Poll duties, absenteeism to blame for Jalandhar’s academic decline

Jalandhar’s academic performance in the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) Class XII examinations has seen a sharp decline over the past three years—raising serious concerns about the state of government schools in the district.

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Once among the top-performing districts, Jalandhar has now slipped from 8th rank in 2023 to a worrying 17th place in 2025.

In 2023, Jalandhar recorded a strong pass percentage of 93.97%, with 18,987 out of 20,195 students clearing the exam, securing the 8th position statewide. The following year, in 2024, the pass rate dropped to 92.98% with 18,807 of 20,227 students passing, resulting in an 11th-place ranking. The slide continued in 2025 when only 16,780 of 18,926 students passed, pushing the pass percentage down to 88.66% and the district to 17th place out of 23 districts.

In 2024, 18 students from Jalandhar made it to the PSEB state merit list. Yet, even then, government schools had little to celebrate—only one student came from a regular government institution, while private schools dominated the list. In 2025, the number of merit list students from Jalandhar rose to 25. However, the trend remained the same. The majority of toppers belonged to the Senior Secondary Residential School for Meritorious Students, and once-renowned government schools that consistently produced merit holders—such as Government Senior Secondary Schools in Nehru Garden, Adarsh Nagar, Ladowali Road and Nakodar among others—were again missing from the top ranks.

Teachers attribute this rapid decline to a year riddled with election duties. “Out of 366 days in 2024, nearly 200 were lost to various election-related codes of conduct,” said a senior government school teacher, referring to the Lok Sabha elections, Jalandhar West Assembly bypoll, panchayat, and municipal polls. “With back-to-back elections, academic activities were repeatedly disrupted.”

Teachers claimed that adding to the problem is the failure to implement one of the key promises made by the state government—that teachers would be relieved from non-academic responsibilities. “The government said we would only focus on teaching, but we are still routinely assigned administrative tasks,” a government school teacher on condition of anonymity said. “When you’re constantly running around for duties, how do you focus on the classroom?” he questioned.

The district education leadership has also come under fire. Teachers say the Deputy DEO and DEO are rarely involved in academic oversight and spend most of their time at the DC office attending meetings. “There are hardly any school visits or academic reviews. There’s no visible effort to improve quality at the ground level,” said a principal from a city school.

Some also questioned the integrity of examination processes in other districts. “There are districts that were never in the top 10, suddenly shooting up the rankings. Rumors of unchecked cheating are circulating,” a teacher alleged.

Meanwhile, a growing issue is student absenteeism, especially among Class XII students. Teachers estimate that around 20% of students hold part-time jobs in malls, retail outlets, or delivery services, only showing up for exams.

“Consistent academic reviews, timely resolution of educators’ concerns and relief from non-academic duties are essential to prevent further decline in academic performance,” they added.