Dera Bassi, April 5 – MLA Kuljit Singh Randhawa emphasized that government schools now provide education on par with private institutions. He made this statement while honoring Smriti Verma, a student of Government High School, Karkaur, who secured the top position in Mohali district and ranked sixth in Punjab with 99.17% in the Class 8 exams conducted by the Punjab School Education Board.
MLA Randhawa visited the school to personally award Smriti with ₹11,000 and a crown in recognition of her achievement. He announced that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann would also honor Smriti during his upcoming visit to Dera Bassi to inaugurate a School of Eminence on Monday.
He highlighted the state government’s dedicated efforts to uplift the education system by providing highly qualified staff, quality teaching, modern infrastructure, computerized labs, and smart classrooms. He noted that Schools of Eminence are being set up as a separate initiative and proudly stated that Smriti outperformed students from 400 private schools. Sharing his own experience, Randhawa said he had studied in government institutions himself.
Headteacher Deepali Bansal shared that 14 students scored above 90%, 23 students secured over 80%, and 40 students passed with over 60% in the board exams. Students Nitin Kumar and Hasanpreet secured the second and third ranks in the school, respectively.
The village heads of Karkaur, Barouli, and Amlala also awarded Smriti with ₹11,000 to encourage her, while the school contributed ₹5,100. The event was attended by Manu Dev Dhiman, Gurdev Singh, teachers, and members of the School Management Committee.
