From CK Nayak
NEW DELHI, May 25: Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Monday made a detailed presentation on the state’s roadmap before Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan, seeking to improve Meghalaya’s Performance Grading Index (PGI), which has remained at the bottom of the rankings for the past three years.
Sangma said that the Education Department had identified major gaps in learning outcomes and initiated structural reforms to address long-standing challenges affecting the sector. Among the key concerns highlighted were the unusually high number of schools, fragmented resource utilisation, multiple layers of grant-in-aid systems, and administrative complexities.
The Chief Minister pointed out that, with a population of around 30 lakhs, the state has nearly 14,600 schools — the highest among Northeastern states excluding Assam and combined strength of some states. There are a large number of teachers but both enrolment and pass out rates are very low.
He said the government has launched a major school consolidation exercise to optimise infrastructure, improve student-teacher ratios, and ensure better access to laboratories and digital learning facilities. In total 3,198 schools have already been rationalised out of 14,582 schools across the state to ensure optimum utilisation of resources.
He also highlighted reforms including streamlining grant-in-aid mechanisms, implementing a unified pay structure for teachers including SSA teachers, and strengthening teacher training programmes through DIKSHA-enabled professional development modules. “With a clear roadmap and strong political will, Meghalaya is poised to overcome its challenges and significantly improve its PGI performance in the coming years,” he said.
Sangma said that the hill state has introduced several National Education Policy (NEP)-aligned reforms, including the three-language formula, compulsory learning of Khasi and Garo, play-based learning in foundational classes, contextualised textbooks, and bagless learning days. The Union Minister was all praised for the state’s emphasis on improving learning outcomes and strengthening learning in mother tongues, including Khasi and Garo.
Pradhan discussed Meghalaya’s efforts towards integrating skills with formal education while promoting sports, physical education, horticulture and local livelihood opportunities within the learning ecosystem.
A greater focus on multidimensional development through the blend of knowledge and skills, along with emerging areas such as Artificial Intelligence and computational thinking, can further expand opportunities for the youth and align education with their aspirations, he said.
Sangma also briefed Pradhan about the recently launched “CM LEAD Fellowship”, under which 12 fellows will be deployed across the state’s 12 districts to strengthen planning, coordination, and monitoring of education reforms.
Another major initiative highlighted during the meeting was the establishment of the Meghalaya Teachers Training Academy (MTTA), which will focus on continuous professional development and implement the teacher education component under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan.
He sought financial assistance for infrastructure, laboratories, hostels, faculty development, academic expansion, and professional education programmes under the MERU (Multi-Disciplinary Education and Research Universities) vertical of PM-USHA, under which state universities are eligible for grants of up to Rs 100 crore.
