Shillong, April 8: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday said the government desires to have lesser categories of schools, which will help in better structuring and management of the system, as the state currently has too many categories of schools that has created a complex that has affected the state’s PGI index ranking. But he assured that the government will consult all stakeholders on this before it decides on the matter.

“It is very desirable (to have only a few categories of schools) because we see the benefits in it. But it is very sticky (and) at the same time because each category has its own problems,” Sangma told reporters.

Meghalaya has a total of 14,540 schools that includes government, private, SSA, deficit and adhoc.

“Now, bringing them all under the same board or same categorization will need us to consult deeply with the teachers, managing committees, stakeholders and therefore we have a plan and we are consulting with people,” he said while clarifying “That is why lots of letters are being sent to colleges, schools. They, of course, after getting letters, (are) concerned that the government is going to take some drastic measures; it is not. We are just simply trying to understand the situation, the complications, as without understanding that we will not be able to move forward.”

Stating that diagnosing the problem is going on, the CM said, “We are trying to understand the problems and yes, it is desirable that we should have lesser categories (of schools) because it is easier to then structure the system and manage the system and it gives a much more uniform approach to everything. But it is not that simple, it needs to be deeply consulted and stakeholders have to be brought on board.”

“It may take time but we have to start the consultation to figure out how we move forward,” he added.

A third round of presentation was also presented by the education department regarding the complications faced by the sector during the cabinet meeting held on Tuesday.

“Education is very complicated subject not only in terms of education aspects but in terms of the different categorizations and the numbers we have; So, it is a very complicated situation. We need to untangle the knots but we have to do it in a manner that doesn’t disrupt the system too much also. It is very complicated but we are moving on it,” the CM said.

Sangma also cited that such problem has affected the PGI index ranking of the state. “…you have four schools in different categories but they are same schools technically speaking but just because we have SSA category, government LP school category and for LP they are SSA, for upper primary, they become adhoc then for secondary they become deficit and for higher secondary they become government, so those kinds of classification brings down the overall ranking and facilities as the same facility is divided among four schools and in the terms of classification it is actually four schools but all for practical purposes it is just one school called xyz.”

“These kinds of things bring down the facilities that are there which then are divided among the schools which then bring down and reflect badly on the PGI index. Can we bring them all together in one is a question as one happens to be an SSA, the other adhoc, government school,” he explained.

“This is a complex problem which leads to a lot of results which then brings down our rankings but slowly and steadily we are working on it. I have always maintained this for us to be able to take the right steps forward to resolve a problem starts with a correct diagnosis of a problem; we cannot just jump into a solution without knowing what the problem is,” the CM added further.

Also Read: Meghalaya govt to move forward with Cenotaph project only after consultations with stakeholders

Also Watch

Find latest news from every corner of Northeast India at hubnetwork.in, your online source for breaking news, video coverage.

Also, Follow us on-

Twitter-twitter.com/nemediahub

Youtube channel- www.youtube.com/@NortheastMediaHub2020

Instagram- www.instagram.com/ne_media_hub

Download our app from playstore – Northeast Media Hub