Punjab Claims No.1 Rank in NITI Aayog School Education Index, Minister Says
Punjab Education Minister S. Harjot Singh Bains on Thursday said the state has surpassed Kerala to secure the top position in the NITI Aayog School Education Quality Index 2026. He also claimed that Punjab has become the first state in the country to introduce Artificial Intelligence as a core subject from Classes I to XII. Speaking during a discussion on an education-related resolution in the Punjab Assembly, Mr. Bains attributed the achievement to reforms initiated by the state government since 2022.
Recalling the condition of government schools when he assumed office in July 2022, Mr. Bains said an initial infrastructure survey found over 8,000 schools without boundary walls, 3,200 without functional toilets, and nearly 4 lakh children sitting on the floor. He added that textbooks would reach schools only in October or November, wasting months of the academic session. "Today, for the first time, textbooks reach district headquarters by February 15 and are fully distributed by March 31," he said, while challenging anyone to verify this from any government teacher.
Highlighting the flagship 'Mission Samarth' programme, the minister described it as one of India's largest foundational learning initiatives. He said students are grouped by learning ability rather than grade, allowing those lagging in basic literacy and numeracy to receive targeted instruction. Mr. Bains said that during school visits in 2022, he found Class 8 students who could not write simple sentences or perform basic arithmetic. "We identified these students and taught them from Class 3 syllabus level. Today, they are learning and improving," he added. According to him, the programme currently covers nearly 12 lakh students and involves over 70,000 teachers annually.
The minister also highlighted a significant increase in NEET-UG qualifiers from government schools, from 80 in 2021 to 882 in 2026, crediting the 'Punjab Academic Coaching for Excellence' (PACE) initiative. He gave examples of six and seventeen NEET qualifiers from government schools in Majitha and Dinanagar respectively, and cited the case of Harnoorpreet Kaur, a girl from a humble background who secured All India Rank 3140 in her category.
Responding to criticism over declining enrolment, Mr. Bains said the trend is not unique to Punjab but a nationwide post-Covid phenomenon. He cited all-India data showing a fall of 1.76 crore students in government school enrolment. He gave examples of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra, where enrolment figures have dropped over recent years. He also referred to the central government's APAAR ID initiative launched in 2023, which assigns a unique ID to every student, preventing multiple enrolments.
Addressing the Opposition, the minister said, "Target me personally if you want. Why are you targeting government schools? A false narrative created by a few negative minds has already driven people away from government schools." He further said he has personally visited over 2,000 government schools across every district of Punjab, including border and remote areas.
The claims made by the minister are based on his statement in the Assembly. The NITI Aayog School Education Quality Index is a comprehensive evaluation of school education systems across Indian states and Union Territories. The official release of the 2026 rankings has not been independently verified by this publication.
