Punjab govt honours 300 govt school principals after record JEE, NEET success

Chandigarh, Jul 30 (PTI) Government schools in Punjab have recorded a remarkable performance in national entrance exams, with 882 students qualifying NEET-UG 2026 and 64 clearing JEE (Advanced), prompting the state government to felicitate over 300 school principals on Thursday.

Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains felicitated more than 300 principals of government schools whose students qualified the JEE (Main), JEE (Advanced) and NEET-UG 2026 examinations under the Punjab Academic Coaching for Excellence (PACE) initiative.

Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and AAP Punjab in-charge Manish Sisodia was also present at the felicitation ceremony held in Mohali.

Addressing the event, Bains said Punjab government schools had registered another year of remarkable success in national-level competitive examinations.

He said 361 students qualified JEE (Main) 2026, marking a 35.2 per cent increase over the previous year, while 64 students cleared JEE (Advanced), reflecting a 45.5 per cent year-on-year rise.

The minister said 882 students from government schools qualified NEET-UG 2026, up from 847 in 2025 and 437 in 2024, registering growth of more than 100 per cent in just two years.

Claiming that the results reflected the impact of the state's Punjab Sikhya Kranti initiative, Bains said the achievements also highlighted the strengthening of academic support in government schools.

He said 10 students from government schools have secured admission to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), 36 to the National Institutes of Technology (NITs), and more than 90 to government engineering colleges across the country.

"These figures demonstrate that Punjab government schools are now producing students capable of entering the country's premier institutions," Bains said.

He added that Punjab's education model was now being discussed across the country and credited teachers for the achievement.

"In 2022, fewer than 80 students from government schools qualified these examinations. Today, 882 students from every district of Punjab have qualified NEET," he said.

The minister also said the School Education Department organised four large-scale residential coaching camps in Amritsar, Bathinda, Jalandhar and Mohali in June 2026.

The camps benefited around 3,000 students through intensive academic sessions, doubt-clearing classes, mock tests, mentoring and focused preparation for the JEE and NEET examinations. PTI CHS NB NB