Shillong: Garo Hills teachers are at a breaking point. The Garo Hills Deficit School Teachers’ and Employees Association says the Meghalaya Board of School Education, or MBoSE, has crippled the state school system with a compressed academic calendar. They want an immediate review of the schedule before the entire system collapses under administrative weight.
The association argues the government forced these changes without talking to educators. Teachers now face an impossible cycle of finishing complex syllabi, grading tests, and starting new lessons without any downtime. The schedule leaves no room for the mid-term break, which remains vital for grading and lesson prep.
“The revised calendar has effectively eliminated the traditional mid-term break, a period essential for teachers to evaluate papers and prepare results,” the association stated. This lack of a buffer ruins the quality of work and hurts student performance across the state.
Staff burnout is spiking. Many teachers are forced to work as election officials, acting as clerks for electoral roll revisions instead of teaching in the classroom. Educators warn this pulls them away from students and ignores their core job.
Meghalaya is also drifting away from national standards. Unlike the CBSE or ICSE boards, MBoSE is creating a schedule that hurts students when they try to move to institutions outside of the state. The shortened calendar even kills summer youth camps and church programs that help kids grow outside of school walls. Teachers are demanding administrative buffers and a seat at the table before the next school year begins.
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