SHILLONG, June 23: Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma has made improving the state’s Performance Grading Index (PGI) ranking a top priority, chairing a high-level meeting on Tuesday to strengthen the state’s performance in the national education assessment framework.
The meeting focused on finalising key action points, assessing progress, and bridging critical gaps in school infrastructure, basic amenities, data quality, and timely reporting by schools — areas the government considers vital for lifting the state’s overall PGI indicators.
The renewed push comes after Meghalaya was ranked the lowest-performing state in the country in the Union Ministry of Education’s PGI 2.0 report released in May. The state was placed in the lowest category with a score of 417.9 out of 1,000, showing only a marginal improvement from 401.6 in 2022-23.
The PGI 2.0 evaluated 36 states and union territories across six domains — Learning Outcomes and Quality, Access, Infrastructure and Facilities, Equity, Governance Processes, and Teacher Education and Training. Meghalaya performed poorly across most indicators, trailing even several other northeastern states.
In response, the Education Department has assigned specific responsibilities to senior officers for close monitoring and intervention across all PGI parameters. These include learning outcomes, enrolment and retention, infrastructure development, vocational education, teacher qualifications, digital attendance, inclusive education, health and sanitation, and school facilities.
Director of DERT, Jacqueline Una Kharpuri, has been tasked with learning outcome indicators and teacher qualification parameters, while other officials will oversee enrolment, retention, PM-POSHAN implementation, health check-ups, and related areas. The officials have been directed to ensure timely data collection, verification, submission, and necessary interventions to improve performance in their assigned domains.
