State School Education Department has released Rs 5.37 crore for the current financial year 2026-27 to fund vocational education activities under the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) in 355 PM Shri schools across the state, benefiting 721 vocational labs set up in these institutions.According to a letter of the Director General School Education-cum-State Project Director, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (Punjab) to all District Education Officers (DEOs), the grant will cover expenses on industry visits, guest lectures, raw material for practical training, office expenses and exposure to vocational education for Classes 9 to 12 under a scheme aimed at strengthening skill-based learning in government schools.As per the district-wise allocation, Faridkot — which has 20 vocational labs across its PM Shri schools — has been allotted Rs 15.69 lakh, of which Rs 6 lakh is earmarked for industry visits, Rs 2.04 lakh for guest lectures, Rs 1 lakh for office expenses, Rs 5.3 lakh for raw material and Rs 1.35 lakh for exposure activities.Under the funding norms, each lab is entitled to Rs 15,000 per trade for two industry visits, amounting to Rs 30,000 per visit cycle, while guest lecturers will be paid between Rs 300 and Rs 500 per class depending on their educational qualification and experience. Raw material grants have been fixed trade-wise, ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 40,000 depending on the vocational stream, covering trades such as agriculture, automotive, healthcare, IT/ITes, retail, tourism and hospitality, among others.DGSE’s letter has directed all District Education Officers to ensure funds are released to school heads without delay and utilised strictly for the specified purposes, with schools required to maintain proper expenditure records and upload utilisation certificates on the Prabandh portal by September 30, 2026.Patiala received the highest allocation among districts at Rs 49.81 lakh, followed by Ludhiana Rs 37.87 lakh, while Fatehgarh Sahib received the lowest at Rs 7.38 lakh.