The Meghalaya government has announced plans to rationalise the state’s school network through large-scale mergers, citing declining enrolment, duplication of infrastructure and unsustainable financial pressure on the education system, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma said in Shillong. The move aims to make the system more efficient while preserving access to education.
The state currently has more than 14,000 schools managed across government, SSA (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan), grant‑in‑aid and private bodies, including institutions run by church denominations. Official data show that 206 schools have zero enrolment and 2,269 schools operate with single‑digit student numbers, creating many underused facilities.
Sangma said overlapping school systems in the same areas have produced duplicated services without matching student demand. Under the proposed restructuring, the government plans to reduce the total number of schools to around 12,000 through mergers, while seeking to avoid disruption to students’ access to nearby schools.
Meghalaya has 14,582 schools and about 55,000 teachers, with an annual salary bill of Rs 1,967 crore. That sum includes Rs 917 crore for grant‑in‑aid private schools, Rs 684 crore for government teachers and Rs 366 crore for SSA teachers, underscoring the heavy recurring cost of maintaining the current network.
Financial strain is expected to grow after approval of a structured pay framework for ad hoc and SSA teachers, which the government says will raise annual expenditure by roughly Rs 817 crore. Sangma noted that a portion of such funds — about Rs 200 crore — could otherwise have financed infrastructure projects like a veterinary college.
To illustrate the imbalance, Sangma compared Meghalaya with other northeastern states. Meghalaya’s population is about 29 lakh with 55,000 teachers; Tripura, with roughly 36 lakh people, has about 4,900 schools and 36,000 teachers. Manipur operates around 4,600 schools with 42,000 teachers, Nagaland 2,700 schools with 31,000 teachers, and Mizoram about 3,900 schools with 23,000 teachers.
Sangma acknowledged that school closures and mergers are politically sensitive and often meet resistance. He also highlighted the system’s complexity — the state has 24 teachers’ associations, including four each representing ad hoc and SSA teachers — factors that will complicate reform. He stressed that rationalisation is necessary for long‑term sustainability and better use of public resources.
Original Source: https://nenews.in/meghalaya/too-many-schools-too-few-students-meghalaya-plans-big-education-reset/41382/
Category: Meghalaya,CM Conrad K Sangma,Meghalaya govt,Mergers,Rationalise,schools
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Publish Date: 2026-02-09 18:11:00
