Of 430 students in merit list,only five from govt schools

Thus,among the government schools in 22 districts of Punjab,19 have not found place in the merit list. Percentage wise,the share of government schools in the merit list is a mere 1.1 per cent. Moreover,among the top 10 students — secured jointly by 44 students — none belong to government schools.

Among the five said students,while Harmanpreet Kaur of Government Kanya Senior Secondary School at Jaito Faridkot has bagged 14th position in the state,she has got the 75th rank in the merit list. Harpreet Kaur of Ludhiana Government High School has stood 21st and secured 245th position in the merit list.

Similarly,Amandeep Kaur Saini and Jaspreet Kaur from Nurpurbedi Roop Nagar Government High School have bagged 24th and 25th ranks respectively and have been placed at 351st and 381st position in the merit list. On the other hand,Pooja Rani of Government High School in Kalidra,Roopnagar,have secured 26th rank in the state. She is at number 426 in the merit list.

When contacted,Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka said: “Overall result of government schools is good but we have less students in the merit list. We are going to pull out teachers,who do not take their work as seriously as in the case of private schools. This is why students could not make to merit list.”

When it comes to non-government school — private and state aided — students in the merit list,Ludhiana has topped with 125 students,followed by Amritsar and Sangrur with 39 students each,Hoshiarpur 36,Faridkot 22 and Muktsar 19. While Patiala has just with two students in the merit list,Mansa and Tarn Taran have only one student each.