The Meghalaya government will tackle the overabundance of schools by merging and consolidating related institutions that act as separate schools even though they are effectively one.
It was revealed last month that although it has a smaller population than Tripura (based on the 2011 census), Meghalaya has nearly three times more schools – 14,582 compared to 4,929.
Secretary of the Education Department, Swapnil Tembe, today said that, in many cases, different sections of the same school operate separately but are technically part of one institution. “In principle, they are only one school, but they are being counted as four different schools comprising LP (lower primary), UP (upper primary), secondary and higher secondary.” One reason for this is that the institutions are taking advantage of the way the government distributes grants to schools.
The Education Department, in a review meeting today, decided to merge related schools into one institution through a school clustering model.
The restructuring will also align Meghalaya with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which emphasises composite schools that integrate pre-primary to higher secondary levels. Tembe explained that the prevailing system forces students to change schools at least four times during their academic journey, often leading to higher dropout rates.
As part of the implementation process, officials will conduct field visits to various schools, collect necessary data and submit reports to the government.
Meanwhile, Tembe also informed that Meghalaya has nearly 500 unrecognised schools, which were set up without official government approval due to legacy issues. Following directives from the Centre, the state government will now assess these institutions and determine whether they meet the required basic facilities.
