Amid intensifying heatwave conditions and revised school timings across Punjab, the counselling schedule for Class 11 admissions to the state’s meritorious schools has been extended from three days to five days.Counselling to be held from May 29 to June 3 with staggered merit-wise schedule. (HT Photo)The revised programme, issued by the Society for Promotion of Quality Education for Poor and Meritorious Students of Punjab on May 27, will now be conducted from May 29 to June 3. Officials said the decision was taken in view of extreme weather conditions following the state government’s revision of school timings. The counselling sessions will be held daily from 7.30 am to 1.30 pm.The extended schedule is aimed at accommodating thousands of students who qualified for admission through an entrance examination conducted earlier this year. Around 4,600 seats are available across meritorious schools in the state, including 2,875 for boys and 1,725 for girls.As per the revised merit-wise schedule, counselling for boys with merit ranks 1 to 700 and girls ranked 1 to 580 will be conducted on May 29. On May 30, boys ranked 701 to 1,400 and girls ranked 581 to 1,160 will attend the sessions. Subsequent rounds for remaining candidates will be held on June 1 and June 2, while the final counselling phase will conclude on June 3.Satwant Kaur, principal of the Senior Secondary Residential School for Meritorious Students, Ludhiana, said the initial counselling round was held on May 22 exclusively for candidates belonging to below poverty line categories, differently-abled students and women-headed households. She added that nearly 35 students have already secured admission to the Ludhiana institution so far.