Meghalaya CM rolls out CM IMPACT for Garo Hills to address low pass percentage in the region

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaOctober 3, 2024

To address the low pass percentage in Meghalaya, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has envisioned an approach to support students, teachers and parents. 

As part of this intervention, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma today rolled out CM IMPACT for Garo Hills in presence of Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma. 

As part of CM IMPACT, the education department will provide a guidebook for students, teachers which will also be available in the form of an app with regular updates. 

Intranet connectivity will also be made available at the block level for better accessibility. 

Distributing the guidebooks to teachers during the rollout of the CM Impact, the chief minister said that it is important for different stakeholders to meet often to discuss and plan timely interventions to address the problem. 

Acknowledging that there is a challenge ahead to tackle the complex problem in education, he said, “We have to systematically untangle the problem and move forward with a goal. We have a long drawn plan to improve our quality of education. The objective being to improve the quality as well as the pass percentage”. 

He urged the teacher to break down the issues to improve the pass percentage and address them accordingly. He also asked the teachers to categorise the students, identify their weaknesses, and work on improving their marks. 

He also advised the teachers to prepare students to crack the examination code. 

“Every exam has a particular format and a code. As a teacher, we should prepare the students to identify the pattern and prepare accordingly”, he added.

He further said that the government has decided to conduct supplementary examination within 2 months of declaration of secondary results, which will give opportunity for student to clear their examination without loosing a year.

Speaking on the occasion, Education Minister Rakkam Sangma spoke on the problem of ‘proxy teachers’ and urged the teaching community to be committed to serving society. 

He urged the teachers to take advantage of emerging technologies and used the tool to make teaching engaging and informative. 

He also suggested that teachers ignite the minds of the students so that they can grow and become informed and enlightened citizens. 

“We have 55,000 plus teachers in the state, but our standard is not up to the mark. As a government, we are striving to improve upon the quality of teaching”, he added. 

Talking of poor education infrastructure and other challenges, he urged the teachers not to compromise on their commitment and provide the best education to the students. 

The pass percentage of the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) Examination in Meghalaya has been alarmingly low, remaining around 53% for several years. 

Significant disparities exist among districts, with some recording pass rates as low as 25 per cent, particularly in Garo Hills. 

36 schools have reported a zero per cent pass percentage for the last three consecutive years, and 124 schools recorded zero per cent in 2024. 

The Meghalaya Board of School Education (MBOSE) will conduct supplementary examinations in the same academic year to give opportunities to student to reappear on failed subjects or improve their marks.