By Roney M Lyndem
Meghalaya in recent times has often speaks proudly about education. Governments announce new ideas and publicised publicly on all social media platforms celebrating board results. Yet behind the slogans, rankings, uniforms, and examination statistics lay a truth that many students carry silently every day. The school system is still largely built on a “one-size-fits-all” model that fails to understand the individual child. And parents sacrifice enormous amounts so their children can acquire the best they can to be successful in Life.
For decades, classrooms across the state and even the country have been designed around conformity rather than individuality, collective growth rather than individual potential. Students are expected to sit still for long hours, memorize information quickly, write at the same speed, understand lessons at the same pace, and perform equally well in examinations regardless of their emotional, psychological, intellectual, or physical differences. In such a rigid system, even intelligent children can begin to believe they are weak, slow, or incapable simply because the system was never designed to understand how differently each human child learns and absorb or understand knowledge.
This problem is even more serious in Meghalaya, where many schools continue to struggle with shortages of qualified teachers, weak management systems, contractual appointments, lack of counsellors, and outdated teaching methods. Instead of moving toward child-centered education, many institutions continue prioritizing obedience, discipline, memorization, and examination performance over emotional wellbeing and actual learning. Our own Government in fact promotes this as well.
As someone observing the emotional and psychological struggles of students today, one can clearly see that many children are not failing because they lack intelligence. They are failing because the system itself is failing to understand them.
The modern classroom still largely operates on the industrial-era principles. Rows of desks, one teacher speaking to forty or fifty students, standardized notes, standardized examinations, and standardized expectations. Every child is expected to absorb and swallow information in the same way. The fast writer is praised. The fast memorizer is considered intelligent. The quiet child is ignored. The slow learner is labelled as weak. The emotional child is called dramatic. The distracted child is punished. The child with anxiety is often misunderstood as lazy. This approach ignores the important point that children do not learn at the same pace.
Some students understand concepts quickly but struggle to express them in writing. Some can speak brilliantly but panic during written exams. Some need visual teaching methods. Some require repetition. Some struggle with concentration due to anxiety, trauma, or unstable home environments. Others may suffer from undiagnosed learning difficulties such as dyslexia, slow processing speed, memory-related issues, attention difficulties, or emotional stress. Unfortunately, these struggles are rarely identified properly in the current system of education.
In many classrooms, a child who writes slowly is immediately considered weak. A student who takes longer to understand mathematics may be publicly embarrassed. Children who cannot memorize quickly are pushed into endless tuition classes rather than being assessed for learning difficulties or emotional stress. Instead of asking, “Why is this child struggling?” the system often asks, “Why can this child not become like everyone else?”. This creates deep emotional and psychological damage.
Many Students today silently suffer from anxiety, low self-esteem, burnout, depression, and fear of failure. They begin comparing themselves constantly with classmates who may simply have different learning styles or stronger support systems at home. Over time, they stop participating in class, stop asking questions, and stop believing in their own abilities. It is also important to note that this current system may be able to churn out passed candidates but it is only because the focus of the classroom has become to give attention and maintain a speed that the brilliant, hardworking student usually in the front rows are up to speed and those who did not understand, did not comprehend, did not complete are left behind and expected to copy and paste everything to catch up on their own. Otherwise they are called stupid, slow and made to think that the problem is with them and not the system.
I have found that one of the biggest misconceptions in our education system and in our society is that learning disabilities must always appear dramatic or obvious or loud. While society is slowly becoming aware of conditions like Autism Spectrum Disorder or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, there are many students with less visible struggles who continue to be ignored completely. Not all Learning Disabilities are loud, or have to be found only in certain inclusive schooling.
It is a fact that there are children with slow writing speed who cannot complete examinations on time despite understanding the subject. There are students with slow comprehension who require teachers to explain lessons differently or more patiently. Some children have weak working memory and struggle to retain instructions given rapidly in class. Others need more time to process information before answering questions. These difficulties may not appear “serious” to schools, but they deeply affect academic confidence and performance. And these children are simply called lazy, careless, weak, or disobedient.
The emotional consequences to such careless remarks are severe.
A child repeatedly told that they are slow eventually begins to internalize those labels. Over time, academic struggle becomes emotional suffering. Many students begin experiencing physical symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, sleep problems, panic attacks, or stomach pain before examinations. Yet instead of receiving support, they are often pressured further through punishment, humiliation, comparison, or threats regarding their future.
