Tura, Sept 2: Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma marked the 65th Teachers’ Day celebration in Tura by recalling the humble beginnings of Mission Education — and unveiling the results of that seven-year journey: the largest single-year improvement in school performance recorded by any Indian state.
Sangma, who handed out State and District Teachers’ Awards, Best Scout Master and Guide Captain honours, and Teachers’ Welfare Fund assistance at the event, told the gathering that recognition belonged not only to those honoured on stage but equally to teachers working without an audience — including in single-teacher schools in border villages — simply because a child depends on them.
Sangma took the audience back to 2018, when he first asked officials for a plan to transform school infrastructure. The presentation that came back estimated the cost at Rs 3,000 crore. “I stared at the screen and said I don’t have Rs 3,000 crore. But I said let us start, even if with 10 schools. Every long journey starts with the first step,” he recalled.
Seven years later, that first step has grown into Mission Education, under which the government has upgraded infrastructure in more than 2,000 elementary government schools and expanded the number of Higher Secondary Schools from 427 to 545. Of the Rs 300–400 crore spent from his Chief Minister’s Special Development Fund over the past eight financial years, Rs 150–180 crore — the largest single share — has gone to education, alongside Rs 600–700 crore spent through the Education Department and CSR funds directed entirely to the sector.
State’s Best-Ever Score
Sangma said Meghalaya has, for the first time since the Performance Grading Index was introduced, moved out of the lowest grade category — rising from Akanshi-3 to Akanshi-1 in a single year, with its score climbing from 448 to 525.7 out of 1,000. The 77.7-point jump is the largest single-year gain recorded by any state in the country, part of a cumulative rise of 124 points, or 31 percent, over four years.
The gains are visible in outcomes touching every household, he said: a 97.2 percent pass rate at SSLC and 86.6 percent at HSSLC this year, a Class X-to-XI transition rate of 82.1 percent — now above the national average — and a marked decline in secondary school dropout rates.
A New Map for Every School
To track progress beyond the state-level score, the government has built the Meghalaya School Performance Grading Index (MSPGI), covering all 11,443 schools across 12 districts and assessing them on five domains and 43 indicators, out of a maximum 1,000 points. The highest-scoring school in the state secured 930 points.
East Khasi Hills placed the most schools — 48 — in the state’s top 100, followed by Ri Bhoi with 16. In Garo Hills, West Garo Hills led with 9 schools in the overall top 100, including Montfort PM SHRI LPS, Montfort Higher Secondary School, Dalu Government PM SHRI Higher Secondary, Shyamnagar Government PM SHRI School and Tura Public School. By district, the highest MSPGI scores were: West Garo Hills 892, East Garo Hills 838, South Garo Hills 808, North Garo Hills 775, and South-West Garo Hills 752.
“The MSPGI is not a scoreboard to win or lose, but a map that tells every teacher and school precisely where to direct next year’s effort,” Sangma said.
Urging teachers not to lose sight of their purpose amid daily routines, Sangma said: “We get involved in day-to-day activity of finishing course from 9 to 5, that we forget the purpose. Purpose of every teacher is to shape lives of youth, and while shaping youth, you shape future of country.”
He directed senior officials to visit one or two schools every week or fortnight and upload observations on infrastructure issues — such as roof leakage, furniture and drinking water — for direct review by the Commissioner and Secretary, the Director, and the Chief Minister’s office, asking that the process be strictly monitored.
“We are determined that education sector must transform, and we will do it, but we need all of us to work together positively — be part of solution, not part of problem,” Sangma said, adding that every decision should be tested against one question: will it help students?
The event was attended by senior Education Department officials, teachers, awardees and students.
