of 6 to 14 years of age group, and under the Sarv Sikhia Abhyan Programme of the government, New Informal Schools based on minimum 20 children are being set up in slum areas/jhuggi dwelling units in the state.
Mr Johar was addressing a gathering after inaugurating a school in the slum area of Haibowal Khurd, here today. He also distributed kits containing books, notebooks, pencils etc. prepared for the students of these schools.
Mr Johar said that under this programme, the government would ensure to bring all deprived and out-of-school children in these schools, which are being set up in their colonies. He said that one boy/girl with 10+2 qualification from the same locality was being deputed for a group of 20 students each to teach the students in the schools, which would be run four hours daily.
Mr Johar said that it was a myth that the small children of the jhuggi dwellers/migrant labourers are wage earners, but in reality, these children were not doing any work or earning money for the family and were wasting their time playing.
He said the Union Government had launched this programme to ensure basic education to every such child.
In these schools, the students would be given basic education for one or two years and later they would be shifted to the regular schools. Mr Johar appealed to the people of these localities to extend their cooperation to the Education Department and keep a watch on their children to ensure their regular attendance in the schools. Mr. Johar directed the officers of the department to monitor the working of these schools by making regular checkings during their routine visits.
Later, Mr Johar inaugurated two more such schools, one on the Humbran Road and other at the jhuggi dwellers’ colony on the Pakhowal Road.
Mr Anurag Aggarwal, Director-General of Education Department, has informed that under this programme, the out-of- school children of migrant labouers and poor people would be given basic education, so that interest in studying could be created among the students.
Among the others, present on this occasion were, Mr Nahar Singh Gill, Mayor, Municipal Corporation, Mr Rajbir Singh, state coordinator, Mr Yash Paul Mehra, DEO (S), Jathedar Swarn Singh, president Gurdawara Akalgarh, Mrs Harvinder Kaur, DEO (Elementary), and Mr Jagdish Marwaha, Secretary, DCC.
