Enrolment crash in Punjab govt schools in 17 districts; underperforming teachers under lens

A list of 10-15 worst performing schools from each district which have witnessed the highest dip in enrolment was also presented at the meeting.

Primary sectio kids in Punjab government school.

Other than six districts which have upped their primary enrolment — Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, SAS Nagar (Mohali) and Fatehgarh Sahib — all 17 others have registered a significant decline, despite the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government’s claims of providing world-class infrastructure in state-run schools.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Anindita Mitra, secretary, education, Punjab said: “We are doing deep dive enrolment analysis including district-wise, school-wise and class-wise. We are initiating corrective action wherever necessary.”

“We are still not considering the data from 2021-22 as they were Covid years and many students shifted back to private schools by 2023 after temporarily getting admitted in government schools. But teachers have to explain why enrolment has dipped within one year from 2024-25 to 2025-26,” a senior official from Punjab elementary education wing, said.

According to the district-wise data presented at the state review meeting, the number of primary children (LKG to class 5) in Faridkot have declined from 27,341 to 25,987 and in Bathinda from 60,961 to 56,815 in 2025-26 from the previous year.

In Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s home district Sangrur, the enrolment has declined from 43,456 to 41,795, and in Mansa from 33,891 to 32,079. In border district Ferozepur, the enrolment has dipped from 50,703 to 47,269, in Pathankot from 18,736 to 18,058, and in Barnala from 21,841 to 20,972. In Muktsar, it has declined from 44,553 last year to 41,772 this year, in Amritsar from 89,192 to 86,093, and in Moga from 41,521 to 41,284. In Gurdaspur, the numbers have gone down from 55,997 to 54,638, in Fazilka 63,524 to 60,597, and in Tarn Taran from 58,020 to 55,130. In Patiala also, the primary enrolment has dipped from 79,012 to 76,881, and in SBS Nagar (Nawanshahr) from 26,126 to 25,242.

In education minister Harjot Singh Bains’ home district Rupnagar (Ropar), the enrolment has gone down from 28,533 to 27,790 in 2025-26. In Malerkotla, the state’s youngest district, the primary enrolment has dipped from 13,804 to 13,746 in one year.

In an exception, six districts have also performed well and upped their primary enrolment in government schools compared to last year. The elementary DEOs of these six districts were lauded for their work during the state review meeting. These include Kapurthala (32,772 to 33,292), Hoshiarpur (66,739 to 67,174), Jalandhar (79,789 to 81,636), Fatehgarh Sahib (24,977 to 26,653), Ludhiana (149,897 to 163,395) and SAS Nagar (Mohali) (62,171 to 64,593).

According to the letter issued by the office of director, elementary education, Punjab, dated December 8 to DEOs across the state, they have to declare the names of head teacher, centre head teacher and ETT teachers who are working in the worst-performing schools. “The number of children in your school has significantly declined. The teachers in these schools haven’t performed well when it comes to increasing enrolment. The names of those teachers should be sent to the head office immediately with comments,” the letter stated.

Seven districts have also witnessed an overall decline in the enrolment since 2021-22 — Faridkot (drop of 2.86 per cent), Bathinda (2.79 per cent), Sangrur (2.27 per cent), Mansa (2.11 per cent), Ferozepur (1.76 per cent), Pathankot (1.19 per cent) and Barnala (0.60 per cent).

Elaborating on the decline in enrolment, a teacher said that “due to the pressure of increasing enrolments, teachers have always feared striking off names of ghost students who never attend school physically. Now when we have started striking off the names of those long absentees and each admission is being linked to an Aadhaar Card to eliminate bogus admissions, we are being questioned again”.

Teachers burdened with non-teaching works: ETU

Meanwhile, in a statement, the Elementary Teacher Union (ETU), Punjab, said that “not teachers, but the faulty policies of Punjab education department were responsible for dip in enrollment.”

ETU state president Harjinder Pal Singh Pannu said: “First let the teachers only teach. We urge government to immediately cancel all non-teaching works that teachers are doing right now. From zila parishad election duty, booth level officers (BLOs) for the Election Commission to managing school grants and all clerical works, all these duties should be rolled back immediately and let us only teach. Parents don’t want that teachers should focus on all these works instead of teaching their kids. Instead of solving the real issues, teachers are being made scapegoat. If the government won’t roll back orders to name teachers, we will be burning the copies of that letter in each district.”

Curated For You

India vs South Africa 2nd T20I Highlights: Quinton de Kock shines as SA beat IND by 51 runs in Mullanpur to square series 1-1

‘I slapped Sanjay Dutt, pulled his hair’: IPS officer recalls when Sanjay fell on dad Sunil Dutt’s feet saying ‘galti ho gayi’ after arrest 

‘Will submit to our judicial system’: Luthra brothers issue statement, say ‘erroneously portrayed’ in Goa nightclub fire case