State jumps 77.7 points in a year to climb from Akanshi-3 to Akanshi-1, still scores lowest points among 36 states/UTs
NEW DELHI/SHILLONG, July 8: In a dramatic turnaround from being the worst-performing state in the national rankings, Meghalaya has finally moved out of the lowest grade in the Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0 for the first time since the framework was introduced by the Ministry of Education.
As per the PGI 2.0 Report 2025-26 released by the Ministry on Tuesday, Meghalaya has improved its overall score from 448 in 2024-25 to 525.7 in 2025-26, thereby moving from Akanshi-3 to Akanshi-1 — a jump of two grades in a single year.
This is the first time the state has risen above the lowest grade band since the inception of the revamped PGI 2.0 in 2021. Meghalaya now shares the Akanshi-1 category with Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Tripura, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.
The state’s PGI score has shown consistent improvement over the last three years — rising from 401.62 in 2022-23 to 417.90 in 2023-24, 448 in 2024-25, and 525.7 in 2025-26. This represents an overall increase of more than 124 points (nearly 31%) in just three years, placing Meghalaya among the fastest improving states/UTs under the PGI framework.
Despite the significant overall jump of 77.7 points in one year and more than 124 points over three years, an independent analysis of the report by The Shillong Times revealed that Meghalaya still recorded the lowest score among the 36 states and UTs in 2025-26.
When contacted for his reaction on Meghalaya bagging the lowest score, Commissioner and Secretary of Education, Vijay Kumar Mantri, said the PGI only awards grades, not ranks.
Chandigarh leads the table with 766 points in the Uttam-3 grade. The gap between Chandigarh’s highest and Meghalaya’s lowest scores stands at 240.3 points or 31.4%.
With Learning Outcomes data carried forward from the previous PARAKH survey, the recent gains have come primarily through improvements in Access, Equity, Governance Processes, Infrastructure and Teacher Education parameters, the report revealed.
Education minister’s reaction
Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui credited the sustained educational reforms undertaken by the Government of Meghalaya over the past eight years, with particularly focused interventions during the last three years, as the main factor behind the PGI improvement.
The government carried out massive rationalisation and clustering of schools during this period, optimising the school network from 14,641 schools in 2024-25 to 11,443 schools in 2025-26. This has enabled more efficient utilisation of educational resources and improved school management, he said.
“Such sustained year-on-year improvement places Meghalaya among the fastest improving states and Union Territories in the country under the PGI framework,” he said.
Recognising that motivated and financially secure teachers are the cornerstone of quality education, the state government introduced the Structured Pay Framework (SPF), which consolidates multiple categories of fixed-pay teachers into a single, transparent pay structure. The minister said the government will continue to focus on teachers’ welfare and targeted interventions to further improve learning outcomes in the coming years.
In the PGI 2.0 report for 2024-25, Meghalaya was placed at the bottom nationally, placing it among the weakest performers in school education outcomes, infrastructure, and governance parameters assessed under the index.
