The recent report released by the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), called the School Education Quality Index (SEQI) places Meghalaya in a very unenviable position. Among the eight small states Meghalaya comes 7th followed by Arunachal Pradesh at the bottom of the heap. The SEQI which is a subset of Performance Grading Index (PGI), is a convergence of the Ministry of Human Resources’ (MHRD) vision to ensure that the school education system reorients its priorities on enhancing learning outcomes of students in addition to other equity and access outcomes along with strengthening governance processes. Among the small states Manipur tops the list followed by Tripura (2nd) Goa (3rd) Mizoram (4th) Nagaland (5th) and Sikkim 6th. Kerala leads the way among the big states, followed by Tamilnadu, Haryana, Gujrat etc.
The SEQI looks at two main categories. Category-1 is about Outcomes which has four domains, namely (a) Learning Outcomes (b) Access Outcomes (c) Infrastructure & Facilities for outcomes (d) Equity Outcomes. Category – 2 looks at Governance Process Aiding Outcomes. Schooling it is felt should result in tangible learning outcomes hence the SEQI assigns almost half of its weight to learning outcomes. This sends a strong signal to schools across the country that the focus remains centred on learning. Above all SEQI focuses on indicators that drive improvement in the quality of education rather than on inputs or specific processes. The index therefore seeks to institutionalize a focus on improving educational outcomes with respect to learning, access equity and governance in India.
Close on the heel of the publication of the NITI Aayog report we have the Education Minister of Meghalaya, Lahkmen Rymbui making a public statement that there are 222 schools in the state with only 3-5 students each. These schools cost the exchequer Rs 20 crore annually. The Education Minister says these schools will be shut down. He further stated that in Mawkyrwat alone there are 56 schools with teachers, buildings et al but with no students since the past five years. This means that teachers have been paid for doing nothing. If this is not a scam then what is! In fact, Meghalaya is notorious for ghost schools which have existed for several decades since the state was born. These are the outcomes of political machinations and the NITI Aayog survey could not have missed this. So much money has been coming to the Centre and is pumped into education including into these non-existent schools.
Mr Rymbui must be congratulated for speaking up and uncovering this scandalous saga in the education sector of the state. However, ghost schools exist in all corners of Meghalaya. They must be detected and closed down