West Garo Hills is a district in the Garo Hills of the state of Meghalaya and the district has the town of Tura as its headquarters. The district is spread over an area of 3714 km2 and according to the census conducted in the year 2001, the district had a population of more than 5,15,813 people. According to the year 2011 survey, out of the seven districts in state of Meghalaya, West Garo Hills is the second most populous district after East Khasi Hills. It is located in the western most part of the state and it is bounded by Bangladesh on the South, Goalpara District of the state of Assam to the north-west and north, south Garo Hills District on the south-east and East Garo Hills District on the eastern side.

History of West Garo Hills District:

In the year 1976 on the month of October, the erstwhile Garo Hills District of the state of Meghalaya was partitioned into two districts namely, West Garo Hills District and East Garo Hills District. The previously functioning West Garo Hills District was again partitioned into two in the year 1992 thereby forming the current day West Garo Hills District and the current day South Garo Hills District.

Literacy and standard of education in West Garo Hills District:

Since previously, the administration of the West Garo Hills District was mainly concerned with maintenance of law and order, the education progress was slower during those periods. The only agency for propagation of education was the American Baptist Mission, which concentrated only on few areas of the district and until 1911 only 23 out of 1000 people were literate in the district. Only after Indian independence, a remarkable progress was brought about in the field of education that too at the primary education level. As a result of this, literacy rate in the district raised in during the decade of 1951-61. Slowly, the higher education trend also improved in the district and presently there are many general colleges in the district. In addition to these general colleges, there are also home science college, Law College, B. Ed College and professional education college in the district. The names of government colleges offering education in the district of West Garo are given below:

• Tura Government College

• College of Teacher Education

• College of Home Science

• Regional Vocational Training Institute for Women

• Tura Polytechnic

Some of the details regarding these government colleges are given below:

Tura Government College:

Tura Government College offers arts, commerce and science education at the UG level with affiliation from the North Eastern Hill University. Until 1981, this was the only college in the district of West Garo Hills and right from its inception, the college has been offering the best education thereby producing quality graduates to the development of educational scenario of the local region.

College of Teacher Education:

College of Teacher Education offers Bachelor of Education course with affiliation from the North Easter Hill University for preparation of the best teachers for the future generation.

College of Home Science:

College of Home Science offers home science education for improvement of quality of life at macro and micro level and the courses offered by this institution includes areas like clothing & textiles, family resource management, food science & nutrition, human development, etc…

Regional Vocational Training Institute for Women:

This institution, which is specially meant for offering vocational training for women offers courses under tourism, computer operations, secretarial practice, beautician course, dress making, etc…

Tura Polytechnic:

This institution is affiliated to the Meghalaya State Council for Technical Education for offering diploma courses in food processing and preservation engineering, medical electronics and computer electronics.

In addition to these government colleges, there is also a Government ITI in the district for offering practical training to the students in different areas.