Shillong, June 20: In response to Meghalaya’s ranking in the 2023-24 Performance Grading Index (PGI) for school education, Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma on Thursday reassured the public that the government is actively addressing the technical challenges that have impacted the State’s score and expressed confidence in the reforms already underway.
Sangma explained that the PGI score is based on ‘outdated’ data that does not reflect the recent improvements being implemented across the state. “The ranking is based on past data. In reality, we are making significant progress and closing the gaps,” he said.
He highlighted a key structural issue affecting the state’s score: the way school campuses are categorised. In many cases, a single campus hosts multiple school levels—primary, upper primary, secondary, and higher secondary—each under different administrative setups. However, these are counted as separate schools in the central database, despite sharing the same infrastructure.
“For the Government of India, it appears as five different schools. But in reality, it’s one campus with one toilet, one library, and shared classrooms. This skews the data and impacts our scores,” the Education Minister explained. “If all these sections were counted as one school, the infrastructure indicators would show full coverage.”
He also pointed out that many rural schools, particularly in areas like Shillong, function without electricity not due to neglect but due to practical reasons. “Primary schools here operate in the morning when fans aren’t needed. But the PGI penalises the absence of electric connections without considering local needs,” he said.
Despite these data discrepancies, the Minister acknowledged that some areas still face infrastructure gaps. However, he underlined that the government is not only aware of these challenges but has already started implementing solutions.
“We are in the process of streamlining the structure by bringing various categories—SSA, non-government, pre-primary, ADHOC, grant-in-aid—under one umbrella. This will ensure better reporting, coordination, and infrastructure development,” Sangma said.
He expressed confidence that once this reclassification is complete, Meghalaya’s PGI ranking will see a significant jump. “If we align our data with the ground reality, the picture will be very different. Our schools will reflect 100% access to toilets, libraries, water tanks and more,” he added.
The Minister reaffirmed the government’s strong commitment to educational transformation across the state. “We are investing heavily in school infrastructure, teacher training, and digital education. Our reforms are already making a difference on the ground, and in time, this will be reflected in future rankings,” he said.
As per the Ministry of Education’s latest PGI report, East Khasi Hills scored the highest among Meghalaya districts with 212 points, while North Garo Hills scored 155. However, Sangma reiterated that these numbers do not reflect the real progress being made under the current administration.
“The issue is not with intent or effort. These are legacy issues and technical anomalies we are correcting with a strong sense of purpose. Meghalaya’s education sector is on the path to positive change,” he concluded.
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