The State Education Commission has submitted a voluminous report highlighting the problems of the Education sector in Meghalaya. The Report suggests that overall the state of education in Garo Hills leaves much to be desired with dilapidated buildings on the verge of collapse. However, the Khasi-Jaintia Hills have other problems. There are schools with single teachers manning several classes while in some schools there are teachers but no students. All this will perhaps be rationalised once the Commission’s recommendations are taken on board and the implementation process begins. The Commission states that the Report will serve as a roadmap for informed decision-making and strategic interventions to strengthen the education system in Meghalaya. It points to the demographic shift in Meghalaya with a very high number of youth population, where about 49% of the State’s population is under the age of 20 years. This poses a huge challenge as these young minds have to find a purpose in life which they can hopefully do through a wholesome education programme.
What is most worrying about Meghalaya’s education scenario is the high drop-out rate for which there is no robust data. The Commission could not have gone on a data collection mandate on this single aspect as it would taken a long time. Hence, they relied on secondary date. Their finding were that the Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) at the secondary level showed a significant drop across the state, with the average standing at only 38.6%. The question is where do the rest of the students go and why have they not taken admission? What are the problems they encounter? Unless these questions are clearly answered targeted interventions would not be possible. According to the Report the highest NER at the secondary school level is recorded in East Khasi Hills at 49.85% and South West Khasi Hills at 46.86%, while the lowest is in South Garo Hills at 28.21%, South West Garo Hills 29.56%, and Eastern West Khasi Hills at 35.41%. These figures indicate that the drop-out rate is substantial after elementary school and indicate systemic challenges in the transition to secondary education. The factors could be socio-economic in nature, the lack of schools closer home or inadequate academic support.
If enrolment at the secondary level is low it can be expected that at the higher secondary level the NER would be alarmingly low statewide with an average of only 15.51%. And at every level of enrollment girls outnumber boys and also outperform boys. So, in terms of NER Meghalaya performs relatively well only at the elementary stage but shows a steep decline at the secondary and higher secondary level. In 2023-24 the dropout rate in Meghalaya has shown a marginal increase at the Primary and Upper Primary levels. This increase may be partially attributed to the implementation of the Student Database Management System (SDMS) under UDISE+, which has improved the accuracy of tracking student data. However, there are persistent systemic and socio-economic issues that contribute to student dropouts across the State. They include limited access to Secondary and Higher Secondary education, particularly in rural and remote areas and challenging socio-economic conditions, especially in rural and economically weaker regions. There are also reasons such as non-qualified teachers plus domestic responsibilities especially for girls in homes with too many siblings. These require multi-pronged interventions that address the root of the problem.