The pressure becomes even worse because education still places enormous importance on marks as the sole measurement of intelligence. Creativity, emotional maturity, problem-solving ability, communication skills, artistic talent, empathy, leadership, and practical thinking are often treated as secondary qualities. Students are trained to fear mistakes rather than learn from them.
This fear-based education culture damages confidence and curiosity.
Teachers themselves are also trapped within this system. Many genuinely wish to help students but are neither trained nor supported adequately. Teacher training in many institutions remains outdated and theoretical. Educators are rarely given practical preparation on handling mixed-ability classrooms, learning disabilities, emotional crises, trauma-informed teaching, adolescent psychology, or mental health support.
In Meghalaya, this issue becomes more complicated due to the widespread use of contractual teaching posts and the unregulated nature of parts of the education sector. Many schools operate without proper systems of accountability regarding teaching quality, student welfare, counselling services, or psychological support. Teachers working under unstable contractual systems may themselves experience stress, low morale, and job insecurity, which ultimately affect classroom quality.
A teacher struggling to survive professionally cannot always provide the patience and emotional attention required by vulnerable students. The Teacher – Student ration is also problematic. One cannot expect one teacher to cater to all students in a class within the limited time frame without overtime payment or support.
Beyond the larger educational centers of Meghalaya, the condition of many schools becomes even more worrying. While towns such as Shillong receive greater public attention because of their concentration of reputed institutions, countless schools in smaller towns, semi-rural areas, and remote villages continue operating with very little scrutiny, regulation, or professional oversight. In these areas, education often survives not because of a strong system, but because parents have no alternative.
Many schools outside the main educational hubs suffer from poor infrastructure, lack of trained teachers, outdated classroom practices, weak administrative systems, and almost no access to mental health support or educational specialists. Students facing learning difficulties are rarely identified properly because schools themselves often lack the professional capacity to understand such conditions. A child struggling with slow comprehension, weak memory retention, anxiety, attention difficulties, or emotional distress is simply categorized as “poor in studies.”
This is where the real educational crisis of Meghalaya quietly exists—not only in examination results but in the daily emotional and intellectual neglect of children.
The problem is not merely lack of resources. It is also the absence of regulation and accountability.
Many private schools in Meghalaya today function almost like isolated kingdoms. Some are run professionally and sincerely, but many others are controlled by families, private groups, or charitable trusts that operate with little transparency. Education in such institutions increasingly risks becoming less about nurturing children and more about protecting business interests, reputation, and financial control.
The word “charitable” often sounds noble on paper, but in practice some institutions function with deeply profit-oriented mindsets while continuing to enjoy moral authority in society. Parents are burdened with increasing fees, compulsory purchases, donations, hidden costs, and strict compliance requirements, while the actual quality of emotional care, counselling support, and inclusive education remains extremely poor.
In some schools, students are treated less like young human beings and more like products whose examination performance will determine the market value of the institution.
This, creates a dangerous culture and its increasing day by day as schools begin prioritizing rankings, discipline, public image, and obedience over student wellbeing. Weak students become liabilities. Children with emotional or learning difficulties are viewed as inconveniences that may affect academic statistics. Students who cannot cope with pressure are often isolated, humiliated, or pushed aside quietly rather than supported properly.
There are also cases where authoritarian management structures dominate school culture. Decisions are centralized within family-run administrations where questioning authority becomes difficult for teachers, students, and even parents. Teachers themselves may fear speaking openly due to job insecurity or pressure from management. Contractual employment further weakens professional independence, creating environments where compliance is rewarded more than competence. In such systems, accountability disappears.
A parent may complain about emotional abuse, excessive pressure, humiliation, discriminatory treatment, or unfair disciplinary practices, yet there are often very few independent bodies capable of properly investigating these concerns. Students especially remain vulnerable because they exist within unequal power structures where schools hold enormous influence over their academic future and the government as usual is silent and unconcerned.
Many parents remain silent not because they agree with school policies, but because they fear retaliation against their children. Students too learn early that survival often means obedience. The culture becomes:
“Follow instructions. Do not question. Do not complain. Do not challenge authority.”
