Shillong: Meghalaya has moved out of the lowest category in the Centre’s Performance Grading Index (PGI) for school education for the first time since the ranking system was introduced, with the state jumping from Akanshi-3 to Akanshi-1 in the latest assessment.
The 2025-26 PGI 2.0 report, released by the Union Ministry of Education, shows Meghalaya’s overall score rising from 448 last year to 525.71, marking an increase of nearly 78 points in a year. Over the past four assessment cycles, the state’s score has improved from 401.62 in 2022-23 to 525.71, an overall increase of about 31 per cent.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui said the improvement was the result of years of reforms in the school education sector and acknowledged that the government had faced criticism over Meghalaya’s poor performance in previous years.
“People have criticised the government because Meghalaya was always at the bottom of the PGI rankings. We accepted that criticism. But we knew the work that was being done. Today, that work has started showing results,” Rymbui said.
He said Meghalaya was the only state placed in the Akanshi-3 category in the previous assessment and has now skipped Akanshi-2 to move directly into Akanshi-1, calling it an unprecedented improvement under the PGI framework.
“We are happy with the progress, but we are not satisfied. This is still a work in progress. Education is dynamic, and we have to continue improving every year,” the minister said.
The Performance Grading Index is the Centre’s annual tool for assessing the performance of school education systems across states and Union Territories.
The framework measures performance across six areas—learning outcomes, access to education, infrastructure, equity, governance, and teacher education—using data from sources including UDISE+, PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan, PM POSHAN and other national education databases.
According to data released by the Education Department, Meghalaya recorded its biggest improvement in the governance category, where its score more than doubled from 40.5 to 85.6.
Scores also improved in infrastructure, teacher education and access to schooling. However, the state continues to have room for improvement in learning outcomes and quality, an area that remains one of its weakest indicators despite recent gains.
The government has attributed the improvement to several reforms introduced over the past few years, including restructuring teachers’ pay through the Structured Pay Framework, large-scale rationalisation of schools, investments in school infrastructure under Mission Education and Samagra Shiksha, expansion of teacher training through the Meghalaya Teacher Training Academy, and greater use of technology in school administration.
Among the most significant changes has been the rationalisation of government schools. According to official figures, the number of schools has been reduced from 14,641 to 11,443 through the merger and clustering of institutions with low enrolment, a move the government says has improved the utilisation of resources.
The exercise, however, has also drawn concerns in some areas over the distance students now have to travel to attend school.
The state has also introduced programmes such as CM IMPACT, aimed at improving board examination results, while expanding teacher training and strengthening monitoring systems.
Despite the latest improvement, Meghalaya remains in the aspirational category of the PGI and is grouped with 12 other states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir.
Education experts have long pointed out that while enrolment and infrastructure have improved in Meghalaya, challenges remain in student learning levels, teacher vacancies, dropout rates in some districts, and the quality of classroom instruction.
The latest PGI findings also indicate that learning outcomes will require sustained attention if the state is to move into the higher-performing categories.
Rymbui said the latest ranking should be seen as encouragement rather than the final goal.
“The PGI is not just about ranking states. It helps us identify where we are lacking and what we need to improve. We will continue working with teachers, officials, parents and all stakeholders to strengthen school education in Meghalaya,” he said.
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