Enrollment drive takes backseat amid ‘Sikhya Kranti’
The Education Department’s push to boost student enrollment in government schools has hit a roadblock, as teachers remain busy with the ongoing ‘Sikhya Kranti’ campaign and making preparations for high-profile inauguration events across the district.
With Cabinet ministers and MLAs inaugurating newly built classrooms, laboratories and other school facilities, the teachers are finding it difficult to balance their regular duties with event management tasks.
Even as the schools have been burdened with the additional responsibility, they have also been instructed by district education officials to ensure at least a 10 per cent increase in enrollment compared to last year. The directive has left many teachers struggling, especially in rural areas where staff shortage and poor infrastructure remain persistent issues.
A teacher from a government school in a rural area, requesting anonymity, said, “We have five teachers for about 110 students. Instead of focusing on academics or reaching out to people for new admissions, half of our time goes into event planning and making arrangements for the visits of the ministers.”
Another teacher added, “The enrollment pressure every year is unrealistic. We are expected to chase numbers, while the ministers and MLAs are busy cutting ribbons.”
In relatively better-staffed schools, particularly where the teacher strength is above 10, principals have been able to dedicate a few teachers solely to enrollment efforts. “Where the staff strength good enough, we can assign a team for the enrollment drive without disturbing the teaching work,” a teacher from an urban school explained. “But it’s almost impossible to carry out both tasks in small schools in the rural areas, which have hardly two teachers,” she added.
Education experts question the need of putting pressure on the teachers if the government reforms are as effective as these have been advertised. “If the schools have improved with regard to infrastructure, parents will naturally choose the institutions without the need for aggressive enrollment push,” they said.
In recent years, Punjab has introduced several major initiatives like the ‘School of Happiness’ programme, Schools of Eminence and even sponsored international training trips for teachers and principals to countries like Singapore and Finland. New smart classrooms, labs and sports facilities have been publicised as symbols of progress.
The experts say these measures are commendable, but argue that real success would reflect automatically through increased enrollment figures, not through forced targets. “If the parents will see a change in the schools, the word of mouth will do a better job than any campaign,” said social activist Kamal Sharma.
District Education Officer (Secondary) Gurinderjit Kaur said the enrollment drive was moving ahead strongly, with school heads setting up dedicated teams to ensure a smooth admission process.
Addressing the concerns that teachers were caught up with preparations for the Sikhya Kranti events, she said there was no additional pressure on staff. The schools are already getting a good response in terms of enrollment, she claimed, adding that there are visible improvements in infrastructure and academics.
The DEO added that the school heads have efficiently divided the staff, with separate teams handling enrollment and Sikhya Kranti activities.
She said 97 per cent of last year’s enrollment had been achieved. Once Class 10 results are declared, the enrollments are expected to not only surpass the last year’s figures, but also record a significantly higher admissions this session, the DEO added.
Punjab