Shillong

Meghalaya has recorded a nearly 31 per cent improvement in its Performance Grading Index (PGI) score over the past three years, moving from the lowest grade to Akanshi-1 in the latest school assessment released by the Union Education Ministry, state Education minister Lahkmen Rymbui said on Wednesday.

According to the Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0 report for 2025-26, the state's overall score improved from 448 in 2024-25 to 525.71 in 2025-26, enabling it to jump two grades from Akanshi-3 to Akanshi-1, he said.

"It is the first time Meghalaya has moved out of the lowest grade since the Centre introduced the PGI framework," Rymbui told PTI.

He said the state's overall PGI score has risen steadily from 401.62 in 2022-23 to 417.89 in 2023-24, 448 in 2024-25 and 525.71 in 2025-26, registering an increase of over 124 points, or nearly 31 per cent, in three years.

"The Government of Meghalaya has achieved a historic milestone in school education with the state moving out of the lowest grade in the Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0 for the first time since the framework was introduced," the Education department said in a statement.

It attributed the improvement to sustained reforms in school education over the past eight years, particularly focused interventions during the last three years, including the introduction of the structured pay framework for teachers, rationalisation of schools, infrastructure development under Mission Education, strengthening of teacher training, expansion of digital governance, and initiatives to improve foundational literacy and numeracy.

The government said the rationalisation and clustering of schools had optimised the state's school network from 14,641 schools in 2024-25 to 11,443 in 2025-26, enabling more efficient utilisation of educational resources and improved management.

According to the report, the sharpest improvement was recorded in governance processes, where the state's score rose from 40.5 to 85.6 in a year.

Infrastructure and facilities also improved from 62.1 to 77.8, while teacher education and training increased from 46.7 to 57.5.

"The government recognises that while this achievement is encouraging, it is not the destination but the beginning of a new phase of educational transformation," the statement said.

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It added that the latest PGI report also identified learning outcomes and governance processes as areas requiring further improvement, and the government would continue investing in infrastructure, teacher development, academic support and governance reforms to achieve higher grades in the coming years.