As many as 17 of 23 districts in Punjab have witnessed a dip in the enrolment in the primary classes (pre-primary to class 5) in government schools within a year, according to the latest data presented at the state review meeting held in Chandigarh on December 3.Consequently, the district education officers (DEOs) across the state were issued a written order Monday by the office of director (elementary education) to “prepare a list and send names” of the head teacher and their colleagues working in the worst-performing schools to the head office “for further action”.A list of 10-15 worst performing schools from each district which have witnessed the highest dip in enrolment was also presented at the meeting. Primary sectio kids in Punjab government school.Other than six districts which have upped their primary enrolment — Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, SAS Nagar (Mohali) and Fatehgarh Sahib — all 17 others have registered a significant decline, despite the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government’s claims of providing world-class infrastructure in state-run schools.Speaking to The Indian Express, Anindita Mitra, secretary, education, Punjab said: “Majority districts have witnessed a decline in the enrolment this year (2025-2026) compared to last year (2024-25). We are trying to delve deep into the reasons behind it and to achieve that, we have prepared school-wise and class-wise data to identify worst-performing schools. The education department is responsible for providing the best infrastructure and teachers in schools. But if the number of children will decline even in those schools where we have provided adequate number of teachers and excellent infrastructure, then we have to delve deeper.”“We are still not considering the data from 2021-22 as they were Covid years and many students shifted back to private schools by 2023 after temporarily getting admitted in government schools. But teachers have to explain why enrolment has dipped within one year from 2024-25 to 2025-26,” a senior official from Punjab elementary education wing, said.According to the district-wise data presented at the state review meeting, the number of primary children (LKG to class 5) in Faridkot have declined from 27,341 to 25,987 and in Bathinda from 60,961 to 56,815 in 2025-26 from the previous year.Story continues below this adIn Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s home district Sangrur, the enrolment has declined from 43,456 to 41,795, and in Mansa from 33,891 to 32,079. In border district Ferozepur, the enrolment has dipped from 50,703 to 47,269, in Pathankot from 18,736 to 18,058, and in Barnala from 21,841 to 20,972. In Muktsar, it has declined from 44,553 last year to 41,772 this year, in Amritsar from 89,192 to 86,093, and in Moga from 41,521 to 41,284. In Gurdaspur, the numbers have gone down from 55,997 to 54,638, in Fazilka 63,524 to 60,597, and in Tarn Taran from 58,020 to 55,130. In Patiala also, the primary enrolment has dipped from 79,012 to 76,881, and in SBS Nagar (Nawanshahr) from 26,126 to 25,242.In education minister Harjot Singh Bains’ home district Rupnagar (Ropar), the enrolment has gone down from 28,533 to 27,790 in 2025-26. In Malerkotla, the state’s youngest district, the primary enrolment has dipped from 13,804 to 13,746 in one year.In an exception, six districts have also performed well and upped their primary enrolment in government schools compared to last year. The elementary DEOs of these six districts were lauded for their work during the state review meeting. These include Kapurthala (32,772 to 33,292), Hoshiarpur (66,739 to 67,174), Jalandhar (79,789 to 81,636), Fatehgarh Sahib (24,977 to 26,653), Ludhiana (149,897 to 163,395) and SAS Nagar (Mohali) (62,171 to 64,593).According to the letter issued by the office of director, elementary education, Punjab, dated December 8 to DEOs across the state, they have to declare the names of head teacher, centre head teacher and ETT teachers who are working in the worst-performing schools. “The number of children in your school has significantly declined. The teachers in these schools haven’t performed well when it comes to increasing enrolment. The names of those teachers should be sent to the head office immediately with comments,” the letter stated.Story continues below this adSeven districts have also witnessed an overall decline in the enrolment since 2021-22 — Faridkot (drop of 2.86 per cent), Bathinda (2.79 per cent), Sangrur (2.27 per cent), Mansa (2.11 per cent), Ferozepur (1.76 per cent), Pathankot (1.19 per cent) and Barnala (0.60 per cent).Elaborating on the decline in enrolment, a teacher said that “due to the pressure of increasing enrolments, teachers have always feared striking off names of ghost students who never attend school physically. Now when we have started striking off the names of those long absentees and each admission is being linked to an Aadhaar Card to eliminate bogus admissions, we are being questioned again”.