Meghalaya posts sharpest jump in school education index

Shillong, July 7: Meghalaya has recorded one of the biggest improvements in school education performance in the country, climbing two grades in the Centre’s latest Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0.

The latest PGI 2025-26 released by the Ministry of Education today shows Meghalaya’s overall score rising from 448 in 2024-25 to 525.7 in 2025-26, an increase of 77.7 points. The improvement has lifted the state from the Akanshi-3 category—the lowest performance band—to Akanshi-1, skipping Akanshi-2 altogether.

The Performance Grading Index (PGI) evaluates the performance of States and Union Territories by categorising them into different grades rather than assigning ranks. This grading approach allows multiple States and UTs to be placed within the same performance band, thereby promoting a more balanced and constructive assessment framework. This approach avoids the unintended stigma of underperformance that rankings may impose on States and UTs, even when they have maintained their previous performance levels or achieved improvements over time.

The previous 2024-25 PGI report had placed Meghalaya alone in the Akanshi-3 category with a score of 448, making it the only State/UT in the country’s lowest performance band.

While the latest report marks a significant turnaround, Meghalaya remains the lowest-scoring State/UT with 525.7 points, well behind the national leader, Chandigarh, which scored 766 points. However, the gap between the best and worst performers has narrowed from 291 points (39.4%) in 2024-25 to 240.3 points (31.4%) in 2025-26, indicating a reduction in inter-state disparities.

The improvement also places Meghalaya alongside Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura in the Akanshi-1 category, whereas last year it was the only state in Akanshi-3.

A domain-wise analysis of the 2025-26 report shows that learning outcomes remain Meghalaya’s biggest concern. The state scored just 47.2 out of 240 in the Learning Outcomes domain, the weakest among its six assessment areas. The report, however, indicates relatively stronger performance in Equity (208.5/260), followed by Governance Processes (85.6/130), Infrastructure and Facilities (77.8/190) and Teacher Education and Training (57.5/100).

The PGI evaluates States and Union Territories on a 1,000-point scale across six domains—Learning Outcomes, Access, Infrastructure and Facilities, Equity, Governance Processes, and Teacher Education and Training. Instead of ranking states, it places them in performance grades to encourage improvement.

Meghalaya’s jump from 417.9 in 2023-24 to 448 in 2024-25, and now to 525.7 in 2025-26, shows sustained progress over the past two years. However, the state’s continued position at the bottom of the national index underscores the need for stronger interventions, particularly in improving classroom learning outcomes and student achievement.

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