EXCLUSIVE
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Meghalaya’s Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma has reaffirmed the state’s commitment to education, justifying the ₹3,654 crore allocations in the 2025-26 budgets. With ₹2,770 crore sourced from state funds, the budget said, Of this, ₹1,403 crore is earmarked for grant-in-aid salaries, while ₹170 crore is designated for capital works, signaling a strong push for reforms.
Defending the allocations, Rakkam A Sangma told Meghalaya News 24, “It’s normal, even last year it was the highest budget allocated for the education sector. This shows how the government is all out to transform the education sector. We have come up with a new state university and how many hundred crores will be required for that—for infrastructure, students.”
Highlighting the government’s focus on specialized education, he added, “We are looking to create positions for teachers in PET (Physical Education Training), music, and other subjects so that our children will be trained within the school itself.”
Sangma also sent a strong message to educators, emphasizing that quality teaching should take precedence over infrastructure.
“For me, no matter what the infrastructure of the schools, I emphasize only the quality of education. So, no matter what the building is, teachers can teach students in any position. So, my appeal to all teachers across the state is that we must really shoulder our responsibility diligently so that we will transform our children, our community, our state,” he urged.
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma during a recent budget presentation for the fiscal year 2025-26 said, “The Government remains resolute in its commitment to building human capital. In the new phase of supporting human capital project, about ₹150 Crore will be invested to improve school infrastructure. Renovations and new building construction in 37 senior secondary schools and construction of 4 DIET hostels will be taken up.”
He further said to promote digital learning and revolutionize education delivery, the Government is constructing 750 digital libraries across the State at an estimated cost of over 162 Crore.
“Meghalaya’s school administration ecosystem is a complex web with multiple types of schools with different governance models. A comprehensive exercise to identify schools with zero- and single-digit enrolment has been undertaken – 2,475 number of schools out of the total of 14,582 fall in this category. We are formulating a strategy to streamline the administration of Government supported schools,” the CM said in the budget.
“Under Mission Education, we have committed 326 Crore and undertaken phase wise upgradation, renovation and reconstruction work in 2044 Government schools. All balance works of the first 3 phases will be completed and Phase IV of Mission Education will be launched in 2025-26. The focus of this phase will be to provide 100% assured minimum facilities at all government schools,” the budget stated.
Higher education has also received a boost under Sangma’s leadership, with the establishment of two professional colleges, two model degree colleges, and three polytechnics. Additionally, 29 government and government-aided colleges have been upgraded under RUSA’s Phase I and II, and three government-aided colleges have been converted into model degree colleges, contributing to a 20% rise in enrolment in higher and technical education.