By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Oct 30: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday underscored the need to restore focus on the core purpose of education, calling on all stakeholders to place the child at the centre of the system.
Speaking at the inauguration of the two-day MPOWER Education Action Conclave 2025 in Shillong, organised in collaboration with the Department of Education, he said the sector must move beyond administrative saturation and rediscover its true mission.
“Over the years, different departments in the government have lost focus of their purpose and focused more on achieving saturation in schemes. As a government, as a department of Education, as officials and as teachers, we must focus on the child, for which we are here today — that should be our driving force,” Sangma said.
The chief minister said the government has launched several initiatives, including MPOWER, that not only identify the challenges faced by stakeholders but also offer practical solutions. “It often happens that we treat adolescents and their behaviour as a problem but fail to address the actual problem of emotional, physical and psychological growth that they are going through during adolescence, and MPOWER is trying to address this,” he stated.
He added that the programme seeks to tackle issues such as school dropouts, teenage pregnancies, and drug abuse while nurturing and directing the energy of the youth toward positive development.
Reflecting on education reforms, Sangma said transformative measures have been initiated but results will take time. “Education is very ‘sticky’ in the sense that the results of the decisions that have been taken will bear results after ten or fifteen years and do not happen overnight,” he remarked, stressing that the groundwork for long-term change has already begun.
Addressing structural concerns in the department, he said the coexistence of multiple categories of schools remains a challenge. “We have 14,000 schools, and there is a problem in the rationalisation of different schools. There are also structural problems which need to be resolved in a transitional manner into a new phase,” he said.
On the long-standing issue of SSA and ad hoc teachers, Sangma said the absence of a proper framework has been a major concern. “There has to be some kind of system in place where there is some kind of surety, and the government is trying to structure a system for the SSA and ad hoc teachers to give them this surety and guarantee,” he said, adding that the government is also working to rationalise school assets and reduce the number of school categories for greater efficiency.
Announcing a new initiative, the chief minister said that under the CM Mission of 100% Toilets, the government will ensure that every school has toilets with running water. “Though this program is not only for schools, under this program we will ensure that all schools have toilets with water supply,” he said, adding that the mission will extend to tourist destinations, hospitals, offices, and public places to ensure universal sanitation across the state.
Concluding his address, Sangma said that apart from teachers, officials in the Education Department at various administrative levels play a vital role in implementing the government’s vision for education.
MPOWER Meghalaya is a government-led project supported by the World Bank that aims to enhance adolescent well-being, empowerment, and resilience. It seeks to address issues such as dropout rates and teenage pregnancies through a multi-sectoral approach that integrates education, health, and skill development for youth aged 9-19.
The two-day conclave will feature sessions on the role of DSEOs and SDSEOs in educational implementation, challenges in education, NEP integration, in-service teacher training, school rationalisation, PM POSHAN, PM SHRI, KGBV and EMRS schools, and the role of media and communication in strengthening education.
