11th, April, 2022

In a matter of concern, the number of students opting for the science stream in Class XII of government schools, affiliated with the PSEB, is only 12 per cent which is far less than the national average of 33 per cent. The figure is also much less than the 38 per cent average in private schools in the state.
Confirming the figures, Secretary, School Education, Ajoy Sharma, said the numbers that came up during a recent data analysis of the board enrollment, over the past three years, gave the disturbing picture of fewer students opting for science classes after matriculation.
The number of students in the science stream this year is about 30,000 out of approximately 2.15 lakh enrolled in senior secondary classes of government schools. Of approximately 2,000 senior secondary schools, about 650 offer the science option.

Talking about the ground reality, German Jeet Singh, a physics lecturer at Government Senior Secondary School (GSSS), Jabbowal, Amritsar, said, “Schools in the rural areas do not have uniform availability of science and mathematics teachers. When students from rural areas reach the senior secondary level, they find it difficult to study these subjects.”
Principal Sanjay of GSSS, Beas Pind, Jalandhar district, said, “students who grew up learning in Punjabi medium face a lot of difficulty in understanding the terminology in English in Plus Two. We have been informed that the board has started the process of making the text simpler.”
Sharma said the board had already begun the exercise to make the text simple for students. “We are aware that students need special guidance for linking their classroom study with entrance tests to engineering and medical colleges.
We are preparing to expose students to science terminology from Class VI onwards. Holding of online classes during the pandemic has shown us the potential of information technology. Besides classroom teaching, students will be given a communication channel to clear their doubts.” Education Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

(Source: Punjab Tribune)

Grappling with irregular supply leading to an acute shortage of coal at thermal plants, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) is facing a 40 per cent rise in power demand as compared to the last year.
The daily coal requirement of all five thermal plants is around 75 metric tonnes while operating at the plant load factor of over 85 per cent. Despite running at the reduced capacity, the thermal plants in Punjab are not even getting half of the daily coal requirement. Hence, all thermal plants are producing less power.
Due to a steep rise in temperature since March, there has been a surge in power demand. The PSPCL has purchased 655 LUs from the power exchange this year in comparison to 186 LUs purchased in 2021.

Though the PSPCL’s Pachhwara coal mine at Jharkhand has not been operational since 2015, the corporation now wants to restart it at the earliest.

While farmers and villagers claim that they are facing outages ranging from 30 minutes to a couple for hours every day, the PSPCL denied imposing any cuts. It claimed that power cuts in rural areas are imposed only during the daytime to prevent the standing wheat crop from catching fire.

PSPCL denied imposing any cuts. It claimed that power cuts in rural areas are imposed only during the daytime to prevent the standing wheat crop from catching fire.
“The power demand is much lower than the availability. Against the supply of 8,600 MW, the demand is 7,600 MW. Thus, there is no reason for the PSPCL to resort to cuts.

(Source: Punjab Tribune)

Some More News:

National Safe Mother’s Day is celebrated among women to raise awareness of good health care and ensure care for pregnant women and mothers before and after birth.
Good Governance Initiative: MDs of all procurement agencies have been directed to visit mandis across the state to ensure timely procurement, lifting & payment of every grain as pace of wheat arrival in the mandis has increased, says Lal Chand Kataruchak, Food Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Minister.