School Management and Development Committee

Introduction

In 2009 the Government of India launched its flagship education improvement programme Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) which stated that SMDCs are responsible for school planning and improvement.

School Management Committee is an important provision of the Section 21 of the Right to free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 (RTE), which mandates the formation of School Management Committee (SMCs) in all elementary government, government-aided schools and special category school in the country.

The RTE Act envisions as SMC as the basic unit of a decentralized model of governance with active involvement of parents in the school's functioning. This policy brief by Accountability Initiative and Central Square Foundation highlights the successes, challenges and opportunities in the functioning of SMCs as envisioned in the RTE Act.

Members of the SMC/SMDC

(1) Parents or Guardians

(2) Women are to constitute 50% of the SMC/SMDC membership.

(3) Parents of children of the weaker and deprived sections and also the parents of children with three different levels (high, medium and low) of achievements shall be represented adequately.

(4) The remaining 25% would be formed from locally elected representatives, management members, Head Teacher, Teachers, Educationists and or child development experts.

(5) Two students from the school are to be co-opted as non-voting members, of which one at least must be a girl.

(6) The chairperson of the SMC/SMDC in government schools will be elected from the parents. In aided schools, the chairperson will be a management representative.

(7) The Head Teacher of the school (or, if the post does not exist, the senior most teacher) will be the Member-Secretary, and will conduct the meetings of the SMC/SMDC. These should be held at least once a month.

(8) The SMC/SMDC is to be constituted within three months of the new academic year, and reconstituted every two years.

Functions of the SMC/SMDC

(1) Monitor the enrolment and attendance of all children from the neighborhood.

(2) Monitor the identification and enrolment of disabled children, and ensure that they are provided with facilities and materials till completion of elementary education.

(3) Monitor the implementation of the Mid-Day Meal and other Government school schemes.

(4) Monitor the maintenance of norms and standards prescribed in the Schedule which would include classrooms, school facilities, teacher-pupil ratios, etc.

(5) Monitor the attendance and punctuality of teachers.

(6) Monitor the utilization of grants from government and other sources.

(7) Prepare and recommend the School Development Plan.

Structure of SMDC in Elementary Schools of Jharkhand

Structure of SMDC in Secondary Schools of Jharkhand

Basically to ensure SMC/SMDC as owner of the school, some programme has been organized to strengthen them such as –

(1) Regular Monthly Meeting of SMC/SMDC

(2) SMC/SMDC members training. At present this training has been conducted through Training Module SAJHEDARI, which includes

(a) RTE

(b) Role and Responsibility of SMC/SMDC

(c) Gyan-setu, Child Entitlements

(d) SMC/SMDC Meetings

(e) Grant and their Uses

(f) Social Audit

(g) School Development Plan

(h) Child Rights

SMC/SMDC training has been conducted in cascade mode. At the state-level, an orientation programme for the district-level MTs has been organised and after that these MTs are conduct district level TOTs at their respective districts to facilitate the lower level trainers. Monitoring and Supervision of these trainings has been done by the monitoring and support teams of State, District and Block level and also through e-vidyawahini.

Community Awareness Programme

Community awareness is a process to mobilise people to realise that education is an important aspect of our lives. Parent's positive attitude towards child’s education is important in determining school attendance and academic achievement of the child. Favorable attitude towards schooling and education enhances parental involvement in children’s present and future studies. In order to increase the level of involvement of parents into child’s education and strengthening the School Management Committee some activities have been conducted, such as:-

(1) Vidyalaya Chalen Chalayen Abhiyan: 

To increase the Enrolment of elementary and enhance the smooth transition to secondary schools state has been organize Enrolment drive. Various programme like orientation programme, meetings of different stakeholders ( parents, teachers, students, PRIs, officials) and different communication strategy has been taken up at state to school level to listing of OoSC/Drop Out children. Through all effort OoSC/Drop Out children getting enrolled in age specific classes.

(2) Mega Parents Teacher Meeting: 

Student attendance has been consistently low in state (Jharkhand). For any of the initiatives of Department of School Education and Literacy to be successful, increased and regular student attendance is critical and for this, schools must engage with parents and guardians much more actively. In order to do this, increase local communities interaction with the school through re-introducing the concept of Parent Teacher Association (PTA) days on a large scale. Where Urging of guardians to have their wards attend school regularly; discussing very low attendance of students specifically, child entitlements etc. a platform has been made for Performances of the children in front of their parents.

(3) Mukhiya Sammelan:

To make aware and ensure role of mukhiya in elementary Education a mukhiya sammelan has been organized in all districts.

(4) Media, Recognition and Dissemination Activities: 

Following activities has been taken under this head :-

(a) Creative writings on Education in their respective schools by officials, SMC, Parents, Teachers, NGOs etc- Write up / Case story/ Videos has been collected from every district

(b) To motivate the SMC/SMDC Members to do their best a plan has been made for Award of best SMC/SMDC in all districts. Create a portal for online training materials and that will act as an online knowledge bank.

(c) IEC materials- Banner , Posters, Flash, Message etc. related to above activities will be developed.

(d) Samagra Shikshha Abhiyan LOGO