DW BUREAU / new delhi Ahead of the assembly polls in Punjab, AAP leader and Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday called upon his Punjab counterpart Pargat Singh for presenting a list of 250 government schools which have been improved in the five years of the Congress government for a public comparison of their education models. "Punjab's Education Minister Pargat Singh has accepted my challenge for a debate on improvement in 250 schools in Delhi and Punjab. I am waiting for a list of 250 schools in Punjab which have improved in the past five years," Sisodia tweeted in Hindi. "I will also submit a similar list of Delhi schools. We both will then visit these schools together and invite the media so that people can form an opinion about schools in Delhi and Punjab and the education models of two states. "(Delhi) CM Arvind Kejriwal is also visiting Mohali tomorrow. He will meet the teachers in Punjab who have been agitating for their demands. Who can talk better about improved situation in schools other than teachers?" he added. Sisodia had on Thursday invited his Punjab counterpart for a public debate on the education models under the two governments. He had also proposed a joint visit to 10 government schools each in Punjab and Delhi. Responding to his invite, Singh tweeted earlier in the day," I welcome the Hon. edu. Minister of Delhi Sh.@msisodia's suggestion to compare Punjab govt schools with Delhi Schools. However We will take 250 schools each of Punjab and Delhi instead of 10 schools". Punjab will go to assembly polls early next year. A government school in Punjab's Hoshiarpur district has been closed for 10 days after 13 students there tested positive for coronavirus, officials said on Friday. The infected students have been home quarantined, they said, adding that the school was closed on Thursday. According to Mukerian Subdivisional Magistrate (SDM) Navneet Bal, all infected students were 15 to 16 years old. The Health Department has taken samples of all students and teachers for testing, she said. Testing in area villages has also been intensified. The entire school campus had been sanitised and people of the area have been asked to strictly follow Covid norms, including wearing of masks. Civil Surgeon Dr Parminder Kaur said those who came in contact with the students are being traced. Meanwhile, two more people died from coronavirus in Punjab on Friday as 41 fresh cases surfaced, pushing the state's infection count to 6,03,173, according to a medical bulletin. So far, the state has reported 16,593 deaths. Two fatalities were reported from Faridkot and Jalandhar. Mohali reported 10 cases, followed by five in Pathankot and four in Patiala. The number of active cases rose to 335 from 314 on Thursday. Eighteen people recovered from the infection, taking the number of those who have been cured to 5,86,245, as per the bulletin. Union Territory Chandigarh reported eight cases, taking the total count to 65,438. No death was reported in the city in the past 24-four hours. The toll stood at 820. The number of active cases in the city was 48 while the number of cured persons was 64,570. India logged 10,549 new coronavirus infections taking the country's total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,45,55,431, while the active cases rose to 1,10,133, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday. The death toll climbed to 4,67,468 with 488 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am. The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 20,000 for 49 straight days and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 152 consecutive days now. The active cases comprise 0.32 per cent of the total infections while the national COVID-19 recovery rate. (editor@dailyworld.in)