Punjab’s education sector gets a boost with 12% of total expenditure

Punjab has achieved significant growth in education, with a 15 per cent increase in primary grades and a 25 per cent increase in upper primary grades, thanks to its focus on interactive teaching methods, experiential learning, and teaching at the right level (TaRL) pedagogy initiatives. This growth is based on surveys conducted by various agencies, including Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) and in-house evaluations, as announced by Finance Minister Harpal Cheema in his budget speech today.

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For the financial year 2025-26, Cheema has proposed a budgetary outlay of Rs 17,975 crore for the education sector, which accounts for approximately 12 per cent of the total expenditure.

To enhance educational quality, the state has provided special training to 354 principals, headmasters, and teachers in identified areas. These educators were sent to prestigious institutions like Principals’ Academy, Singapore; National Institute of Education (NIE) International, Singapore; University of Turku, Finland; and Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad for skill upgrading.

In a special initiative, as many as 425 primary schools are being converted into Schools of Happiness to create nurturing environments with well-ventilated classrooms, play areas, and activity corners.

Phasing out outdated courses and adding new ones as per the needs of the current industry, the state witnessed a 17 per cent growth in the number of trainees at the 137 government ITIs in the 2024-25 session.

Providing data for the success rate in the special training institutes for entry into defence forces, Cheema said as many as 47 cadets cleared the last examination for NDA with a success rate of more than 74 per cent.

The state has installed solar panels in at least 4,098 government schools.