Last Updated: 8 April 2025

21st Century Schools: “Schools of Eminence (SoE)” program re-imagines education in Government schools, preparing student to be responsible 21st-century citizens^[1]

Phase 1: 118 Schools of Eminence, across all 23 districts of Punjab^[2]
-- All operational from Day 1
-- 42 fully upgraded/constructed^[3]
-- Rest Infra upgrade work in progress

Free coaching included for Entrance Exams like IIT, NEET, CLAT, NIFT, Armed preparatory forces etc

2024-25: For 20,000 seats, more than 1.5 lakh students have applied^[4]
-- In some schools, there are 2,000+ applications for 120 seats

¶ Features^[1:1]

• Classes only from 9th to 12th
• Reserved: 75% from Government schools & 25% from other schools
• Four Streams: For 11th & 12th class
  • Science (Medical)
  • Science (Non-Medical)
  • Commerce
  • Humanities
• Special Industrial & University educational tours

¶ Admissions

Based on an aptitude test & further screening in only 9th & 11th Class

Session 2023-24^[5][6]

*_{Some schools had more qualified students than seats so many students couldn't get admission}
*_{Others had less qualified students than seats so left empty seats without compromising on the scores}

¶ Special School dress & allowance^[7]

• Specially-designed uniforms for students of Schools of Eminence (SoE)
• SoE students will get Rs 4,000 grant every year to buy these uniforms

¶ Industrial tours

Regular Industrial tours for practical science exposure, including witnessing all ISRO satelite/rocket & space launches live

• SoE students fly to watch live Chandrayaan 3 launch (AAP Wiki)

References:

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1. http://download.ssapunjab.org/sub/instructions/2023/February/SchoolofEminenceBooklet22_02_2023.pdf ↩︎ ↩︎

2. https://www.babushahi.com/full-news.php?id=180029 ↩︎

3. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/chandigarh/punjab-government-giving-wings-to-students-dreams-harjot-singh-bains/ ↩︎

4. https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/two-years-of-aap-govt-in-punjab-putting-state-back-on-learning-curve-101710532960295.html ↩︎

5. https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/admission-class-6-schools-of-excellence-aap-punjab-8562074/ ↩︎

6. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/101294302.cms ↩︎

7. https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/punjab-education-minister-reveals-new-uniforms-for-students-of-schools-of-eminence-8847862/ ↩︎