‘Drop box’ for school admissions

GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar

In a first, the Education Department has come up with an innovative way to reach out to students seeking admission.

Special admission boxes have been placed at the entrance gates of government schools and at key spots in urban areas. In rural areas, the boxes have been installed at gurdwaras and temples in the vicinity.

Those interested are just required to drop their credentials, such as, their name, four passport size photos, proof of age, previous class result, any ID proof and their contact number. The provision is available for all students seeking admission to either primary or senior secondary classes.

So far, 1,11,994 students have enrolled themselves this year, as against 98,692 enrolments last year. There has been a spike in the number of admissions by 13,302. Most of the new admissions have been students who migrated from private schools.

District Education Officer (Secondary) Satinder Bir Singh, who came up with this initiative, said compared to last year, there had been a spurt in the number of admissions in government schools by 11.63 per cent. For admission to classes XI and XII too, a surge has been witnessed, with 3,000 and 4,000 new enrolments, respectively.

The idea has caught the attention of Secretary, Education, Krishan Kumar, and will be shortly adopted in Patiala and other districts.

At a time when parents and managements of private schools are at loggerheads on the issue of school fee, many government SMART schools have caught the fancy of parents. Government Senior Secondary School (GSSS), Chheharta, has enrolled 498 students from private schools; GSSS, Mall road, saw admission of 254 private school students; and GSSS, Mahan Singh road, admitted 294 students of private schools.

Satinder said, “We have digital classrooms, and e-content will also be made available to students. We are not short of any private school.”