Meghalaya Pushes for 100% Literacy as ULLAS Fest 2026 Held in Shillong

SHILLONG: Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Friday reaffirmed Meghalaya's commitment to achieving full literacy, calling inclusive education the cornerstone of the state's development agenda.

He was speaking at ULLAS Fest 2026, held at the U Soso Tham Auditorium in Shillong, an event that brought together volunteer teachers, adult learners, ULLAS achievers, Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui, and senior government officials.

Sangma used the occasion to draw a direct link between Meghalaya's high-performing students — whom he had felicitated earlier the same morning for SSLC results — and the adult learners the ULLAS programme serves.

"I felicitated the toppers of the SSLC exams this morning, and while they are very important, so are our elders and seniors who are not yet literate but aspire to be so," he said.

"If we are not able to touch the lives of these people, our mission is incomplete." 

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The ULLAS programme is aimed at bridging the literacy gap among adult learners and marginalised sections of society who were previously excluded from formal education.

Sangma described it as a transformative effort, and called for sustained public participation to carry the mission forward.

"We are nearing the 100% literacy rate, but we have to work together as a society to bring transformation in education while empowering all sections of society," he said.

Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui offered a frank assessment of how much ground remains to be covered.

He noted that nearly two lakh people in Meghalaya remain illiterate — roughly 8 per cent of the state's population.

Rymbui clarified that literacy, in this context, does not mean completing formal schooling. "Literacy does not mean being a matriculate or graduate, but having the basic knowledge of reading, writing, numeracy and life skills," he said.

He urged all stakeholders to work towards crossing the 95 per cent literacy benchmark — the threshold required for a state to be officially classified as fully literate.