Community Mobilisation | Samagra Shiksha Govt. of Meghalaya

Community mobilisation and close involvement of community members in school education is extremely critical as it fosters ‘bottom up approach’ not only in effective planning and implementation of interventions in the schools but also in effective monitoring, evaluation and ownership of the government programmes by the community. Active participation of the community also ensures transparency, accountability and helps in leveraging the cumulative knowledge of the community for better functioning of the school.

In the context of community participation, it is important to underline the significance of the teacher as a key partner in planning and implementing community participation strategies. In fact participation for RTE implies a mutually supportive and collaborative partnership among teachers, pupils, parents, community and civil society. It is an established fact that teachers perform better and with enthusiasm if they get wholehearted parental and community support. The integrated scheme assigns special importance to decentralised planning and implementation with active involvement of community members, teachers, parents, local bodies including Panchayati Raj Institutions, Municipal Bodies, and other stakeholders in the management of school education through establishment of multi-member SMDCs. Every school may constitute a SMC/SMDC at the school level which will include representatives of local authorities, academicians, subject experts, officials, representatives of disadvantaged groups, women and parents/ guardians of student

The SMCs/SMDCs are expected to co- exist with and leverage on the Parents Teachers Association. Meetings should be planned and conducted on a regular basis.

Training of SMC/SMDC Members: Proper training and capacity building of SMC/SMDC members about their roles and responsibilities is extremely critical towards ensuring their active and effective participation in planning, monitoring and supervision of the school activities. States/UTs should endeavour to adopt and adapt the training modules already developed appropriately. In case of requirement, suitable Agency, and areas in which training module is to be prepared should be identified and included in the Plan proposal with clear timelines. Themes of modules may differ from State to State as per need identification done at the school level. To ensure maximum participation of community members, the trainings should be conducted at the village/school level.

Composition and functions of the School Management Committee under Meghalaya Right to Children to Free and Compulsory Rules, 2011 Under Section 21:

1. A School Management Committee shall be constituted in every school, other than an unaided school, within its jurisdiction, within six months of the appointed date, and re-constituted every two years.

2. Seventy five percent of the strength of the School Management Committee shall be from amongst parents or guardians of children studying in the school.

3. The remaining twenty five percent of the strength of the SMC shall be from amongst the following persons:

a. One third members from amongst the elected members of the local authority, to be decided by the local authority.
b. One third members from amongst teachers from the school, to be decided by the teachers of the school;
c. Remaining one third from amongst local educationists / children in the school, to be decided by the parents in the Committee.

Section 21: continue

4. To manage its affairs, the School Management Committee shall elect a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson from among the parent members. The Head teacher of the school or where the school does not have a head teacher, the senior most teacher of the school shall be the ex-officio Member – Convener of the School Management Committee.

5. The School Management Committee shall meet at least once a month and the minutes and decisions of the meetings shall be properly recorded and made available to the public.

6. the School Management Committee shall, in addition to the function specified in clauses (a) to (d) of section 21 (2), perform the following functions, for which it may constitute smaller working groups from amongst its Members :

a. communicate in simple and creative ways to the population in the neighbourhood of the school, the rights of the child as enunciated in the Act; as also the duties of the State Government, local authority, school, parent and guardian;
b. Ensure the implementation of clauses (a) and (e) of section 24 and section 28.
c. monitor that teachers are not burdened with non academic duties other than those specified in section 27;
d. Ensure the enrolment and continued attendance of all the children from the neighbourhood in the school.

School Improvement/Development Plan (As per Section-22 of RTE Act):

Each School Management Committee (SMC) is authorized to initiate the school level planning in collaboration with the active community members, NGOs, Civil Society, individuals etc. for preparation of a school level plan including pre-school level which is termed as “School Development Plan (SDP)” or “School Improvement Plan”. Initially the preparatory phase starts with the SMC meeting which ensures community participation (as per section-21 & part-V of RTE Act). The SDP primarily includes identification of gaps in development of infrastructure, achievement of students, needs of existing teachers, parent’s expectation, classroom transaction process etc. Hence, the SDP provides requirements of each school which is finally compiled at the district level and in turn all these SIPs of the district need to be accumulated at the State level for formulation of one ‘Integrated State Consolidated Plan’.

