SHILLONG : Voice of the People’s Party ( VPP) MLA Brightstarwell Marbaniang who represents Mawlai constituency has described Meghalaya’s education system from kindergarten to postgraduate level as being in a “very sad state of affairs”, questioning teacher vacancies, salary claims and the government’s emphasis on rising examination results.
Taking part in a Short Duration Discussion on the current state of education in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly on Thursday, Marbaniang said the quality of education should be treated as a measure of the state’s progress rather than relying mainly on statistics.
“There is a saying that destroying any nation does not require the use of atom bombs or the use of long-range missiles it only requires lowering the quality of education,” he said.
The Mawlai MLA said education was central to the development of a state and warned that a failure in the education system would have consequences beyond schools and colleges.
“When we look at the education scenario in the state starting from KG to PG and even further, it is a very sad state of affairs,” Marbaniang said. The problems were not limited to legislators or policymakers, arguing that students, parents and ordinary citizens were also aware of the difficulties within the education system, he said.
Marbaniang challenges ₹4.5 lakh teacher salary claim
A major part of his speech focused on the recent debate over salaries of teachers working in deficit colleges. Marbaniang took issue with Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma’s reference to deficit teachers allegedly receiving salaries of around ₹4.5 lakh a month.
He questioned the basis of the figure and said the salary of even the senior-most teacher he knew at St Anthony’s College was around ₹3.5 lakh a month under a UGC-sanctioned post.
“The Chief Minister, when he speaks about the teachers, especially about the deficit teachers, sarcastically I can say he was trying to humiliate the teachers by pinpointing that some of the teachers in deficit colleges receive more than Rs 4 lakh, Rs 4.5 lakh per month,” he said.
“Where did the Chief Minister get this figure? Going by the salary as per the University Grants Commission-sanctioned post, even the senior-most teacher who is my colleague in St Anthony’s College is receiving around Rs 3.5 lakh per month,” he added.
Marbaniang said the debate should not be about whether teachers were paid too much, but whether educators at every level were receiving salaries appropriate to their responsibility.
“When we talk about the salary, I feel that every teacher, right from the lower primary till higher education, should receive the best salary,” he said.
The Meghalaya government, meanwhile, introduced a Structured Pay Framework for fixed-pay teachers earlier this year, covering different levels from lower primary to higher secondary education. The framework provides revised pay based on verified years of service.
MLA points to teachers who rejected overseas opportunities
Marbaniang also used personal examples to argue that Meghalaya has educators willing to return despite better opportunities abroad. He said some of his colleagues had received Fulbright scholarships and travelled to the United States to teach at universities. According to him, some were offered opportunities to remain there with better facilities and salaries but chose to return to Meghalaya.
“Some of my colleagues who have been selected through a Fulbright scholarship had the opportunity to go to the United States of America to teach in renowned universities,” he said. “But still, they declined and came back to the state because they feel that they want to contribute toward the state,” he added.
He cited another colleague pursuing post-doctoral studies in Europe who, he said, had received a scholarship higher than his salary in Meghalaya and was also offered an opportunity to stay abroad. Marbaniang said the colleague instead wanted to return and contribute to the state.
Government vacancies remain a concern
Marbaniang also raised the issue of vacancies across government schools and colleges. He said posts had remained vacant for two to three years in government schools, deficit colleges and government colleges, affecting the ability of institutions to deliver education effectively.
“Going by what it is today in our state, starting from the vacancies right in the government schools, even in the deficit college and even in government college, there are so many vacancies,” he said. ” For the past two, three years, the vacancies have been lying without being filled up,” he added.
The issue of teaching vacancies has also featured in Assembly proceedings, including questions on vacancies in government lower primary schools and recruitment. Marbaniang argued that filling posts should be treated as an essential part of improving education rather than waiting for examination results to reveal whether students are performing well.
CM-IMPACT results questioned
The VPP legislator also questioned the government’s use of CM-IMPACT statistics to demonstrate improvements in education. His remarks came a day after the state government launched CM-IMPACT Read & Rise, a programme aimed at strengthening foundational learning and academic performance.
The government has described education as a priority and said Read & Rise is designed around reading readiness, with monitoring and implementation built into the programme. Marbaniang, however, said statistics showing higher pass percentages do not necessarily capture the complete condition of the education system.
“When you look at the government, they are trying to come up with statistics , but when you look at the impact of the CM-IMPACT, it tells a different story,” he said.
He questioned whether the government was using the programme’s guidebook to present a more favourable picture of the education sector.
“I don’t know whether they want to hide the facts that are there in the state by coming up with this CM-IMPACT guidebook where they showed that there is a substantial increase in the pass percentage,” he said.
His criticism comes as the government highlights improvements in school examination performance. During the same Assembly discussion, Gambegre MLA Dr Mehtab Chandee A Sangma praised CM-IMPACT and cited an increase in the SSLC pass percentage from 54.80 per cent to 97.26 per cent, along with a decline in the dropout rate.
‘Quality, not just quantity’
Marbaniang ended his intervention by urging the government to shift its emphasis towards the quality of education.
“When you talk about education, I would urge upon the government that please try to stress on the quality of education and not just the quantity of education,” he said.
He also linked his own educational journey to government and aided institutions. Marbaniang said he was a product of Government Boys Higher Secondary School, St Anthony’s College and North-Eastern Hill University, and that without those institutions he would not have been able to complete his education.
“I am a product of Government Boys Higher Secondary School, I am a product of St. Anthony’s College which is a private-aided college, and I am a product of North-Eastern Hill University which is a central university,” he said.
