No more random holidays: Govt instructs schools

SHILLONG, Dec 26: The Meghalaya government has stopped schools across the state from randomly declaring holidays without obtaining official approval.
The Education Department has issued an order setting February 10, 2025, as the date for the start of the new academic session while the Meghalaya Class Readiness Programme has been scheduled from February 10 to March 7, 2025, for classes I to V and from February 10 to February 28, 2025, for classes VI to X.
The conduct of the half-yearly examination will be the prerogative of respective schools while for classes VI to IX, the Education Department will announce the schedule, coordinate the conduct of the examinations, and upload the evaluation on its web portal.
The order said the DERT or MBoSE would prepare the question papers for the annual examinations. The end date for academic session for pre-primary and for Class I to Class IX will be November 28 and December 17 respectively followed by winter vacations from December 18, 2025.
The department also directed the schools to ensure a minimum of 200 working days and 800 instructional hours for classes I to V and 220 working days and 1,000 instructional hours for classes VI to X.
To alleviate the performance of the schools in the NAS, all schools are required to dedicate the first four weeks for classes I to V and three weeks for classes VI to X exclusively to enhance learning outcomes. The necessary materials for this programme will be distributed to all teachers.
Officials said the objective is to ensure that students, particularly those struggling, acquire the necessary competencies to progress through their classes without difficulty.