In Brief:
- Punjab surpassed Kerala to secure the No. 1 position in the NITI Aayog School Education Quality Index 2026.
- Education Minister S. Harjot Singh Bains presented the state's four-year transformation report in the Vidhan Sabha.
- ₹3638 crore invested in infrastructure across 19,125 schools over four years.
- 882 government school students qualified for NEET-UG in 2026 (up from 80 in 2021).
- Punjab became the first state in India to introduce Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a core subject for Classes I to XII.
Presenting a comprehensive four-year report, Bains noted that while 8,000 schools lacked boundary walls and 4 lakh children sat on the floor in 2022, the state has since invested ₹3,638 crore to overhaul infrastructure across 19,125 government schools.
The structural and academic reforms have driven major student achievements, including 882 NEET qualifiers from government schools in 2026—up from just 80 in 2021. Additionally, Punjab has become the first state in the country to introduce Artificial Intelligence as a core subject from Classes I through XII.
