Although the state of Meghalaya does not occupy a mammoth portion of the Indian turf but it is developing into one of the most advanced and technically sound states. Meghalaya education has played a major role in this metamorphosis. In fact, according to the data collected in the 2001 census, approximately 63.31 % of the occupants of the state of Meghalaya are literate. This is a humongous achievement in itself despite of the limited number of resources that are provided to it.
The central University that coordinates the actions of all the smaller educational institutions of the state of Meghalaya is located in its functional capital of Shillong. To add that touch of modernization and sophistication to education in Meghalaya, quite a few number of colleges are being put up to provide a platform to the youth of the state. These colleges are equipped with the latest state of the art facilities to procure assistance to the students in all the various fields. They include 'Shillong Engineering and Management College' which is positioned at a venue known as Mawlai.
To keep up with the other neighboring states of India, the policy of free and compulsory education for all the children under the age group of 14 years has also been espoused by the state of Meghalaya in the sphere of education of Meghalaya. The 10+2 system of education that exists in all the other states of India has also penetrated into the state of Meghalaya. A list of the various educational institutions of Meghalaya are mentioned below as counted in 2005 :-
If you happen to be perplexed regarding your child's future, then just close your eyes and seek admission in any one of the reputed Meghalaya schools. Indeed the schools in Meghalaya provide apt guidelines for your child's proper mental as well as academic development. The experienced panels of teachers who execute all the various proceedings of the schools of Meghalaya have taken it to their responsibility to procure the best possible means of education to your child. The method of teaching that is followed in the schools of Meghalaya truly deserves acknowledgment as their pupils really find it very interesting and at the same time can extract loads of fun from it as well.
There are also ample scope for various types of games as the teachers encourage the students to participate in them and experience the jollier side of life. They also teach that participation is much more important than winning.The Meghalaya schools conduct regular examinations to keep the students up to date with the syllabus. Special attention is given to the fact that no extra stress should be applied to the students as it might have a detrimental effect on them.
The most important schools at Meghalaya are mentioned below:-
Quite a few schools in the state of Meghalaya are affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education or (CBSE). These CBSE schools in Meghalaya are well-equipped with all sorts of facilities that aid the students to earn knowledge in a very interesting way. Another advantage possessed by the Central Board of Secondary Education is that its syllabus has a lot of resemblance with the syllabus of the various competitive examinations. Hence, the pupils have an edge over their contemporaries descending from other boards.
The major schools in Meghalaya under Central Board of Secondary Education are mentioned below:-
Kendriya Vidyalaya - This school has three branches across the state of Meghalaya. These branches are situated at the following venues of Laitkor Peak in the the capital of Shillong, Upper Shillong and Happy Valley in Shillong. All these schools are co-educational.
Assam Rifles Public School - This school is positioned in the picturesque locale of Laitkor. This school is dedicated to the boys only.
The Central Board of Secondary Education has procured quality schools and other related educational institutions that have over the years nurtured brilliant pupils and transformed them into successful human beings. The abbreviated form of the Central Board of Secondary Education is 'CBSE'. Currently it has a humongous number of schools well -dispersed all over India.
The details of the regional office of the CBSE that controls all the proceedings of Meghalaya are given below.
Regional office:Meghalaya Colleges have made their mark in terms of providing quality education to the various aspiring doctors, engineers and businessmen who desire to make their mark. The colleges in Meghalaya procure all various sorts of courses that aids them to choose between different options. They can also seek the advise of elite professors in these colleges to choose the correct and most suitable stream for them.
The different colleges of Meghalaya are enlisted below:-
Engineering Colleges : The state of Meghalaya only houses a sole college dedicated to the engineering students known by the name of Shillong Engineering and Management College. The AICTE or All India Council of Technical Education has also approved all the courses offered by this college.
Management Institutes in Meghalaya: Shillong Engineering and Management College that is located at Mawlai.
Nursing Colleges at Meghalaya: Repsbun School of Nursing is the sole nursing school in the state of Meghalaya. It is located in East Khasi Hills.
Polytechnic Institutes : There three polytechnic institutes including Jowai Polytechnic, Shillong Polytechnic and Tura Polytechnic. All these colleges at Meghalaya are AICTE approved.
Law Colleges : Department of Law, Northeastern Hill University, Khad-Ar-Doloi Law College, Tura College and Shillong Law College
Biotechnology Colleges : St. Anthony's College and Department of Biotechnology
Hotel Management : Institute of Hotel Management in Shillong is the only college that offers a course in Hotel Management.
Computer Institutes : St. Edmund's College and St. Anthony's College at Shillong.
Mass Communications : Department of Mass Communications in St. Anthony's College in the venue of Shillong provide courses in Mass Communication.
