Planned as sports nursery, School of Happiness project yet to kick off

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 6

During the Budget session of the Vidhan Sabha earlier this year, the state government announced to set up 100 Schools of Happiness, upgrading 100 short-listed elementary and primary schools on the lines of Schools of Eminence. But with half the year gone by, the project is yet to receive green light even as several reviews have been done to select the schools for upgrade in the first phase of the project.

Punjab Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO has carried out inspection of various government primary schools in Gehri, Nawan Kot and other locations in the district, announcing that these will now get all facilities on the lines of convent or private schools. “Government primary schools, just like senior secondary schools, will have the best of facilities for sports and we will undertake the construction of an astroturf hockey ground, football ground, all-weather swimming pool and shooting range as part of creating sports nurseries. This will help nurture and develop sporting talent from Punjab in the early stages,” he said. ETO inspected the Government Elementary School at Gehri and Government Senior Secondary School, Nawan Kot and spent time with the students.

Meanwhile, the School of Happiness project took off late due to General Election conducted this year but a team of experts from the Education Department have completed inspection and identification of a handful of primary schools that will be upgraded with infrastructure and teaching faculty. While 20 schools in the district were on the list, a final report has been submitted to the department, which is yet to make further progress. The schools were evaluated on the grounds of mid-day meal programme, teaching and non-teaching faculty, availability of learning material, furniture and other aspects.

Shivani, Junior Engineer in the Education Department, who is leading the project in the district shared that a holistic plan was developed by the officials to inspect and identify schools for upgrade as ‘Schools of Happiness’. “The schools that had 200 students and above enrolled, with five existing classrooms and five ETT teachers, with a minimum 10,000 square feet area available for any structural development, were reviewed. While we have done our inspections, we are waiting for any further orders on the project,” she said.

Extension of the School of Eminence concept

Offering ideal ventilation, dedicated play areas, resource centres and activity corners for students, the School of Happiness will be an extension of the School of Eminence concept, with an established sports nursery. In Amritsar, there are approximately 1,417 primary schools (as per the data compiled in 2019-20), including various clusters and zones.