SHILLONG, APRIL 22: In its effort to regain Shillong’s past glory as an academic hub and transform it into a “knowledge city”, the Meghalaya Government has formed a high-powered committee chaired by Chief Minister Donkupar Roy and with Minister of Higher and Technical Education Manas Chaudhuri as vice-chairman. Over the past few years, Shillong has been witnessing a downslide in academic standards.

Between the 60s and 70s, the state capital was known for the quality education it imparted through its renowned missionary educational institutions like St Edmund College, St Anthony’s College, Loreto Convent and St Mary’s College. But with the decline in the quality education, there has been a sharp drop in the numbers of students coming from outside the state to pursue education here. The main culprit has been the mushrooming of private education institutions.

Chaudhuri said the committee has been given three months to finalise the State Education Policy. The minister conceded that one of the reasons for the fall in the standard of education was that the Government didn’t have any sort of planning for the last thirty-six years. “I have inherited this mess, but now I will try and clear it,” he said.

According to Chaudhuri, the MPA Government will put in place a policy that ensures growth of quality education. “I am not in favour of the Government controlling the system, but we have to put in place some sort of mechanism that would act as a deterrent to the unregulated private educational institutions,” he said.

Chaudhuri said he would prefer a private-public-partnership in the sector with the Government playing a supportive role.

He candidly said: “Wherever the Government is involved, the system doesn’t work properly.” He added that getting the best teachers would ensure quality.