CORRESPONDENT
SHILLONG: Meghalaya has moved out of the lowest category in the Union government's Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0 for school education for the first time since the framework was introduced, recording one of the country's sharpest improvements. According to the Ministry of Education's PGI 2.0 Report 2025-26, the State's overall score increased from 448 in 2024-25 to 525.71 in 2025-26, lifting it two grades from Akanshi-3 to Akanshi-1.
The achievement marks a major milestone for Meghalaya, which had remained in the lowest category for years. The State now joins Akanshi-1 alongside Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Tripura, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.
The Education Department attributed the progress to sustained reforms over the past eight years, with intensified efforts in the last three years focusing on governance, school infrastructure, teacher welfare, capacity building and evidence-based planning. Meghalaya's PGI score has steadily risen from 401.62 in 2022-23 to 417.90 in 2023-24, 448 in 2024-25 and 525.71 in 2025-26, an increase of 124.09 points, or nearly 31%, in three years.
The PGI 2.0 evaluates States and Union Territories across 70 indicators covering six domains, including learning outcomes, access, infrastructure, equity, governance and teacher education.
Among the reforms highlighted were the introduction of the Structured Pay Framework (SPF) for fixed-pay teachers, rationalisation and clustering of schools, which reduced the number of schools from 14,641 to 11,443, and initiatives such as CM IMPACT, Mission Education, Samagra Shiksha, the ADB-funded Supporting Human Capital Development in Meghalaya Project and the Meghalaya Teacher Training Academy. The department also strengthened digital governance, school monitoring and programmes to improve foundational literacy, numeracy, inclusive education and school leadership.
Governance Processes recorded the biggest improvement, rising from 40.5 to 85.6, followed by Infrastructure and Facilities, which increased from 62.1 to 77.8. Gains were also registered in Teacher Education and Training, Access and Learning Outcomes and Quality, while Equity remained Meghalaya's strongest-performing domain.
The Education Department described the achievement as the beginning of a new phase of educational transformation, while acknowledging that learning outcomes and governance still require further improvement.
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