Punjab's 1st hi-tech School of Eminence opens in Amritsar's Chheharta

Neha Saini

Amritsar, September 13

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday inaugurated the state’s first ‘School of Eminence’ at Chheharta in Amritsar. Mann and Kejriwal, who is the Aam Aadmi Party chief, unveiled initiatives worth Rs 1,600 crore for “complete overhaul” of school education in Punjab.

The Punjab CM said 117 Schools of Eminence would be developed across the state in the coming months at a cost of Rs 200. He said Rs 358 crore would be spent on the construction of boundary walls in over 7,000 schools while Rs 60 crore had been earmarked for washrooms and Rs 25 crore for furniture. He said Rs 800 crore was being spent on the construction of 10,000 new classrooms, the work for which was underway. Mann said a campus manager was being provided in each school along with two security guards in every government secondary school. Initially, 2,042 campus managers and 1,378 security guards would be recruited, he said.

The Chief Minister also launched transport facility that would be provided only in Schools of Eminence initially, facilitating girls in particular. “The facility is being provided at a cost of Rs 21 crore and will benefit 20,000 students…. Punjab will be the first state in the country to have Wi-Fi connection in each school. In six months, all schools will be equipped with Internet facility,” he said.

Mann said artificial intelligence (AI) courses would be introduced in government schools. “About 10,000 teachers will be trained for AI courses, who will further teach 1 lakh students initially,” he said, hailing the initiatives as “education revolution” in Punjab. He said students from government schools in Punjab were being sent to institutions of excellence, including ISRO, for experiential learning.

117 Schools of Eminence to be developed in Punjab

Rs 200 cr earmarked for developing such schools

Loaded with facilities

• Schools of Eminence to have digital classrooms, Wi-Fi and IT infra
• Will get facelift through ultra-modern classrooms; bus facility
• Such schools will also have smart playgrounds, libraries, science laboratories and integrated computer labs