Chandigarh, October 13
In a bid to get first hand information about the ground realities of Government Schools and to know ongoing quality education activities, a high-level delegation of Maharashtrian Education Department today visited various schools across Punjab.
On the direction of Education Minister of Maharashtra Deepak Kesarkar, this delegation led by Secretary School Education and Sports Department of Maharashtra Ranjit Singh Deol visited Government Primary School Nariangarh Jhunghian, Government Model Senior Secondary School Phase 3B1 and Meritorious School Mohali.
Meanwhile, Secretary-cum-DGSE Punjab Pradeep Kumar Aggarwal coordinated the visit and provide requisite information about the procedures and achievements of the government schools of the state.
The delegation comprising State Project Director, Samagra Shiksha, Maharashtra Prathamik Shikshan Parishad, Mumbai Kailas Pagare, OSD of Education Minister Maharashtra Sushant Khandekar Dr. Siddhesh Wadkar, Joint Director, SCERT, Maharashtra, Pune Ramakant Kathmore and Director Education, Maharashtra state, Pune Mahesh Palkar. During their visit the delegation got information about the school infrastructure, free education for children, free uniform, pre-primary, smart classrooms, best practices for teaching and learning. They also visited science laboratories and libraries. The delegation also gathered information about Scholarships for children under various scholarship schemes, Mid-day meal program, Playgrounds, Supplementary study materials, Admissions of students, Grading of schools, various mobile apps using for students and other activities related to teaching. They also saw attractive and colorful teaching aids prepared by the teachers for inclusive teaching.
After the visit,the delegation also called upon Principal Secretary School Education Punjab Jaspreet Talwar. Mrs. Talwar informed about the organizational structure of the Punjab School Education Department, teacher training programs, teacher recruitments, smart school policy, online teacher transfer policy, sports policy and other important aspects of department, which brought revolution in this vast and ever learning field. Actions being taken by the State Educational Research and Training Council Punjab were also discussed in length and breadth during the meeting.
Informing the Maharashtrian delegation about the future goals of the Punjab government, Mrs. Talwar said that process to set up 100 schools of eminence is underway and a budget of 200 crore rupees has been allocated for this porpose. Apart from this, another funds of Rs. 30 crore have been earmarked in the budget to provide international level training to school heads and teachers.
Special Secretary School Education Gauri Prashar Joshi, Director SCERT Punjab Dr. Maninder Singh Sarkaria, Deputy State Project Director Manoj Kumar, Deputy State Project Director Gurjit Singh, Secretary Punjab School Education Board Kiranjit Singh Tiwana and others were present during the visit.
