Sikhya Kranti Effect: Punjab Schools Are India’s New Benchmark, Says Bains

Chandigarh: In a landmark feat for school education, Punjab has emerged as the top-performing State across the country under the Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0 for Stated/UTs 2024-25, released by the Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education (GoI). Notably, the PGI top rank comes just two weeks after another national endorsement. NITI Aayog Education Quality Report 2026 rated Punjab among India’s best-performing states.

What did Harjot Singh Bains say?

Sharing the remarkable achievement here on Wednesday, Punjab Education Minister S. Harjot Singh Bains said that Punjab has attained the Prachesta‑1 Grade (scoring between 51% and 60%)- the  distinction shared only with UT Chandigarh. The State has surpassed Kerala, Delhi, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh, all of which were placed in the Prachesta‑2 category.

The Education Minister further shared that the PGI 2.0 ranks States/UTs on their combined performance across six domains: Learning Outcomes & Quality, Access, Infrastructure & Facilities, Equity, Governance Process, and Teacher Education & Training.

Punjab has clinched the top position nationwide in the most critical domain-Learning Outcomes & Quality- with an impressive score of 150.4. This domain assessed student proficiency in Language, Mathematics, Science and Social Science for Classes 3rd, 6th and 9th, making it the ultimate measure of educational quality, he added.

What about Performance Grading Index for Districts? 

In the Performance Grading Index for Districts (PGI‑D) 2024‑25, Barnala topped the State with a score of 461, earning the prestigious Uttam‑2 Grade. Close behind are Sri Muktsar Sahib, SBS Nagar (Nawanshahar), Hoshiarpur, Sangrur, Tarn Taran and Malerkotla. It has proved  that excellence in classrooms runs deep across districts. The PGI‑D ranks districts on six key pillars including Outcomes, Effective Classroom Interactions, Infrastructure Facilities & Student’s Entitlements, School Safety & Child Protection, Digital Learning and Governance Process.

Congratulating the hardworking and dedicated teachers for the achievement, S. Harjot Singh Bains stated, “This victory belongs to you. Your concerted efforts turned Sikhya Kranti from a vision into reality. Topping the Learning Outcomes domain nationwide shows that our focus on conceptual understanding over rote learning is delivering real results. Under the leadership of Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann, we have broken away from the status quo. Surpassing Kerala, Delhi and Maharashtra is a proud moment for every Punjabi. Punjab’s government schools are becoming India’s new benchmark. We are not merely building schools. We are building a future‑ready Punjab.”