SHILLONG, SEPT 23: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday laid the foundation stone for the new building of the MBoSE Regional Office in Shillong and virtually inaugurated 81 school infrastructure projects built under Mission Education Phase-II.
The MBoSE Shillong office, set up in September 1981 as Shillong Cell for the Khasi-Jaintia region, has been operating from temporary premises for 45 years — at Mawkhar Inspector of Schools office, Education Guest House at Laitumkhrah from 1995, MBoSE Guest House from 1998 and Taxation Building at Lower Lachumiere since December 22, 2005. It now oversees 7 districts, 1,329 secondary schools, 397 higher secondary schools, 97 SSLC centres, 78 HSSLC centres and appoints over 1,300 examiners every year.
MLA Dr M Ampareen Lyngdoh and senior officials of Education department and MBoSE were present.
On the occasion, Sangma also launched the AI-powered CM Impact Guide book and released grants under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan — Rs 600 per student as Uniform Grant for 2,98,013 students amounting to Rs 17.88 crore through DBT, besides composite grant of Rs 49.8 crore, textbook grant and inclusive education grants.
Under entitlements for Children with Special Needs, Rs 57.62 lakh was released for 3,440 beneficiaries covering escort allowance for 852 children, transport allowance for 908, stipend for 924 girls and home-based education for 756 children unable to attend school.
Tracing the journey of Mission Education, Sangma said, “We realised we must have a roadmap. We need a policy. We need to know where we are, where we want to go, and how we will get there.”
“Governance is not about big, massive steps alone, but about small, effective steps. When we started Mission Education in 2019, the requirement was estimated at Rs 3,000 crore and we started with Rs 100 crore,” he said.
The mission has now committed Rs 457.41 crore across 2,230 schools — Phase 1 (208 schools, Rs 109.33 cr), Phase 2 (111 schools, Rs 97.38 cr), Phase 3 Engineering Cell (117 schools, Rs 57.12 cr), Phase 3 MIDFC (1,608 schools, Rs 62.50 cr) and Phase 4 (186 schools, Rs 131.08 cr). Additionally, 182 schools have been upgraded with digital classrooms, STEM labs and ICT facilities under the ADB-supported SHCDM project.
He said the school network was rationalised from 14,582 to 11,443 by merging zero and single-digit enrolment schools to optimise teachers and resources, and 118 schools were upgraded to higher secondary, taking the total from 427 in 2024-25 to 545 in 2025-26.
Linking expenditure to outcomes, the Chief Minister highlighted CM IMPACT, the online tutoring platform with chapter-wise content, chatbot, mock tests and explanations, which will be extended offline.
“A child at 15, 16, 17 has just started dreaming. Then comes the SSLC exam and 50% don’t make it. In Garo Hills it was only 25%. Before the child learns to fly, you cut off their wings. This is not an IAS exam. We cannot accept this,” he said, adding that the intervention contributed to a 41.2 percentage point rise in pass percentage.
He said Meghalaya’s PGI 2.0 score improved from 448 in 2024 (Akanshi-3) to 525.71 in 2026 (Akanshi-1), up by 77.71 points, now at par with 15 other states, with a target to cross 580 and 700 points to enter the top 10 in two years.
The government, he said, is following a life-cycle approach from womb to old age, ensuring cost never stops education — through uniform grants at school level, Chief Minister’s Scholarship for nearly one lakh students from Class XI to doctoral level, and SSLC private candidate route for dropouts, sportspersons and artistes with no upper age limit.
Referring to implementation, Sangma cited the Japanese model of 90% planning and 10% execution.
He also lauded local MLA Ampareen Lyngdoh for development works in Laitumkhrah including Rs 24 crore shopping complex at Barik, indoor stadium at Malki, Rs 35 crore marketing complex at Laitumkhrah and initiatives to provide space for hawkers to free footpaths.
