24 December 2025 Punjab Khabarnama Bureau : In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Punjab Education Department has decided to brush up the reading skills of students in Gurmukhi script.
From the coming academic session, all language textbooks of Punjabi, Hindi and English will have a page on alphabets in Gurmukhi script. Covering nearly 60 lakh students, enrolled from Class 1 to XII in government, government-aided, private and other schools, the aim of the exercise is to improve the reading skills in Gurmukhi script.
The textbooks are being printed by the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB).
In this year’s report of Pratham (Annual Status of Education Report), it was found that nearly 15 per cent of the Class III students, both of government and private schools, could just read alphabets in Gurmukhi script but not words, and 4.6 per cent of the students could not even read Punjabi letters.
The survey on the learning levels of children in rural Punjab revealed that 28 per cent of Class III students could read Class I-level text, while only 34 per cent of them were able to read Class II-level text.
It was also revealed that of every 100 students studying in Punjab government schools, in classes III to VIII, only 47 could read a full story in their mother tongue (Punjabi). Twentyone of them could read up to a paragraph, 17 could read a sentence, nine could only read words while nine others could barely do the same and six could only identify letters.
Officials in the department said after analysing the languages papers attempted by students of different classes, it was felt that there was a need to brush up the reading skills of the students in Gurmukhi. In the Punjabi language textbooks, the Gurmukhi alphabets would be printed ahead of the preface and at the back of the textbooks.
For Hindi and English textbooks, the Gurmukhi alphabets would be printed below the alphabets of the respective language.
PSEB chairman Dr Amar Pal Singh said the intent was to catch the attention of the students, every time they opened the textbooks. The language textbooks from the coming academic session 2026-2027 would have the added feature.
Summary:
The Punjab government has decided that all language textbooks used in schools will include a dedicated page on Gurmukhi alphabets. The move aims to promote awareness and learning of the Punjabi script among students, regardless of the language they are studying. Officials said the initiative is part of efforts to preserve Punjab’s linguistic heritage and strengthen cultural identity through education.