Mass communication in Meghalaya comprises of newspapers, television channels, radio and Internet. Though a small state, Meghalaya has a moderately well-developed network of communication. Meghalaya mass communication is controlled by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology of Meghalaya.
The channels of mass communication in Meghalaya are used as media to distribute regional, national and foreign news, for entertainment purpose and also for providing information on various subjects. Print and electronic media are the two aspects of Meghalaya mass communication. The newspapers in Meghalaya include The Shillong Times, The Meghalaya Guardian, and U Mawphor and so on. Electronic media comprises Doordarshan Kendra of Shillong, All India Radio of Shillong, U Peitngor Cable news, Media Plus and so on.
Mass communication in Meghalaya also serves as an upcoming study course. One of the colleges in Shillong that has introduced a course on mass communication is St. Anthony's College. This college of mass communication of Meghalaya was founded by the Don Bosco's Salesians in the year of 1934. Students at this college are taught various topics related to mass communication. Right from the use of multi-media and media research to hands-on training in various fields of communication, the mass communication department of St. Anthony's College teaches all the nuances of this field.
The Meghalaya Public Service Commission made its robust presence felt on 4th of September, 1972. In fact, it had prior been postulated that each Indian State should be dowered with at least a single Public Service Commission. Thus, with reference to the Atr.315 of the Constitution of India, the Public Service Commission of Meghalaya was formulated.
The Public Service Commission in Meghalaya was established only a year after the state of Meghalaya was granted the recognition of being a completely separate state. Actually, the Assam Service Commission had been fragmented to give rise to the Public Service Commission at Meghalaya.
The list of the powerful post holders of the maiden Public Service Commission are given below:-
Since, the work load drastically increased, a new and more spacious location had to be searched out. So, the Meghalaya Public Service Commission office was officially relocated at the given address :-
1st floor, House Shoe Building, Lower Lachumeire, Shillong - 793001.
The Public Service Commission of Meghalaya conducts the following departmental examinations:-
These examinations are held at the venues of Tura, Jowai and Shillong. These examinations provide a platform to those who aspire to join these services and do something useful for the state and hence for the country. The youth of the state are procured with a very effective outlet to achieve their child hood dreams through the Meghalaya Public Service Commission.
The two major Meghalaya universities are the North Eastern Hill University and the Indira Gandhi National Open University. The North Eastern Hill University is one of the leading universities in Meghalaya established on 19th July, 1973. The Shillong regional center of Indira Gandhi National Open University is as old as 1998. Currently, the Shillong regional center manages and controls all the curricular activities across entire Meghalaya. Some information about these two major universities at Meghalaya is given below:
The North Eastern Hill University is counted among the most renowned universities of Meghalaya, as its main campus is located in the capital city of Shillong. An additional campus was set up at Tura in February 1996.
The university offers courses in almost all the major branches of education. The university is divided into seven schools and all the departments of the university come under these schools. There are as many as fifty-three undergraduate colleges that are affiliated to this renowned university. There are 8 colleges under the university that provide professional courses.
Indira Gandhi National Open University is one of the most popular Meghalaya universities. The courses offered here are varied - diploma, certificate and degree courses. The educational activities of the Indira Gandhi National Open University at Meghalaya spans to various training programs, research oriented work and extension education.
Education is offered at the Indira Gandhi National Open University of Meghalaya in two different ways - open learning and distance education. Both these modes of education have become very popular among the young professionals of the state.
Meghalaya Vocational Education is extremely popular because it opens up plenty of placement opportunities for its students. The rapid growth of industrialization in Meghalaya has increased the demand for skilled and semi-skilled labors to a great degree, consequently making Meghalaya Vocational Education all the more lucrative. Meghalaya vocational education is greatly encouraged by the government. The state directorate for employment and craftsman training is committed towards the optimization of the human resources of the state through the distance education facilities offered by the various institutions of the state.
The polytechnic colleges take a major role in imparting Meghalaya Vocational Education, apart from the various degree courses. The students of these colleges are equipped in various technical capacities, which help them to play an important part in the many industries of the state, as well as to explore possibilities of self-employment. The polytechnic colleges which offer vocational education at Meghalaya are:
Apart from the semi-professional and Vocational Education in Meghalaya as offered by the various polytechnic colleges, there are various other vocational courses on offer by other institutes as well. Vocational education of Meghalaya play a very important role in the economic empowerment of the womenfolk of the state. They are trained in various skills of the technical as well as the craftsmanship to secure jobs in the big as well as small scale industries of the state, which are fundamental to the state's economy.
