LUDHIANA: STUDENTS SUFFER AS SCHOOL LIMITS STREAM CHOICE POST CLASS 10

{Basti Jodhewal Govt School}

Students at the Government Senior Secondary School, Basti Jodhewal, wishing to pursue science or commerce have no option but to change schools after finishing Class 10 as the institution offers senior secondary education only in the humanities streams.

Notably, the maximum number of students who appear and qualify the National Means cum Merit Scholarship (NMMS) and Punjab State Talent Search Examination (PSTSE) are enrolled at the school.

School staff provide special coaching classes to the students from Class 6 to 10 from the starting of the academic session.

However, with their options being limited to the humanities stream, they are forced to shift their base to other schools like meritorious schools and the government school in Sekhewal.

Running on capacity

Manshant Singh, a science teacher at the Basti Jodhewal school said, “There are many students who wish to pursue science for their higher studies, but still end up taking humanities only because they do not want to leave the school.”

“A majority of the students are residents of nearby areas and find it difficult to commute to other schools due to the greater distance between the schools and their homes,” he added.

Highlighting the lack of infrastructure, principal Tej Varinder Kaur remarked, “We have only one common lab, each for science and mathematics for the students of Class 6 to 10 and it is not possible to construct a few more labs even if science stream is introduced. Our school cannot have more streams in this building as accommodating the students here has become a challenge now due to unavailability of sufficient classrooms.”

Kaur further noted that the school is already running double shifts with more than 80 students in one classroom and the school building is not equipped to have more than three floors.

Smiti, a Class 12 student said, “I always wanted to study commerce but due to the rest of the schools being far away, my parents were reluctant to change my school, which is why I had to take up humanities.”

Deepak Sahni, a Class 10 student who will be appearing for NMMS and PSTSE examination on March 31, also expressed his desire to study Science. “It would be very difficult for me to commute to another school, but I cannot give up on my dreams,” he added.

Will discuss issue with

school admn: Deputy DEO

On being questioned about the non-availability of adequate infrastructure, Jaswinder Singh Virk, deputy district education officer (DEO, Secondary) said, “If the school has complained about the lack of infrastructure and streams in written then we must have forwarded the same to the director public instructions (Elementary Education), still I will get in touch with the school authorities and we would forward the concerned issue again.”

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2024-03-28T23:41:48Z dg43tfdfdgfd