But most institutions are sceptical of it being better than the latter.
The state school education department has issued a Government Resolution (GR) to schools across the city — other than private unaided ones — to form a School Management Committee (SMC) as per rules given under the Right to Education (RTE) Act before September 30. The SMC will consist of parents, guardians and teachers.
According to the GR, SMC members will have voting rights and will constitute the general house. The president of SMC will be a parent of any student studying in school from class VI to XII.
The SMC, in essence, will take over all the functions of PTA. SMCs will have the responsibility of monitoring schools, utilising school funds etc.
“Most schools do not even have PTA organisations, which was made mandatory by an HC order. Whenever a PTA has been formed, we have received complaints of rigged elections.
The SMC will also be formed in a similar way as the school managements have been authorised to form them. The schools mostly appoint parents who are spouses of their teachers. The elections do not happen in a democratic way,” said Jayant Jain, president of Forum for Fairness in Education.
Another hurdle, educationists foresee, is the inclusion of parents from underprivileged background. “Most parents from the underprivileged section are illiterate and have no understanding of school development plans, which the SMC is supposed to monitor. Furthermore, they are daily wage earners and do not attach importance to attending SMC meetings,” said a principal from a school in Bandra.
Schools, however, are still unsure and are awaiting further orders from the government on the formation of SMC. “We have not got any such circular from the education department. We will await the official note and then proceed forward,” said PK Sahai, vice principal, Vikas English High School, Goregaon.
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