The Meghalaya Correspondence Courses offer many courses spanning a wide range of disciplines. The number of seats in the only university of Meghalaya, the North East Hill University (NEHU), is limited; thereby increasing the importance of correspondence courses in the state. The development of Meghalaya Correspondence Courses have also succeeded to stop the drainage of talent and human resources from the state to other parts of India. Due to the economic pressure, it becomes essential for many inhabitants of the state to take up the responsibility of earning at a much younger age. The Meghalaya correspondence courses have opened up a wide range of possibilities for them too, so that they can pursue their education along with their professional attachments.
The importance of correspondence courses at Meghalaya is increasing day by day. With the passing time, even the members of the most remote tribal communities are getting increasingly interested in acquiring formal and professional education. This has much to do with the changing economic environment of the state. However, the North East Hill University being the only recognized university of the state, is unable to fulfill the needs of most students in a regular capacity. The correspondence courses in Meghalaya offer a wide range of disciplines to choose from.
Of all the correspondence courses of Meghalaya, the courses of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) are the most popular. They are often preferred over the programs offered by the University because the wide diversity of the disciplines offered by them. The University based Meghalaya Correspondence Courses are also popular. These courses are limited in number but are prepared by distinguished scholars, thus increasing their acceptability. Together they cater for the bulk of Meghalaya correspondence courses.
Meghalaya distance education is gradually gaining in popularity after initial circumspections following their introduction within the academic structure of the state. The inhabitants of Meghalaya have slowly but surely awoke to the fact, that pursuing higher education with some other vocation is almost always a wonderful option. Apart from the major Universities, there are many institutions for distance education in Meghalaya that specialize in distance learning.
Like everywhere else in India, distance education at Meghalaya was not greeted with great enthusiasm at its inception. Students were doubtful about its worth. Most preferred a regular education system to distance education in Meghalaya and often left for universities outside the state, to be enable to pursue some job alongside their education. However, soon a change in the mindset was noticed, as the inhabitants of the state realized the fact that the same facilities could be availed from within the state. The distance education of Meghalaya opened up the possibilities of education for all interested students who were not able to take up education as a full time engagement because of various constraints.
Indira Gandhi National Open University and the distant program of the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) are the most popular of all Meghalaya distance education programs. While IGNOU offers a wide range of courses for the students to choose from, the NEHU course offer degrees and diplomas more on the lines of the University curricula. Most universities of India have been presently forced to offer distance learning courses as a part of the diversification programs of their operations. NEHU is also a great attraction for the research scholars because of their M.Phil and Ph.D. Programs.
Meghalaya Indira Gandhi National Open University is one of the leading universities of Meghalaya. It offers quality educational courses to the students. The students can avail a variety of courses here including certificate, degree and diploma courses.
There are two modes of education imparted by the Indira Gandhi National Open University of Meghalaya; these are distance education and open learning. Indira Gandhi National Open University at Meghalaya is also actively involved in various educational research work, extension education and training programs. The courses offered at this university include:
The regional center of Indira Gandhi National Open University in Meghalaya was founded in 1998. From 2001 the regional center at Shillong looks after all the student activities throughout the state of Meghalaya. Some of the study centers of Meghalaya Indira Gandhi National Open University are given below:
The North Eastern Hill University was established on 19th July, 1973. The North Eastern Hill University of Meghalaya particularly aims at developing the socio-economic conditions of the people of Meghalaya by improving the academic, intellectual and cultural aspects of the state. The North Eastern Hill University at Meghalaya offers both instructional as well as research oriented educational programs.
The main campus of the North Eastern Hill University in Meghalaya is located at Shillong. In February 1996, the Tura campus of the university was established. Quite a few departments of the university receives monetary aid from the University Grants Commission.
Currently, the university has a total of fifty-three affiliated undergraduate colleges, which includes eight colleges that offer professional courses. There are seven schools of education each having a varied number of departments, which are as follows:
The North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences represents an autonomous government institute. It was founded in 1987. Late Rajiv Gandhi, who was the Prime Minister of India at that time, named the institute after the former Indian Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi.
The North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences at Meghalaya was accepted as a national institute in 2000 by Atal Behari Vajpayee, the then Prime Minister of India. North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences of Meghalaya currently represents a medical institute that imparts postgraduate education.
North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences in Meghalaya currently houses as many as 500 beds. The other facilities offered at the hospital are patient-friendly service system and the latest medical technology of the global market. North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences gives the much needed service to the patients by the facility of interim hospital on the Polo Hills in the state of Shillong.
North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences is the first and the only institute of its kind in the entire north eastern part of India. In India, it is the third of its kind, after PGIMER at Chandigarh and AIIMS at New Delhi. The various services provided at the hospital are as follows:
