There has been no improvement in the overall education scenario in Meghalaya. In most human development indicators, the State is competing with Bihar which used to be known as one of the BIMARU states. In November 2022 the Unified District Information for School Education (UDISE) had pointed out that Meghalaya had the highest drop-out rate in Classes 1-5. In 20-21 the drop-out rate in this category was 7.4% and in 21-22 it had jumped up to 9.8%. The Government of Meghalaya, as pointed out by Congress MLA Saleng Sangma has not shown any inclination to tackle this crisis in education. Now, in the latest survey Meghalaya has also recorded the highest percentage of drop-out at the Secondary level in 2021-22 at 21.7% which is the highest in the country and much above the national average which stands at 12.6% only. As usual Bihar follows Meghalaya with a drop-out rate of 20.46 %.
Education Minister Rakkam Sangma has been making the right noises and advocated adopting NCERT textbooks as a cure to the educational crisis in the state. But are books the only reason for the poor educational outcomes? The Government of Meghalaya has to admit that although it is constantly giving itself a photo-shopped version of its performance on all fronts the stark reality is that poverty is growing by the day and not much is being done to address rural poverty and landlessness both. Schooling means investment and even if a student is keen to study her parents cannot afford to provide her with the basic necessities required such as books, school fees etc. Above all, in Meghalaya’s rural outback a teenager is seen as a potential help in the house. Boys are employed as shepherds; girls look after the home and younger siblings while parents are out working. In the city students can get help at home or from tuition; in villages, students have neither.
According to a study by the National Centre for Education Statistics, students with low family incomes have the highest dropout rates at 9.4%. This is because these children need to get a job rather than go to school so they can help to support their families. A steady income can be a very powerful lure for a young person, especially when that person is from a low-income family and struggles to have their daily needs met. Studies however suggest that the most common reason why parents do not value education is because they don’t think that education would make any difference to the child’s life as an adult. Other reasons for school drop-out are that schools are distant and inaccessible; the school infrastructure is poor; there are inadequate toilet facilities and teacher absenteeism among others. In Meghalaya the Government needs to do an intensive study on the high drop-out rate and address it before many other more serious issues engulf the state.
