Last Updated: 15 March 2024
SMC model also followed in USA, is a voluntary group consisting of Parents, Local area representatives, students, teachers and school Principal
With 16000+ elected member, School Management Committee (SMC) is one of most significant & least known Education Reform in Delhi at the grassroot level
Though mandated by law across India, SMCs aren’t functional at all is most states. SMC has become more of a formality than practicality
- SMCs are established under the Right To Education Act of 2009
- The main aim of the committee is
- to work on issues related to the welfare of the school
- to serve as a bridge between the school and the community
- to bring an accountability in working of the school
- actively engaging stakeholders in decision-making processes
- School Mitra: The active parents who have volunteered to assist the elected SMC in enhancing the outreach
| No of Schools |
No of SMC Members |
School Mitras |
| 1050 |
16000 |
18,000 |
Elections were held for choosing the members for SMCs, out of eligible parents of kids form that particular school
- In 2015, 1st SMC elections were held Delhi. 12,000 parent member positions were filled in over 1000 schools
- This has now increased to 16,000 active members across over 1,050 schools in Delhi in 2021-22
- Parents of all the students exercise their vote in the running of the schools
Each SMC comprises of following members -
| Type of SMC Member |
No of members |
| Parents of Students |
12 |
| School Principal |
1 |
| Social Worker |
1 |
| Local Area Elected Representative |
1 |
Delhi government expanded the power and participation of the committee to the tune of 5 lakhs per annum per school, per shift
- To do maintenance and other works as decided by the SMC
- Used to engage subject experts, guest teachers etc as and when required
- Utilised for engaging with experts to promote and help with competitive exams or career counselling for the students
Mandatory Meetings
- The SMC shall hold meetings at least twice every month
- If two shift are running in the same school, then combined meeting of both shift SMCs will be held once every two months
Admin Power
- Committee members can visit the school at any time and monitor the functioning of the school
- Committee members can address groups of students and teachers anytime
- The SMC members can inspect the records of the school and it will be the duty of the Principal to submit the relevant records on demand
- The SMC members can check the expenditure incurred by the Principal in the school
- The committee may ask for a social audit of the school
- The committee can give a “show cause notice” to the teacher concerned about indiscipline and irregularity
- The committee may appoint any person as a means to inculcate the educational interest of the students, the cost of which will be from the SMC Fund
- DCPCR has created a Helpline to route all the calls from SMC members and School Mitra to their assigned parents
- The members of the committee are especially sensitive toward the safety of the children, this includes creating awareness of the Protection of Children from Sexual Harassment Act, POCSO-2012
- As and when needed, the SMCs seeks help of Government bodies like Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) and non-governmental organizations such as – Pratham, Saajha, Sachi-Saheli, etc
- SMC members interact with the teachers to provide feedback and monitor their regularity and classes which have proved to be very helpful in improving children’s academic results
- SMC Members visit the houses of the absentee students and those that are on high risk of dropping out and are successful in minimizing absenteeism & truancy
- The SMC contributes to increase participation in parents’ turnout in Mega PTM by continuous and personalised dialogue with parents
- Continuous monitoring and meaningful efforts for maintaining cleanliness in schools
- SMC also intervenes in matters realted to health of the students like availability of healthy lunch options and the safety, protection and training of girl students for their self-defence
On paper about 90% of all schools in the country have SMCs as per the provisions of RTE 2009 but there are lot of issues in their functioning
- Every affiliated school, subject to the State Governments’ provision for the same, must have an SMC
- The term of the SMC is 3 years, and it shall meet at least twice in the academic session
- The composition of the SMC shall consist of not more than 21 members
- At least 50% of the members must be women
- The composition of the SMC ensures the involvement of parents, teachers, teachers of other school, representatives of the Board."
