Chandigarh, July 11 (IANS) The Punjab government is set to expand its educational infrastructure with plans to establish new government colleges in the state, having a special focus on border areas and underserved regions, Minister for Higher Education Harjot Singh Bains informed the assembly.

While moving the Rayat Bahra Professional University, Hoshiarpur Bill — 2025 and C.G.C. University, Mohali Bill — 2025 in the Vidhan Sabha, Bains highlighted the state’s remarkable progress in the field of education, citing an 85 per cent increase in enrolment in government colleges.

The Education Minister said all the colleges in the state, government, private and aided, saw a significant rise in student enrolment, from 7 lakh in 2022 to 9 lakh in the last academic session.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University in Bathinda witnessed a notable surge in enrolment, growing from 1,400 to 2,480 students.

Furthermore, the state has expanded its ITI seats by approximately 35,000 in the past three years, with an impressive 99 per cent seat fill-up rate last year, and further, plans to add 5,000-7,000 more seats this year.

He attributed this growth to the government’s commitment to transform Punjab into a global education hub.

Notably, the government has provided over 54,000 government jobs to the youth, which has significantly helped in curbing brain drain.

“The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is the only party in the country’s history to have made education a central plank of its agenda during the 2022 Punjab Assembly polls,” Bains said, adding education is the topmost priority of the Punjab government.

He highlighted that the state has introduced new-age courses in emerging fields such as data science, artificial intelligence, banking, financial services, digital marketing, hospitality and tourism, and event management.

Furthermore, the government has also ensured the timely disbursement of Scheduled Caste scholarships so that no student should be deprived of quality education due to financial constraints.

–IANS

vg/dan