Speaking to Education Times, Arvind, Vice Chancellor, Punjabi University, Patiala, says, “The implementation of CM Scholarship Scheme by the Punjab Government will definitely improve the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in government colleges of the state. Unfortunately, our society is organized in such a way that a large number of people still cannot afford higher education due to exorbitantly high fees. The financial status of the family of the students as well as their academic performance should be kept in mind while awarding the scholarship. Furthermore, a severe divide between urban-rural enrollment exists in the state. Rural enrollment is very less as compared to urban enrollment and hence, the scholarship scheme will be beneficial for the students coming from rural Punjab.
Enrollment in government colleges in the state has declined in the last few years due to various reasons like lack of jobs and migration. Along with this, there are no teachers in government colleges as they have not maintained regular faculty for a very long time. The last recruitment was done in the year 1996, and since then no regular teachers have been hired.” Karamjit Singh, Founder Vice Chancellor, Jagat Guru Nanak Dev Punjab State Open University, Patiala says, “If we have to increase GER, the most important The point is to provide such courses which will ensure employment to the students or make them entrepreneurs. If a meritorious student from weak economic background gets financial aid in the form of scholarship, it will surely go a long way. In recent years, , there has been a decline in the number of students in colleges. The GER in Punjab is around 29%, but efforts should be made to take it to the extent of 50% as per the guidelines laid down in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Our focus is on the state We are on to improve the GER. Data of dropped out students is being received through social media. We are trying to understand the reasons behind it.”
HL Basra, Associate Professor, SCD Government College, Ludhiana says, “The implementation of CM Scholarship Scheme by the Punjab Government will definitely improve the GER in the state. This scheme will be a big help for those students from the scheduled caste community who are not able to afford the tuition fees. Due to not implementing the Dr BR Ambedkar Post Matric SC Scholarship Scheme announced earlier, in the last three years many students were not able to pay the fees.
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