Shillong Nov 17 PTI Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday said his government is spending around Rs 2000 crore annually for the education sector to strengthen infrastructure in schools and colleges and introduced several schemes to ensure that students get opportunities for higher studies The state government has supported nine colleges under its Peoples College programme and encourages setting up of more such higher education institutes to improve the standard of education in the state he said We must come up with more colleges Before the 2018 elections we pledged that we would work towards prioritising education We have formalised the state education policy and have been working to streamline the sector the chief minister said while addressing a programme in Mendipathar in North Garo Hills district He said the government initiated various programmes like Community College and Model College to ensure that students get opportunities for higher education We have been spending over Rs 2000 crore annually for the education sector But this allocation is still not enough We sanctioned Rs 100 crore for improving overall infrastructure in around 200 government Lower Primary schools All these LP schools were in dilapidated condition he said The Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government has taken steps to regularise employment of teachers and around 1300 educators were recruited this year the CM said Scholarships for students have also been increased to Rs 15000 depending on grades and categories he said Speaking on the limited opportunities for studying science subjects in the state he said Our children who want to study science and are good at innovation and mathematics do not have many options This is the challenge we face and the government is looking at ways to move forward On the demand for Provincialisation of Mendipathar College that celebrates its golden jubilee Conrad said We will examine it and find the way how we could support North Garo Hills district and the Garo Hills region Provincialised educational institutes in the state get aid from the government The chief minister also released a souvenir of 50 years journey of Mendipathar College Speaking on the occasion Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui said the government has been working to streamline the sector and ensure welfare of teachers and students We are trying to strengthen the sector to ensure that the learning experience for our students is improved he added PTI JOP BDC BDC