Fall in enrolment in Punjab rural schools, AAP concerned

Wednesday, 15/02/2017

http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=173266&boxid=58804&uid=&dat=2017-02-15

Chandigarh : The AAP on Tuesday expressed concern over a sharp “decline” in the enrolment of students in government schools in rural areas of Punjab and the simultaneous rise in admission in private schools.

Aam Aadmi Party MP Bhagwant Mann said the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government in Punjab had made tall claims of reforms in the educational system but the ground reality was different.

“The ground realities were totally opposite of what Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema claimed during elections. Most of the private schools opened during the last five years of SAD-BJP rule,” Mann said.

Mann said a report prepared by Mumbai-based NGO ‘Pratham’ said the number of students studying in private schools was more than in government schools.

He said the SAD-BJP government had deliberately shut down government schools in villages on the pretext of introducing a cluster system.

Under the cluster system, the government shifted students where the number of students were less than 20 to other schools within five kilometers radius.

Mann said this was aimed at helping private schools to fill the gap.

The AAP leader also said that 51.6 per cent of students from rural areas were enrolled in private schools against 45.5 per cent in 2014.

The standard of education in government schools had declined gradually and, as per the report, only 35.4 per cent students studying in Class V in government schools can understand English compared to 83.2 per cent in private schools, Mann said quoting the report.

The dropout rate in government schools after Class 10 was above 70 per cent and only 5 per cent students went beyond higher secondary education, he said.

AAP asks EC to impose restrictions on activities

Chandigarh: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday urged Punjab Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to completely restrict any sort of activity within the compound where Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are stored in the state.

AAP state convener Gurpreet Singh Ghuggi, legal cell convener Himmat Singh Shergill and dialogue committee chairman Kanwar Sandhu in a joint statement said that after incident of Patiala, where District Returning Officer (DRO) allowed shifting of old EVMs lying in same complex where assembly poll EVMs are stored, the possibility of sabotage cannot be ruled out.

They said that even though Election Commission has clarified that EVMs removed by district officials were those used in the Municipal Corporation elections but it was an “unusual and suspected” action.

The AAP leaders said that district authorities had no business to enter the complex till the time election process is completed. AAP leaders further said that about 15,000 AAP volunteers were monitoring the EVMs and would stand guard to any “attempt by ruling SAD-BJP alliance to alter the process”.

DEO seeks report on videography

Patiala: The District Election Officer on Tuesday sought a report from the Returning Officer pertaining to videography inside premises where EVMs were kept.

An AAP volunteer had recorded a video wherein the employees were shifting trunks of old EVM machines from Government Physical College, Patiala.

The RO Nabha, Jashanpreet Kaur, has recommended action against the AAP volunteer who had recorded the video in the premises and circulated it on social media.

The district administration’s move to shift the electronic voting machines (EVMs) on Monday kicked up a row with leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party alleging foul play in the matter.