Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Sunday proposed an allocation of Rs 19,279 crore for the education sector for 2026-27, an increase of 7% over last year, while announcing the launch of ‘Sikhya Kranti 2.0’ initiative to transform “turnaround the education system with an outlay of Rs 3,500 crore, over the next six years”.“Over the past four years, we have focused on upgrading infrastructure, strengthening foundational learning and creating centres of excellence within the government school system. In FY 2026-27, this reform journey enters its next phase — consolidation with expansion,” said Cheema.For the fifth consecutive budget, the AAP government’s flagship project “Schools of Eminence” (SoEs), received the lion’s share in the education budget at Rs 70 crore. Under the project, 118 existing state-run schools are being upgraded into state-of-the-art schools from Class IX to XII.Among other major allocations, the PM-SHRI schools (Centre’s project which runs with shared funds) has been allocated Rs 300 crore, up from Rs 220 crore last year. The PM Poshan scheme (mid-day meal) has been given Rs 467 crore and the fixed state’s share under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan has been allocated Rs 1,435 crore. Another Rs 690 crore has been allocated for strengthening school infrastructure.“The future of Punjab will be written in classrooms. If Punjab is to compete globally, create jobs, attract investment and secure prosperity for the next generation, then education cannot be treated as just another department. It must be a mission. It must be the centrepiece of governance,” said Cheema.He said that under ‘Punjab Sikhya Kranti’, launched in April 2025, the government inaugurated over 25,000 infrastructure projects including classrooms, labs, boundary walls, toilets and even repaired toilets in the schools. “We made a bold and historic choice to place education at the very top of the political agenda. The results of that commitment are visible today. In the Government of India’s PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024, Punjab ranked number one in classroom learning outcomes. Punjab’s government schools have demonstrated that excellence is not the privilege of a few, but the right of every child,” he said, adding the state government has decided to launch ‘Sikhya Kranti 2.0’.“We have signed a historic collaboration with the World Bank for transforming school education. This represents one of the largest education reform investments in Punjab’s history. This mission will strengthen foundational literacy and numeracy, expand science and commerce streams, empower teachers and school leaders, institutionalize structured career counselling and modernise governance systems. Punjab is not merely reforming schools. We are redesigning the entire education ecosystem for the next generation,” he said.Story continues below this ad“Today, 99 per cent of schools in Punjab have boundary walls; 10,095 toilets have been constructed, and more than one lakh new desks have been procured. Around 6,200 classrooms have been newly constructed and 4,700 renovated to meet growing needs,” Cheem said, adding that 8,286 sanitation workers are ensuring daily cleanliness in schools and more than 3,000 security personnel are safeguarding campuses.This year, Rs 690 crore has been allocated to further strengthen school infrastructure, he said.The government, he said, is partnering with experts from reputed coaching institutions to provide structured professional preparation within schools themselves. “We are institutionalizing a statewide Career Counselling Framework covering approximately 7.35 lakh students from Grades IX to XII. We will be launching career counselling support portal for our children to be more informed about jobs and higher education decisions,” said Cheema.“Some only talk of Artificial Intelligence (AI), but we invest in bringing technology to our students. We are building that future brick by brick, classroom by classroom, child by child,” he said.Higher and technical educationStory continues below this adThe Punjab government has approved the “establishment of a world-class university in the name of Guru Tegh Bahadur at Sri Anandpur Sahib” in the 2026-27 budget, he said.The Finance Minister said that in the past four years, “seating capacity in government ITIs was expanded from 35,000 to 52,000, thereby widening access to vocational education.”“Punjab has also operationalized ITIs in 11 jails to impart skill training to inmates. Through the Hub-and-Spoke model under PM-SETU, selected ITIs are being developed as Centres of Excellence, while Innovation Labs and industry partnerships – including collaboration with IIT Ropar – are strengthening exposure to emerging technologies such as AI,” said Cheema, allocating Rs 569 crore for technical education in FY 2026-27.Grant-in aid to universitiesRs 1,760 crore has been earmarked to support state universities and colleges including PAU, GADVASU, Panjab University, Punjabi University, GNDU etc.