Delhi government's scheme named “Parents Samvaad” was launched in October 2021 for Parent Outreach
There are about 16000 SMC members, 22000 “School-Mitra” and 36000 School staff. They are entrusted with the task of regularly interacting with the families of 18.5 lakh students
AIM
- This Parent Outreach Program is a step in the direction of ensuring that SMCs, directly or with the help of other active parents, stay engaged with every parent of a child enrolled in Delhi Government schools
- The aim of “Parents Samvaad Yojana” is to encourage and accelerate social participation. especially for the local school community to be more connected to each other
- Through this model of engagement, parents are supported and empowered to participate in the learning of their children & take care of their emotional well-being
Working
- Under this scheme “School-Mitra” and the official “School Management Committee Members” work together with the parents in the interest of the school and keep in regular contact with each other.
- All schools identify School Mitra and designate a Nodal person from amongst the SMC members to assist the Head of School.
Training for SMC functioning
- District-wise orientation session of all the Heads of Schools is organised
- Training of all Nodal Persons & Teacher Convener of SMC at zonal level organised by the RTE branch at zonal level in the last week of August 2021
- School-level training of SMC members and School Mitra organised by SCERT Delhi. The 1st session was organised in September-October 2021
- DCPCR has created a Helpline to route all the calls from SMC members and School Mitra to their assigned parents
- Project Management Unit Members of DCPCR trained all the Teacher Convenor and Nodal Persons on the calling system and Monthly theme. The training was done in an organised zone-wise schedule, in a Train the Trainer format where the Teacher Convenor & designated nodal person is to run the orientation of all SMC members and School Mitra at the respective school levels
- Schedules of the training/orientation is shared from time to time
Responsibilities of School Heads
- HoS must ensure the identification of the appropriate number of School Mitra's in their schools so that Data can be uploaded on the DCPCR-maintained Calling system and allocations of parents can be made on its basis.
- Immediately after the launch, the HoS should convene an introductory meeting of all SMC members and School Mitra in their respective schools.
- In this meeting, each SMC & School Mitra be assigned the responsibility for reaching out to up to 50 students who stay in their own or nearby locality on an ongoing basis.
- After the allocation of parents, HoS need to ensure that parents are invited in batches at school & introduce them with their SMC or School Mitra and conduct first session on parenting.
- This session may be conducted by the Teacher Convenor/Nodal Person on the basis of their own training on relevant theme preferably within a month of the launch.
- After the launch, there would be monthly themes centred on parenting and parent child communication and involvement of parents in their education. SMC and School Mitra will engage with parent members around those themes
- With an aim of bringing healthy competition in the working of SMCs, Delhi government recognises the school that demonstrates the most exemplary management committee at its annual Excellence in Education Awards
- The selection of the winner will be based on criteria including its influence on student attendance, responsible utilisation of funds, counselling, steps taken for making school a safe space for children and community service
- To vie for the ‘School with Best Management Committee Award,’ schools are required to submit their applications through the head of school by January 2nd, 2024 for the acedemic year 2022-23
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Capacity Constraints of SMCs - The study highlighted few challenges to be met by SMCs such as Capacity building of the SMC members is one of the main challenges. There are no tools, strategic direction and guidance for the SMC members to improve the teaching-learning processes. There is gross non-participation of SMC members in making the School Development Plan and have no influence in its execution
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Unclear guidelines - There are unclear guidelines for the selection of members. Most state rules do not stipulate an election procedure for the formation of SMC. Head Masters do not have clear answers for the process undertaken for the selection of SMC members. Participation of Panchayati Raj Institutions or other local bodies in the development and improvement of school is not as per the guidelines of the RTE Act, 2009
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Lack of Fund Utilisation - The funds allocated are not utilized properly by the states for the training of SMC members. For example, in 2012-13, of the total money allocated for SMC trainings, Maharashtra spent only 14% and Madhya Pradesh spent 22%
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Cooperation from the authorities - The authorities do not honour the plans prepared by SMC by not providing the requisite funding and other support for implementation, do not respond on time. A greater effort is required to encourage headmasters to share information with parents. The follow-up sessions are either not conducted or do not take place on time
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Poor representation of women in SMCs - Though the law stipulates at least 50% representation of women, they are not represented adequately in the SMCs
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