IBEX NEWS, Shimla.
2050 schools from Primary to Senior Secondary to be made ‘Chief Minister Schools of Excellence.Five schools excelling in all activities to be honoured at the district level
By the year 2026-2027, as many as 2050 schools from Primary up to Senior Secondary level made ‘Chief Minister Schools of Excellence’ in a phased manner. This was stated by Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu in a review meeting of the Education Department here today. These institutes will prove to be a milestone in providing quality education from the next academic session. The Chief Minister directs to prepare a list of these schools by 31st December this year.
The Chief Minister said that the state government was contemplating bringing major reforms to cater quality education to the students studying in government schools and all necessary steps would be taken for this. Apart from these English medium schools will also be opened in the government sector in the state, stated he, adding that the School Adoption Program will also be started soon wherein officials from block, sub-division and district levels will be involved and their expertise will be utilized so as to improve the level of education. He also directed the departmental officers to explore the possibilities of roping in the guest lecturers, for which online applications would be invited and a provision would be made to take their services in schools with vacant posts for a year or so. The Chief Minster instructed the department to prepare a detailed proposal for the Guest lecturer Scheme.
He directed the department to prepare the broad outline pertaining forming clusters of Primary and Middle schools and utilize their available resources. He said that a calendar should be prepared to ensure mandatory 220 teaching days in an academic session to the students along with other activities. He said that the main responsibility of the teachers was to provide quality education and to instil values in the students so that they could learn to discharge their responsibilities in an efficient manner. Compulsory training of teachers will also be conducted on the first appointment. He said that the state government would encourage the schools and teachers doing commendable work adding that five schools excelling in all sectors would be honoured at the district level. He said that in order to improve the level of education, possibilities of obtaining cooperation from central government agencies as well as major non-government organizations should also be explored.
The Chief Minister said that admission in first class at the age of six years should be ensured in government educational institutions. Life-skills should be imparted according to the age group of the students through various curriculum activities, so that their knowledge is not limited to books.
The Chief Minister also reviewed the progress of Rajiv Gandhi Day-Boarding School being opened in every assembly constituency in the state in a phased manner. He said that the present state government will complete the construction work of Atal Adarsh Vidyalaya which were under construction in Gohar, Dharampur and Bangana and adequate funds would be made available for them. These will be operated from next year.
Education Minister Rohit Thakur, Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Bharat Khera, Secretary Education Rakesh Kanwar, Director Higher Education Amarjeet Sharma, Director Elementary Education Ashish Kohli, Project Director Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Rajesh Sharma, Joint Secretary Sunil Verma and others senior officers and officials were present in the meeting