In celebration of its rise to the top in the national education rankings, the Punjab government held simultaneous Mega Parent-Teacher Meetings (PTMs) across over 19,000 government schools on Saturday.
Education minister Harjot Singh Bains said the grand event marked Punjab’s Number 1 ranking in the NITI Aayog’s School Education Quality Report 2026, where it surpassed Kerala, long considered India’s gold standard in school education, on key foundational learning metrics.
Bains said teachers and non-teaching staff were felicitated for their relentless efforts. Outstanding students, including board exams toppers, achievers of the English Edge Programme and JEE qualifiers, received special recognition and certificates.
Reinforcing the role of parents as key partners in sustaining the success, Bains said over 20 lakh parents attended the Mega PTM and Parents’ Workshop. The grand event was focused on summer learning continuity, holiday homework management and building positive routines to support their children’s learning during summer holidays.
Terming the feat a milestone of “Punjab Sikhya Kranti”, Bains said, “This Number 1 rank is not the government’s alone. It belongs to every parent who chose to believe, every student who worked hard, and every teacher who went beyond the textbook. We turned government schools from a last option into the first choice. For decades, people were told that quality education was not possible in government schools. Today, Punjab has proven them wrong. This rank is a revolution built in our classrooms.”
