Correspondent
Shillong: In the remote village of Khaldang, the dream of accessible education is being slowly suffocated by years of administrative neglect, infrastructural decay, and mounting disillusionment. The Khaldang Ad-hoc Primary School, established in 1968 and upgraded to Upper Primary in 1978 during the tenure of former Speaker Late P.A. Sangma, today stands as a withering monument to broken promises in rural Meghalaya.
The school, with just 34 students and four teachers, is grappling with plummeting enrolment figures as some parents have withdrawn their children amid allegations of teacher misconduct. However, the crisis extends far beyond that. Reports of financial mismanagement, irregularities in recruitment, and chronic dropout rates have severely dented the institution’s credibility.
Once a beacon of learning, the school now suffers from utter infrastructural collapse. No major repair has been carried out in decades. Apart from a single-room extension built many years ago, the building is falling apart. Students face crumbling ceilings, cracked walls, and unsafe classrooms daily. Sanitation is abysmal, with most toilets broken or unusable—posing severe health and dignity risks, especially for young girls.
The approach road to the school is no better. Nearly impassable during monsoons, children are forced to walk through kilometres of knee-deep mud, drenched and fatigued before they even reach the school gates.
“The road to the school is in very poor condition. It’s completely undeveloped. During the rainy season, children have to face great difficulty. Their uniforms all become dirty,” said Mother Union President Malbina Marak.
Despite repeated complaints, no visible action has been taken. What makes the situation more troubling is that the school falls under the Resubelpara constituency, represented by Deputy Speaker of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, Timothy D. Shira. Yet, both the school and its approach road remain in disrepair—a stark contradiction to the government’s public claims of progress in education.
North Garo Hills, represented entirely by MLAs from the ruling National People’s Party—including Resubelpara, Mendipathar, Kharkutta, and Bajengdoba—continues to be among the most neglected districts in the state.
Mother Union President Malbina Marak said, “The L.P. School and U.P. School were established during the tenure of former Speaker Late P.A. Sangma. Since then, these schools have not undergone any repairs. Only a single-room structure was added once, and many years have passed without any further improvements. We urge that the old schools be renovated. We appeal to our Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and Education Minister Rakkam Sangma to address our issues.”
Headman Lening Sangma said, “The roads leading to the UP and LP schools in our village are in very poor condition. We request our Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, and our Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma that they will resolve our problem.”
As frustration grows, the people of Khaldang are no longer willing to remain silent. They are demanding not favours, but their fundamental right to quality education and dignity for their children—calling upon Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma and Education Minister Rakkam A. Sangma to act decisively and restore faith in public education where it is needed the most.
Also Read: Meghalaya’s organic black pepper shipped to Mumbai
Also Watch: