In a series of unprecedented events, the structure of human society is crackling rapidly under the pressure exerted by the COVID-19 pandemic. With the cases of infections increasing faster than the capacity of healthcare systems to cope globally, most nations are forced to impose lockdowns that have stopped any movement. One aspect that is facing the most adverse impacts of these lockdowns is education. With schools being shut for months, local governments across India are resorting to virtual education methods, often at the behest of inclusion and accessibility. In a situation of such turmoil, the meetings of School Management Committees (SMCs) in Haryana have emerged as a remarkable step.
The purpose of a School Management Committee is to involve neighborhood communities to take an active role in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of developmental programs for the schools. It creates an ecosystem of participatory governance, along with a feeling of ownership among parents, who are the primary stakeholders, and helps in building the partnership between the school and the community at large.
As a part of the efforts made by the Haryana government, SMC meetings were started again in numerous cities. In order to plan effectively for the trying times ahead and brainstorm solutions to all current problems being faced by schools and children alike, the education department of Haryana issued a circular to conduct meetings of the SMC following all health and social distancing protocols across all government schools in the State.
Under normal circumstances, an SMC meeting would include discussions around everything that impacts the education of a child — from assigned homework to adequate infrastructure. In the extraordinary circumstances that Haryana, much like the rest of the world, is facing SMCs have had to move away from their regular discourse to accommodate the unique challenges that schools are currently facing.
Though these SMC meetings, one of the primary concerns which have emerged for parents and teachers in Haryana is the potential for harm faced by students who are out of schools. With the pandemic impacting livelihoods, a lot of children are expected to drop out of affordable private schools.
For the SMC members of a school in Sonipat, this was a concern that stood out. In a school in Liwaspur, the members of the SMC decided to divide localities and go door-to-door to talk to parents about the benefits of enrolling their children in public schools, as well as explaining the entire procedure of enrollment. This task is being carried out primarily by parent members of the SMC as they have the most knowledge about who lives where and how to get to their houses.
The Haryana government has initiated a number of steps to provide education via virtual mechanisms. While there are efforts to ensure absolute inclusivity and accessibility for each student, the SMC members in the government school in Rai have taken pivotal steps in the right direction. Since they have the maximum reach, the members follow up with parents to check whether they are receiving the relegated work through WhatsApp and other platforms. In case of a discrepancy, they act as the climacteric chain between teachers and parents, molding the situation to the maximum benefit of the child.
In a country that has often relegated education a secondary status, the Right to Education, 2009 (RTE) was a revolutionary move in the direction of educational accessibility. While the primary feature of the Act was making education a fundamental right of every child, it also furthered the cause of educational decentralization. RTE reflects a growing understanding that one of the key levers to sustain educational reforms is to decentralize educational decision making.
The provision of a School Management Committee for each school, a crucial addition made by the Act, calls for a local platform for dialogue and collective action, it allows local stakeholders beyond the principal and teachers to be actively involved in school functioning. SMCs members coming together in this summer of anxiety, taking out time to attend SMC meetings, and work for children in the neighborhood is a testament to their grit and investment in the school. It speaks of the potential of SMCs and the importance of local participatory governance.
