CORRESPONDENT
SHILLONG: Meghalaya's Education Minister Rakkam A. Sangma has reaffirmed the state's commitment to education, justifying the Rs 3,654 crore allocations in the 2025-26 budgets. With Rs 2,770 crore sourced from state funds, the budget said, of this, Rs 1,403 crore is earmarked for grant-in-aid salaries, while Rs 170 crore is designated for capital works, signalling a strong push for reforms.
Defending the allocations, Rakkam A. Sangma stated, "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, and 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 the supporting human capital project, about Rs 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 that 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 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 crores 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.
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