On Thursday, the Punjab government launched an SMS attendance tracking system as part of Mission Samrath 4.0, aimed at enhancing foundational learning. Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains announced that parents will receive daily SMS alerts about their children's school attendance, which will help improve engagement and accountability in classrooms. The state has increased its education budget to ₹19,279 crore for the 2026-27 fiscal year, up from ₹12,657 crore in 2021-22, emphasizing the importance of funding classroom resources over bureaucratic delays. The initiative is designed to ensure that any child absent for seven days will prompt district-level parent contact, while absences exceeding 15 days will be flagged to state authorities. Bains highlighted that Punjab has outperformed the national average in foundational learning, with improvements of 18% in grade 3 and 26-28% in grade 6. The program, which now covers nearly 12 lakh students and involves over 70,000 teachers, focuses on enhancing teaching quality through proven classroom practices. The overarching goal is to ensure every child achieves strong foundational skills in reading, writing, and mathematics.