Need to eliminate cheating in exams for reforms in edu system: Pb minister

Punjab minister O P Soni today stressed on eliminating cheating and copying in schools "to bring reforms in the ailing education system" and said that school education along with health was the top priority of the Congress government in the state.

He said the results of class 10 and class 12 exams conducted by the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) were "really weak" and a lot of students failed.

"To bring reforms in our ailing education system, the first step is to eliminate cheating and copying so that we may see the real picture of the situation," the state school education minister told a gathering here.

"The mentality to cheat has to be abandoned if we need to bring reforms in our education system, teachers have to teach and students have to learn and parents have to be cooperative," Soni said.

He informed the gathering that Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has ordered constitution of a core group of teachers from across the state to suggest reforms in school education system.

"Due to weakening education system, parents have resorted to sending their wards to private schools. However, still a large number of students are studying in public schools and the government has totally dedicated its resources to bring the public education system on par with the private education system," Soni said.