By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Sep 12: The state government has no plans to take control of all deficit schools or withdraw grant-in-aid support, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma clarified while responding to a query from VPP legislator Ardent Basaiawmoit during the Question Hour of the Assembly on Friday.
Sangma said there were varying demands from different schools — while some wanted the government to provincialise them, others opposed the move. “We believe in discussion and dialogue, and we are doing just that,” he said, adding that the concept of the Meghalaya Education Grant (MEG) had been placed before schools to seek their feedback.
Making it clear that the government will neither “bulldoze nor stop” the deficit system, the chief minister said all options are being examined before a final decision is made.
On infrastructure, Sangma informed that out of 2,500 dilapidated government schools, work on 2,000 has already been completed at a cost of nearly Rs 1,000 crore, while renovation of 400-500 schools is still pending. He assured that similar support will later be extended to government-aided, deficit, SSA, and ad-hoc schools.
The Chief Minister admitted, however, that enhancing grants for deficit and ad-hoc schools would require an additional Rs 200-300 crore annually. Currently, the state spends about Rs 600 crore on salaries for government institutions and over Rs 1,100 crore annually on aided private institutes, including SSA, deficit, and ad-hoc schools.
Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma reaffirmed that salary support for deficit schools will continue. He added that while some schools and colleges have sought autonomy and others provincialisation, both demands are being reviewed.
He further said recruitment powers for deficit schools now lie with School Management Committees, while the government is rationalising teachers to address non-performing schools with low enrolment.
