Shillong, May 25: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Monday outlined before Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan a comprehensive reform strategy to improve education sector in the state.
During a detailed presentation to the Union Education minister at New Delhi, Sangma said the Education Department has identified critical gaps in learning outcomes and initiated structural and academic reforms to address long-standing challenges affecting the sector, an official statement by the CMO said here.
The chief minister said Meghalaya, with a population of around 30 lakh, has nearly 14,600 schools, the highest among the northeastern states excluding Assam, resulting in fragmented resource utilisation, multiple layers of grant-in-aid and administrative complexities that have persisted for decades.
“These factors had diverted focus away from improving learning outcomes, and the government has now adopted measures which will improve the quality of education in the state,” he said.
Sangma informed Pradhan that the state has undertaken a major exercise to consolidate schools and optimise infrastructure to ensure better utilisation of resources, improved student-teacher ratio and enhanced access to laboratories and digital infrastructure.
He also highlighted efforts to streamline multiple grant-in-aid mechanisms to reduce administrative burden and strengthen focus on academic quality and outcomes, the statement said.
The chief minister said the government has introduced a unified pay structure, including structured pay for SSA teachers, aimed at improving parity, morale and accountability among teachers.
“This reform aims to bring parity, improve morale, and enhance accountability across the teaching workforce,” Sangma said.
He further informed the Union minister about professional teacher training and development programmes, including DIKSHA-enabled learning modules and self-paced professional development initiatives.
“The introduction of DIKSHA-enabled professional development programmes and self-paced learning modules is empowering teachers with modern pedagogical tools and continuous learning opportunities,” he said.
Among other interventions highlighted during the presentation were implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) three-language formula, compulsory learning of Khasi and Garo languages, play-based and discovery-oriented learning methods, contextualised textbooks and bag-less days at the foundational stage.
Sangma also informed Pradhan that out of 14,582 lower primary schools in the state, 3,198 schools have been rationalised to optimise utilisation of resources.
He also briefed the Union minister on the recently launched “CM LEAD Fellowship”, under which 12 fellows will be placed across the state’s districts to strengthen implementation, planning and monitoring of education reforms.
The chief minister further highlighted the establishment of the Meghalaya Teachers Training Academy (MTTA), which will implement the teacher education component of Samagra Shiksha and enhance continuous professional development hours for teachers.
“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,” Sangma said. (PTI)
