CHANDIGARH, Dec 25 — The Punjab government has announced that starting from the 2026–27 academic year, every school textbook—from Class 1 to Class 12—will include a page dedicated to the Gurmukhi alphabet, officials said Wednesday.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann said the initiative aims to help students stay connected to their mother tongue and Punjabi culture. “This step ensures that children are proud of their heritage while receiving a modern education,” he said.
The Education Department and the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) are preparing the books, which will reach around 60 lakh students in government, aided, and private schools. English and Hindi textbooks will now feature Gurmukhi letters at the beginning or end of the books, alongside the primary language, so students encounter their native script in daily learning.
Surveys such as the Pratham Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) had shown that many students were struggling to read the Gurmukhi script properly. “We cannot limit Punjabi to just one subject. It must become part of a student’s daily life,” Mann said, directing the Education Department to implement the changes across all language textbooks.
Officials said the measure is part of a broader effort to strengthen linguistic and cultural skills among the youth, ensuring that every Punjabi student becomes a guardian of the mother tongue while continuing to excel in modern subjects.