Monitoring of the institutional level:

The monitoring of the scheme will start from the school level. Social audit would facilitate the checking, monitoring and verification of the implementation of the interventions of the Integrated Scheme at the school level. Transparency, participation and accountability will be maintained through social audit in programme implementation. Social audit at the village level can be done at any point of time during the planning, preparation and implementation of Integrated Scheme. To conduct social audits, an enormous amount of community mobilisation is necessary. Social audit is carried out by the community and the entire Gram Sabha with the help of stakeholders like local authority, members of SMC/VEC, PTA, Self Help Groups (SHGs), youth clubs, Mahila Samooh and representatives of disadvantaged groups, etc.

The role of SMC:

With regards to Social Audit, becomes important for promoting horizontal accountability. Social Audit is not only done for verification of fund utilization but also to create awareness and a sense of ownership among the stake holders about the facilities provided, through their active involvement and participation in the schools in their neighbourhood. It should be noted that community and SMC/SMDC members can never conduct an efficient Social Audit without the help of Local Authority Members, Officials from CRC/BRC/BEO/DEO office and active civil society group. The support of the SMC/ SMDC and village based organizations would be invaluable in communicating in simple and creative ways, the rights of the child as enunciated in the RTE Act, also to the population in the neighborhood of the school; as also the duties of the appropriate Government, local authority, school, parents and guardians. A community based monitoring system involving SMC/SMDC may be created to monitor the implementation. This will enhance transparency in the System and enhance learning levels of children.

Community Participation under School Management & Development Committees (SMDC) under RMSA

For effective planning and implementation of interventions in the Secondary and Higher schools, it is extremely important for Community members to participate and contributes toward the development of quality School and education as a whole. Active participation of the community also ensures transparency, accountability and supplement in leveraging the cumulative knowledge of the community for better functioning of schools. Field level research has shown that school functioning has improved significantly in places where communities have been involved actively.

In line with the above, the integrated scheme of RMSA assigns special importance to decentralized planning and implementation with active involvement of community members, teachers, parents, local bodies including Panchayati Raj Institutions, Municipal Bodies, and other stakeholders in the management of secondary education through establishment of multi Member School Management and Development Committees. The RMSA framework provides that every secondary school will constitute a School Management and Development Committee (SMDC) at the school level. As per the framework, SMDCs should include representatives of local authorities, academicians, subject experts, officials, representatives of disadvantaged groups, women and parents/ guardians of students. The ultimate aim is to ensure wide participation of all stake holders in the management of schools.

Role of SMDC for Secondary Education under RMSA framework

a. Involvement of Panchayati Raj Institutions, Municipal Bodies, Community, Teachers, Parents and other stakeholders in the management of secondary education through bodies like School Management Committees and Parents Teachers Associations is to be ensured in planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of RMSA. SMDCs are expected to take necessary steps for overall growth and development of the school leading to conducive educational environment for academic excellence.

b. The SMDC will be responsible for all activities including planning, collection of data, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and taking corrective/remedial actions on all the components/interventions of the scheme-infrastructural as well as academic and others at the school level.

c. The SMDC shall prepare a school level Perspective Plan and Annual Plan.

The SMDC through various stakeholders should undertake extensive community mobilisation to overcome barriers in children belonging to SC, ST, OBC, educationally backward minorities at secondary and higher secondary stage.

d. SMDC can to conduct civil works including repair and maintenance for improvement of school facilities in accordance with laid down rules and procedures.

Section 21: continue

e. monitor the maintenance of the norms and standards prescribed in the Schedule;
f. Bring to the notice of the local authority any deviation from the rights of the child, in particular mental and physical harassment of children, denial of admission, and timely provision of free entitlements as per section 3(2).
g. Identify the needs, prepare a Plan, and monitor the implementation of the provisions of Section 4.
h. monitor the identification and enrolment of, and facilities for learning by disabled children, and ensure their participation in, and completion of elementary education
i. Monitor the implementation of the Mid Day Meal in the school.
j. Prepare an annual account of receipts and expenditure of the school.

7. Any money received by the School Management Committee for the discharge of its functions under this Act, shall be kept in a separate account, to be made available for audit every year.

8. The accounts referred to in clause (j) to sub Rule (6) and sub Rule (7) should be signed by the Chairperson / Vice Chairperson and Convener of the School Management Committee and made available to the local authority within one month of their preparation.