Delhi govt to give parents a say in running its schools

Seeking to enhance public participation in running its schools, the Delhi Government has decided to allow parents of wards studying in a particular school to contest elections to managing committees of that institution.
The government has asked schools all over the city to send out invitations to parents for the elections to School Management Committees (SMC) where 12 parents will be elected for each school.
"At least 12 parents would be elected to each school's managing committee which would be headed by the principal of the institution. The area legislator, a teacher representing the school's teachers and an educationist would also be members of the committee," a senior Delhi government official said.

"The parents elected to the committee will have the task of keeping an eye on the functioning of schools, monitoring the attendance of both teachers and students, analysing the progress of the students and suggesting changes in governance of a particular school," he added.
The elections for parent Representatives in SMCs will be held tomorrow and the results will be declared on September 16. Parents who wish to participate in the voting exercise have been asked to send an signed consent to the respective schools.
"The invited group of parents will cast their vote by raising hands in classrooms in presence of a teacher.

The SMCs are constituted every two years but there has been no representation of parents in the committees so far. Though there exists a provision for it under the Right to Education Law, 2009, it has not yet been implemented.

"This provision for parents representation already exists in the Right to Education law since 2009 but it is for the first time that the city government has decided to implement the provision," the official said.
There are 924 government-run schools in the national capital and the government provides financial aid to another 221 schools. A total of 1,145 schools will elect their management committees this month. The last SMCs were elected in March 2013.

The crucial committees will have the mandate to not only control schools run using public money but also to monitor a host of other functions that includes utilisation of funds.
According to the mandate, the elected representatives are also supposed to motivate and help children in their belts and in the vicinity of schools to join school as per the Right to Education Act.