Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma met with Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday to discuss a strategy for elevating Meghalaya’s educational standards. The state has struggled with its Performance Grading Index (PGI) rankings, remaining at the bottom for the last three years. Sangma acknowledged that structural issues and fragmented resources have hindered progress in the sector for several decades.
One of the primary challenges identified was the excessive number of schools relative to the population. Despite having only 30 lakh residents, Meghalaya operates nearly 14,600 schools, the highest in the region outside of Assam. This has led to administrative complexities and inefficient use of grants. To remedy this, the government has already merged or deleted 3,198 lower primary schools to ensure better access to labs and digital tools.
- School consolidation — Over 3,000 schools merged to optimize state resources
- Teacher welfare — Unified pay structure introduced for SSA teachers
- CM LEAD Fellowship — Twelve experts deployed to monitor district reforms
The Meghalaya government is also focusing on teacher training through the newly established Meghalaya Teachers Training Academy (MTTA). Sangma informed the Union Minister that DIKSHA-enabled modules are being used to modernize pedagogy. Furthermore, the state is implementing the National Education Policy’s three-language formula, making Khasi and Garo compulsory subjects in the curriculum.
Other notable changes include the removal of summative assessments for students up to Class 2 and the introduction of "bag-less days" at the foundational stage. Sangma reiterated that with strong political will, the state is poised for a significant turnaround in learning outcomes. "Meghalaya is poised to overcome its challenges and significantly improve its PGI performance," the Chief Minister stated during the high-level meeting.