Such environments are harmful not only academically but psychologically which will affect their growth and Life decisions.
A school should never function as an unchecked authority over children. No institution dealing with young minds should be beyond scrutiny. Natural justice itself demands balance, accountability, transparency, and the right to be heard. Yet many schools continue functioning without effective systems that protect students from emotional neglect, academic exploitation, or psychological harm.
This is why Meghalaya urgently requires an independent educational regulatory and welfare body that functions beyond political influence, school management interests, or institutional pressure.
Such a body should not merely inspect buildings or documents. It must actively examine:
- Student wellbeing
- Mental health systems
- Teacher qualifications
- Learning disability support
- Anti-bullying mechanisms
- Fee transparency
- Emotional safety
- Disciplinary practices
- Parent grievance systems
- Teacher conduct
- Administrative abuse of power
Schools should undergo regular psychological and educational audits, not just academic inspections.
No private school should be allowed to function indefinitely without external checks and balances. Institutions that shape the minds and futures of children cannot operate solely according to internal family interests, financial priorities, or unchecked administrative authority.
There must also be laws ensuring that every school has:
- Qualified counsellors
- Special educators
- Transparent grievance systems
- Mental health support mechanisms
- Protection policies for students
- Trained teachers for mixed-ability classrooms
At present, many schools in Meghalaya are still unequipped to deal with modern educational realities. Yet instead of reforming these systems deeply, there is often a tendency to protect institutional reputation at all costs. Problems are hidden, criticism is discouraged, and students are expected to silently endure pressure.
The emotional suffering of students does not always appear publicly. Many children carry invisible burdens every day:
- Fear of humiliation
- Fear of failure
- Anxiety about examinations
- Emotional exhaustion
- Isolation
- Difficulty coping academically
- Feeling intellectually inferior
- Pressure from teachers and parents
- Loss of self-worth
When schools lack trained counsellors and compassionate systems, these struggles intensify.
The tragedy is that many students labeled “weak” are not weak at all. They are simply trapped inside rigid educational systems that cannot recognize different forms of intelligence and learning. Some students require slower pacing. Some require patient explanation. Some need emotional support before academic improvement becomes possible. Some may be highly intelligent but unable to perform under pressure-heavy environments.
A truly professional education system understands these differences. Unfortunately, many schools continue using outdated teaching methods designed around memorization, punishment, comparison, and uniformity. Teachers are often overworked, undertrained, and unsupported. Students are expected to adapt to the institution rather than institutions adapting to the developmental needs of children.
This is not education.
It is academic management without human understanding.
Our state possess talented youth, creative thinkers, gifted communicators, artists, musicians, innovators, and intelligent students from diverse social backgrounds. But talent cannot flourish in systems built primarily around fear, conformity, and institutional ego.
Educational reform in Meghalaya must move beyond slogans and surface-level policy announcements. Real reform requires courage to examine uncomfortable truths:
- Poor regulation
- Weak accountability
- Profit-oriented private management
- Lack of mental health systems
- Inadequate teacher training
- Authoritarian school cultures
- Neglect of learning disabilities
- Emotional harm caused by pressure-heavy education
Most importantly, society must stop believing that academic marks alone determine intelligence or human worth. Children are not machines designed for uniform output. They are individuals with different minds, emotions, struggles, abilities, and potential. A civilized education system must protect the dignity of every child, especially the vulnerable ones.
Until Meghalaya creates strong independent oversight mechanisms and child-centered educational reforms, many students will continue suffering quietly beneath polished school reputations and impressive examination statistics. The cost of this failure will not only appear in classrooms but in the long-term emotional and psychological wellbeing of an entire generation.
Dearest Government and School Managements in Meghalaya, please note that the future of education cannot be built on fear, silence, humiliation, and blind conformity. It must be built on empathy, flexibility, professionalism, mental health awareness, accountability, inclusivity for those with Learning Disabilities and respect for the individuality and potential of every child.
Only then can schools become places of growth rather than survival. Only then can we churn out intellectuals rather than Sheep work force. But, If we are to stick to this current system at least let the Classroom be focus on the Child that do not understand, do not comprehend , is slow and takes time and not on the favourite brilliant ones that can easily memorized a chapter or two.
(The author is a counsellor, social activist, and writer who works with young people in the areas of career guidance, trauma counselling, and personal development)
