Punjab announces ₹400-crore digitisation plan for government schools

The Punjab government on February 26 in Chandigarh announced a ₹400-crore programme to expand digital infrastructure across government schools, including new computers, dedicated computer labs and interactive flat panels, under its “Punjab Education Revolution” initiative.

Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains said the project will replace older hardware and equip government senior secondary schools, high schools and a portion of middle schools with updated devices and software. According to the plan outlined at a press conference at Punjab Bhawan, 5,012 government schools will be provided 38,649 computers with updated software. Bains said these will be distributed to all senior secondary and high schools and to 50% of middle schools, with the aim of improving access to computing facilities in the government system.

The minister said the department also plans to establish dedicated computer labs in about 5,000 government schools, with the stated objective of ensuring functional labs across secondary and senior secondary government schools.

As part of classroom digitisation, Bains announced that 8,268 interactive flat panels will be installed in 3,694 schools. He said each senior secondary and high school is to receive interactive panels, while larger schools will get more units based on student enrolment. The department expects the panels to be used for interactive content and classroom teaching support.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, who was quoted in the government note, said the intent is to ensure that students in government schools can access modern learning tools. Mann said the administration had previously focused on classroom strengthening and learning outcomes, and is now moving to expand technology-enabled learning across the state’s government schools so students are better prepared for higher education and employment requirements.

Bains said the department’s focus was to address the issue of outdated devices in schools, which, he said, had limited the use of computing tools in classrooms. He added that deliveries of equipment had begun and that the department is targeting distribution across districts by March 20. The timelines and rollout details were presented as part of the department’s implementation plan, with the minister stating that the effort was already underway rather than a future commitment.

The government note also said the programme would be implemented with monitoring and installation protocols, and with an emphasis on transparent use of public resources. It did not provide procurement or vendor details in the announcement, but officials said the focus would be on safe installation and effective on-ground deployment.

Alongside the infrastructure announcement, Bains addressed media queries related to teacher eligibility test (TET)-linked qualifications and concerns among teachers about service conditions. He said no teacher would lose their job and that the government was examining legal options to address issues raised by teacher unions. “I want to assure every teacher: your jobs are safe. No one will lose their job,” he said, adding that the department remained in contact with unions and was exploring legal remedies.

The education department has also directed school heads to hold school-level “unboxing” events between February 21 and March 20, inviting parents, school management committees, panchayat representatives, retired teachers and ex-servicemen. Bains said the idea was to involve local communities and allow parents to see new infrastructure being introduced in government schools, and to improve awareness of changes underway within the government system.

The government has positioned the digitisation programme as the next phase of broader school reforms, which it says have included classroom and infrastructure interventions. The department said the current phase is intended to add technology-enabled teaching and digital literacy to the public school system at scale.