‘Sikhya Kranti’ hits a roadblock in Jalandhar’s Schools of Eminence

Despite the state government’s much touted “Sikhya Kranti” push, Punjab’s flagship Schools of Eminence (SOE) in Jalandhar are struggling to fill sanctioned Class IX seats even weeks after entrance exam results were declared. The situation has raised fresh concerns over the effectiveness of Punjab’s most ambitious school reform model.

The shortfall is now beginning to disrupt academic planning on the ground. With sections yet to be fully formed, schools are finding it difficult to finalise timetables, allocate teachers and start structured classroom teaching for the new session.

According to official data, Jalandhar district has nine Schools of Eminence, each with around 36 sanctioned seats for Class IX. Despite a structured selection process, several schools are reporting significant vacancies due to less admission of selected candidates.

The Punjab Schools of Eminence (SoE) programme was launched as a key reform initiative to strengthen government education by identifying meritorious students through a competitive entrance examination and enrolling them in specially designated schools with better infrastructure and academic support.

Officials say the issue stems from two main factors. They say fewer students qualified the entrance test this year compared to previous years. Besides a large number of selected candidates belonged to distant villages or semi-urban areas, making daily commuting difficult to schools and discouraging them from taking admission, say officials.

The situation is particularly stark at School of Eminence, Ladowali Road, where only 24 students have qualified against 36 seats, and only two have confirmed their admission so far.

Confirming the development, Yogesh Kumar, Principal, School of Eminence, Ladowali Road, said, “The problem has arisen because the number of students qualifying the entrance test has declined this year. Against 36 sanctioned seats in Class IX, only 24 students have qualified for my school. Most of these students are from the far flung areas and are not willing to take admission here. So far, only two students have taken admission in this school.”

He added that low enrolment was directly affecting academic planning. “We are unable to form proper sections due to shortage of students, which is delaying start of structured teaching for this session,” he said.

At Shaheed Major Rohit Sharma School of Eminence, Model Town, 31 students qualified for 36 seats, but only 16 had taken admission. Similarly, 110 students qualified for the SOE, Bhargo Camp, but only 20 had taken admission so far.

The situation is even more concerning at the SOE, Kartarpur, where only six students had joined out of 34 qualified candidates. At the SOE, Nakodar, only 14 admissions had been confirmed against 55 selected students. The SOE, Bajwa Kalan, performed relatively better with 35 admissions against 70 seats, but the school still remained short of its full capacity.

Officials, however, maintained that the situation would likely improve in the coming days as admissions for the SOE classes were still underway and would continue until all seats were filled.

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Current enrolment at School of Eminence

Location                     Qualified Students Confirmed Admissions

Ladowali Road                    24,                               2

Model Town                        31                               16

Bhargo Camp                      110                              20

Kartarpur                             34                                6

Nakodar                               55                               14

Bajwa Kalan                        70                                35