In a significant push to level the playing field for government school students preparing for national level competitive exams, a residential coaching camp under the Punjab Academic Coaching for Excellence (PACE) programme is currently being held in Jalandhar.
The camp is bringing together some of the state's top performing students from Class 11 and Class 12, for focused preparation for JEE and NEET examinations.
The month long camp is being held at the Meritorious School near Kapurthala road from April 12 to May 10 and has enrolled nearly 409 students from across Punjab. This includes around 359 JEE aspirants and 50 NEET candidates. Most of these students come from Schools of Eminence (SOEs), meritorious schools and non SOE schools.
PACE is a state initiative aimed at providing free, structured coaching to talented government school students who may not have access to expensive private institutes. Under the programme, three residential camps are organised every year across Punjab.
During these camps, students stay on campus and receive intensive classroom teaching, study support and mentoring. The residential training is supported by regular online classes and continuous assessments throughout the year.
Rajeev Handa, Principal of Meritorious School near Kapurthala road said," Students are selected through a competitive process with top performers doing well in monthly mock tests, being given the opportunity to attend such camps for advanced preparation."
The programme is being run in collaboration with State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and Mantra for Change.
Giridhar Singh, programme lead, Mantra for Change, said, "This is the ninth residential camp held in the past three years. Teaching at the camp is being handled by experts from PhysicsWallah and Avanti Fellows, with a team of nine faculty members taking classes for both JEE and NEET students. Along with regular lessons, students are given mock tests, doubt clearing sessions and practice papers to help them prepare for real exam conditions.
Officials from district education department and SCERT's Programme Monitoring Unit (PMU) are supervising the programme and ensuring that students continue to receive online classes and testing support even after the camp ends.
Gurinderjeet Kaur, District Education Officer (Secondary) said, "The initiative is free of cost and is enabling government school students to compete with greater confidence by offering quality teaching, proper guidance and regular evaluation under a single system, reducing their dependence on private coaching institutes."