In what could be termed as one of the biggest moves, Captain Amarinder Singh-led government in Punjab announced free education for girls in government schools and colleges. Yes, you read it right! No kidding. From Nursery to PhD, education is free for the girls.
After making the announcement, free textbooks were provided to all students in government schools in their academic session.
Books are available online from where students can download it for free of cost.
Two years ago, Amarinder Singh said that Nursery and LKG classes will be reintroduced in government schools.
He also announced Wi-FI for 13,000 primary schools and all 48 government colleges.
As per the census of India 2011, the literacy rate in Punjab is 75.84% which is comparatively better than the national average of 73.0%.
The total number of literates in Punjab is estimated at 1,87,07,137. The male literacy rate is at 80.44% whereas female literacy rate is 70.73%
Reacting to this decision, some are happy while some are not as they are questioning gender discrimination. “Excellent decision: free education for girls from Nursery to PhD. But why not give boys the same facility. Why is discrimination? Boys and girls are the same (Male + Fe = female).
Special facility is given to girls just because there is “fe” added to male. I think the Punjab Government must treat all the children in the same manner. Girls and Boys are equal citizens of Punjab. It’s not right to discriminate boys and favour only girls. This is just a sincere suggestion. There is time to rethink about it. Best wishes,” social media user said.