Grading survey: Jalandhar's Jamsher Khas school 3rd in Punjab

Ajay Joshi

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, March 8

Government Senior Secondary Smart School (Boys), Jamsher Khas, was adjudged the third best school in the state in the state-level school grading survey.

Spread on 8 acres, the school has emerged as one of the best self-made smart schools in the region. The school has big classrooms and lush green stadium.

As the evaluation was carried out on the basis of overall performance in academics, sports and extra-curricular activities, the condition of the campus, plantation, activities such as quizzes and debates and participation in social welfare activities during Covid, the school managed to enrol nearly 200 new students. Owing to the infrastructure and fully equipped labs, students from private schools also took admission here. Special grades for imparting education during the pandemic were also given.

Principal Ashok Basra said it took him nearly eight years to give a facelift to the school and it happened only with the help of NRIs, who donated around Rs75 lakh to transform the school.

“When I joined in 2012, there were only 431 students and there wasn’t even a proper drinking water tap. Gradually, with the assistance of some Good Samaritans, we installed three water coolers and one RO purifier. With excellent infrastructure, in 2017 it became the first self-made smart school without any government grant. There are 25 classrooms, 10 smart classrooms, two computer labs and one science, sports and private security lab each. The Rurka Kalan-based YFC Football club also built a hi-tech stadium at the school worth Rs15 lakh. Work on the basketball and volleyball grounds are also under progress,” Basra said.

The school at present has 725 students from Classes VI to XII and there are 26 teachers. The school also reportedly had 100 per cent pass result last year, said Basra, adding that while a few students got admissions to premiere engineering colleges, two students cleared their MBBS and one BDS entrance exam.

Along with the school staff, the principal also collected Rs4 lakh for the development of the school, for which the Education Department also elected him as the district smart school motivator in 2017 and was included in state core committee in 2018.