Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui announced on Friday that rationalising teacher deployment is the preferred strategy to correct the imbalance between student enrolment and teacher allocation in Meghalaya’s government schools. He noted that some schools have no or very few students yet retain teachers, while others with 200 to 300 pupils operate with only two teachers.
Rymbui clarified that the rationalisation plan will not affect the positions of incumbent teachers and will be carried out in due course. He stressed that the government’s approach is to improve overall efficiency of the education system rather than addressing isolated issues.
The minister also highlighted that the state has been implementing a range of interventions, including the Mission Education programme, now in its fourth phase, to tackle infrastructure gaps in rural schools. He acknowledged limited resources and explained that waiting for sufficient funding could delay progress, so work continues incrementally.
Rymbui cited the expansion of higher secondary education and the establishment of a state university, an engineering college, a College of Architecture and Urban Planning, and several government colleges as examples of recent progress. He added that education remains a dynamic sector requiring sustained effort to meet evolving expectations and that further development is necessary.
