Punjab chief minister, Bhagwant Mann has announced to start shuttle bus service for government school girls across the state with the aim to keep a check on drop-out rate among girl students. Mann made the announcement while addressing a gathering on the occasion of Teachers’ Day, according to an official release.

The chief minister said it is a basic duty of the government to provide qualitative education to each and every child, while taking care of their basic needs such as transportation, diet, infrastructure and others.

“In the absence of transportation facilities, the school drop-out rate is much higher among girls, so we have decided to grant this facility to every girl child of the state to counter this phenomenon vigorously,” Mann said.

The chief minister further said the services of teachers should only be utilised for teaching duties. They will not be used for any non-teaching work, he added.

Mann said that his government has decided to send teachers to Oxford, Harvard and other renowned universities to acquire new teaching skills, on lines of such a decision taken by the Delhi government. He described digital education as the need of the hour and said it is a must to compete on the global level.

Furthermore, Mann said being the son of a teacher, he knows the basic needs, problems and plights of the teachers. The chief minister also shared his experiences about his teachers and paid respect towards them. Urging the teachers to shun the path of agitation and inviting them for deliberations, he said the policies adopted during previous dispensations, created unwanted hindrances but special attention is being given to education and health as these are the core areas of concern of the AAP government.

Mann further announced to develop Sri Anandpur Sahib and Nangal as eco-tourism destinations. Earlier, School Education Minister Harjot Bains said the state government has determined to develop 100 ‘Schools of Eminence’ and the department is working tirelessly to translate this announcement on ground as soon as possible.

With inputs from PTI

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