Chief Minister's Office, Chandigarh, Punjab, December 31:With the distribution of 44,015 smart phones marking the culmination of thefirst phase of the ‘Punjab Smart Connect Scheme’, Punjab Chief Minister CaptainAmarinder Singh on Thursday fulfilled his Government’s promise to give 1,74,015smart phones to all class 12 students of the state’s Government Schools by theend of the year.
At a virtual event to mark the occasion, Captain AmarinderSingh said that this unique initiative of the State Government would beinstrumental in facilitating seamless e-learning in government schools,especially amid the Covid-19 pandemic. He pointed out that 1,30,000 smartphones had been given earlier to students of class 12.
The Chief Minister also promised to give 1428 smart phonessoon to Class XII students who had taken admission after the announcement ofthe scheme, thus taking the total number to 1,75,443 (88059 boys and 87284girls) of 1946 Senior Secondary Schools, at a cost of Rs. 87.84 crore.
The event witnessed simultaneous distribution of phones at1101 schools today by various Ministers, MLAs and other dignitaries across thestate.
Describing the year 2020 as an unprecedented and difficultyear for humanity, the Chief Minister said that he was sure Punjab and Punjabiswould triumph. He exhorted teachers and students to work hard with utmostdedication to ensure the best results in the Board exams in the country.
Extending his heartiest greetings to all citizens,especially the students, on New Year’s eve, the Chief Minister expresseddelight at being able to fulfill his promise to equip all Class 12 studentswith smartphones by the end of the year.
Reiterating his government’s firm commitment to provide thebest infrastructure in schools to enable students to compete with their peersin private and convent schools, the Chief Minister said that 7842 schools hadbeen converted into smart schools with the latest infrastructure, coupled withcomputers, tablets etc, and 1400 more government schools would also beconverted into smart schools by the end of the next year. Further, he said theSchool Education Department had converted 16589 classrooms as smart classroomsacross the state, besides providing 3502 tablets in 394 schools at a cost of Rs.4 crore.
Pointing out that Punjab was the first state in the countryto universalize Pre-Primary School Education in the year 2017, the ChiefMinister said all the primary schools were now covered. Apart from this, nearly3.71 lakh students of government schools had opted English as a medium ofinstruction, he added.
The Chief Minister said the recent reforms implemented ingovernment schools to raise the standard of education had led to unprecedentedincrease in enrolment by 14.9%, as an increasing number of students wereshifting from private to government schools.
On the occasion, Amrik Singh, Anujdeep Singh, DavinderSingh, Gurtej Singh, Parveer Singh and Sahajpreet Singh of Government SeniorSecondary School Mundhon Sangtian, Narinder Kaur, Khushi, Rukhsana and ShivaniDevi of Government Senior Secondary School, Jhanjeri of Mohali districtreceived smart phones from the Chief Minister.
Speaking on the occasion, PPCC President Sunil Jakharcongratulated the Chief Minister and School Education Minister for providing alevel playing field to the students of Government Schools through ‘Punjab SmartConnect Scheme’.
School Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla said the stategovernment had successfully accomplished the gigantic task of distributingsmart phones to the students especially belonging to the economically weakersections of society, to ensure their uninterrupted online education during theCovid times.
Sports & Youth Services Welfare Minister Rana GurmitSingh Sodhi asked the School Education Minister to ensure minimum one periodcompulsory for sports activities to encourage students to go for sports in abig way.
In his address, President Punjab Youth Congress BarinderDhillon lauded the visionary leadership of Captain Amarinder Singh that hadbrought new levels of distinction to the state.
Prominent amongst others who were present at the occasionwere MLA Khanna Gurkirat Singh Kotli, former Minister Tej Parkash Singh, ChiefPrincipal Secretary to CM Suresh Kumar, Principal Secretary to CM Tejvir Singhand Special Principal Secretary to CM Gurkirat Kirpal Singh.