The “School Mentorship Program” of the Punjab government  has received encouraging response, with 100 top bureaucrats—including IAS, IPS, and PCS officers—volunteering as mentors within just three days of its launch on April 4, School Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains said on Tuesday.

The Punjab Government has introduced one-of-its-kind “School Mentorship Program” wherein top brass bureaucrats are being roped in to inspire and guide young minds to aim high in life. The initiative aims to bridge aspirations and opportunities for government school students by connecting them with civil servants.

Addressing a press conference, Bains said that a detailed analysis of applications has revealed that over half of the applications are from young officers, specifically those who joined the service between 2015 and 2024. Among the 100 applicants, 41 are IAS officers, including seven from pre-2005 batches, 14 from 2005-2015 batches, and 20 are from Batch 2016 onwards. Similarly, 48 IPS officers including nine from pre-2005 batches, 16 from 2005-2015 batches, and 23 from Batch 2016 onwards have joined the initiative. Furthermore, three PCS officers and eight from other services have also shown interest.

 Bains, while expressing his delight at the overwhelming participation, said that schools that are located at border, far-flung and challenging areas, including Pathankot, Tarn Taran and Ferozepur, have also received a huge interest from the officers. “Such huge number of officers coming forward for this noble cause is truly inspiring," said the Minister, adding that having our bureaucrats guiding students in our most underserved schools will create transformational change in Punjab's education landscape.

 The Education Minister said that the program is still open for the interested officers, who want to adopt a school, can fill the Google Form by April 20. Outstanding contributions will be acknowledged at state-level education events to honour the efforts of mentor officers, he added.

Meanwhile, the mentor officers will be frequently visiting, and collaborating with their schools and facilitating students’ career counselling, exposure visits, teachers’ training on innovative pedagogies, increasing parental participation in school, piloting innovative ideas, and improving the learning environment of the schools. Officers will engage with students, teachers, and principals to motivate students to dream big and pursue ambitious goals, besides, supporting teachers in adopting innovative pedagogy and leveraging their experience and networks to bring improvements in school infrastructure, resources, and exposure opportunities.