Shillong: UDP leader and West Shillong MLA Paul Lyngdoh on Thursday called for an immediate reforms commission for Meghalaya’s education sector, saying the system had expanded faster than its quality had improved.
Taking part in a Short Duration Discussion on the state of education in the Meghalaya Assembly, Lyngdoh said the state needed to revive the “passion and spark” that had once made Shillong an education hub of the Northeast.
Quoting Irish poet W.B. Yeats, he said, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a spark.”
Lyngdoh recalled Shillong’s educational legacy, citing prominent personalities who had studied in the state. He referred to diplomat Jodhna Hinga and highlighted the record of St Edmund’s College, Shillong, which he said had produced two former Chief Election Commissioners of India, Harishankar Brahma and J.M. Lyngdoh.
He also said the college had produced four Chief Ministers, including P.A. Sangma, Mukul Sangma, D.D. Pala and I.K. Mawlong.
According to Lyngdoh, the fact that two former Chief Election Commissioners had studied in Shillong was a distinction shared only by St Stephen’s College in Delhi.
He said these achievements should not simply be remembered as part of the past but should encourage the state to rebuild its reputation as an education destination.
Recalling a visit to Bangladesh with former chief minister Mukul Sangma, Lyngdoh said he attended a gathering at the Dhaka Club where he met around 10 to 12 people, at least eight of whom had studied in Shillong.
He also recalled visiting St Peter’s School while in charge of the Sports Department and said more than half of its team comprised students from Shillong.
On the current education scenario, Lyngdoh welcomed the reported improvement in Meghalaya’s PISA score from 448.0 in 2024-25 to 525.71 in 2025-26. However, he said Meghalaya remained the lowest-scoring state among the eight northeastern states in the latest assessment.
He said Meghalaya’s score was still below those of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.
“The question is not simply whether we are improving, but whether we are improving fast enough,” Lyngdoh said, stressing the need to examine the gap with other northeastern states.
He also questioned the declining preference for the Meghalaya Board of School Education (MBOSE), saying there was a time when parents actively sought admission for their children in MBOSE-affiliated schools.
Lyngdoh questioned whether even officials associated with MBOSE would now prefer to send their children to MBOSE schools or opt for ICSE institutions.
He also raised questions over the timing of the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examinations. He asked why the examinations were held in December and January when Assam, despite having a warmer climate, conducts them in February.
According to Lyngdoh, the current schedule gives students less time to prepare. He said students involved in extracurricular activities had previously used the winter months to complete their syllabus and prepare for examinations but were now at a disadvantage.
He also questioned the prescribed textbook system under MBOSE, comparing it with ICSE schools, which have greater flexibility in selecting textbooks.
Lyngdoh said schools across Meghalaya differed considerably in terms of standards and resources and suggested that schools in the lower and middle classes should be given some flexibility to choose books suited to their students, while prescribed books could continue for Classes IX and X.
He further criticised the introduction of major reforms without adequate institutional preparation.
Referring to biannual examinations, the removal of the Best of Five system and adoption of the NCERT curriculum, Lyngdoh said reforms should have been preceded by measures to strengthen teacher training, counselling, academic support, school infrastructure and examination capacity.
He said the government should also consider measures such as conditional flexibility, compensatory passing and grace marks linked to overall performance, while distinguishing between academic weakness and learning disadvantage.
Lyngdoh questioned whether conducting two examinations a year had achieved its intended purpose, saying some students could instead end up taking both examinations less seriously.
He also pointed to concerns over the overall capacity of the education system. Citing figures, he said Meghalaya’s performance in governance stood at 85.6 per cent, while its performance in teacher education and training was only 0.6 percentage points above the national lowest.
“These figures point to a system that has expanded faster than its quality has improved,” he said.
Lyngdoh also referred to data showing that Meghalaya had more than 14,500 schools, including 206 with zero enrolment and 2,269 with fewer than 10 students.
He said the figures indicated fragmentation, duplication and poor resource planning. Instead of continuing to add schools, he suggested that the government should consolidate schools where necessary and strengthen institutions that were serving students.
He also noted concerns raised by several writers over Meghalaya’s high spending on education despite weak outcomes.
Lyngdoh urged the Education Department to improve its performance and restore Shillong’s position as an education hub of the Northeast.
He said the example of a school in a remote part of the Northeast producing two Chief Election Commissioners showed what Meghalaya’s education system had once been capable of achieving.
He questioned what the state would be able to produce 30 years from now if the current problems continued.
Calling for an immediate education reforms commission, Lyngdoh said the government needed to move beyond discussions and take concrete action.
He concluded by returning to Yeats’ reference to education as the “lighting of a spark”, saying that spark needed to be reignited for Shillong and Meghalaya to regain its position as an education destination.
He said Meghalaya’s use of English, skills and hospitality could help rebuild the sector if combined with the right approach and effective action.
Also Read: Explained: Why Khasi Students’ Union suspended its agitation