The AAP-led Punjab government’s attempt at showcasing the state’s government schools in a positive light seemingly backfired on Tuesday, after the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) pointed out spelling errors in classroom charts in a video shared by education minister Harjot Singh Bains.
Sharing an image of the classroom on X, the SAD alleged that the errors reflected the poor state of government schools in Punjab and linked them to a broader decline in student enrolment. The latest attack came days after a war of words between Bains and author Anand Ranganathan over the condition of a government school in Fazilka. Ranganathan had shared pictures of a school where students were allegedly forced to study in the open after its building was damaged. He claimed the AAP government had promised to build a new school within six months and questioned where the promised building was. After Bains shared images of the school’s existing classrooms and the rooms that had been dismantled, the spelling mistakes on educational charts visible on the classroom walls drew attention online.
“If this is what is being taught in Govt schools in Punjab, no wonder over 6 lakh students have dropped out from Govt schools since 2022,” the party said, reacting to a clip that showed words incorrectly spelt as “vegitables” and “dear” (referring to the animal deer) in a classroom wall.
