Over half of 64 Punjab govt colleges headless: Minister in Assembly

Nearly 53 per cent of posts of principal in government colleges across Punjab are currently vacant. Of 64 government colleges, including four colleges of education offering BEd courses, 34 are functioning without a principal.

This information was shared by Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains during the Vidhan Sabha session that began on Monday.

The issue was raised during the question hour by Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa. In response, the Education Minister revealed that the posts of professor in these 64 colleges were not permanently sanctioned. “Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, is currently managing the process of filling vacant positions and the government is actively considering steps to address these vacancies,” he said.

Bajwa criticised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, stating that its education model had “failed completely”. He highlighted the alarming number of vacancies not only in colleges but also in schools, pointing out that over 40 per cent of the posts of principal in government senior secondary schools were vacant. Besides, nearly 47 per cent of the 1,723 government high schools in the state were without headmasters. Bajwa accused the government of focusing on “schools of excellence” while neglecting the pressing issue of staff shortage. In a separate development, New and Renewable Energy Minister Aman Arora informed the Assembly about the government’s efforts to install solar panels in government schools to reduce their reliance on conventional power.

Responding to a question from Sanour AAP MLA Harmit Singh regarding the waiver of electricity bills for government schools, Arora stated that 5 kW solar panels had been installed in 4,238 schools over the past three years, with work underway on an additional 2,400 schools. Furthermore, 53,700 government buildings have been solarised, and installations are in progress for another 27,000 buildings.