A Festival of Participation in Government Schools of Haryana
Collective dialogue and action are pillars on which great public institutions are often built. This is often enabled by platforms that bring people together. Any organization can grow effectively when all those who have a stake in it participate and partner together. A company that is disconnected from the aspirations and concerns of its customers and employees is unlikely to consistently succeed, similarly, a school that is disconnected from the concerns and aspirations of its students, their parents, teachers and the local authorities is unlikely to consistently succeed.
In the public education domain, Section 21 of the Right to Education (RTE) Act makes provision for such participation and partnership by mandating the constitution of School Management Committees (SMCs) in every government school across the country. SMCs are a platform for parents, students, teachers, school leaders and local government representatives to come together and work on issues for the welfare of the school. If we consider the school a village, the SMC functions as a Panchayat.
With a vision to uphold the representative, inclusive and participatory nature of SMCs, the Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad (HSSPP)- the implementing arm of Samagra Shiksha, has set a lasting example with its path-breaking initiative, Sanjhi Sabha — the week-long, statewide SMC formation process which took place from 17th to 22nd July 2023. The School Management Committees were formed as per the norms in Haryana Right to Education, 2011 and Amendment in Haryana Right to Education, 2022
The Innovations
By conducting multiple new innovations and concentrating efforts on the capacity building of relevant officials, the HSSPP recognized the importance of collective deliberation, dialogue and participation in Sanjhi Sabha. Some of the laudable innovations that the HSSPP has rolled out this year include:
- Mandating a quorum for Sanjhi Sabha: The quorum required the presence of parents of at least 50% of the students enrolled in the school or at least 100 parents (whichever is lesser) on the day of Sanjhi Sabha (SMC formation). This ensured that the chosen members represent the voice of the community and are chosen in a transparent manner.
- BRPs and ABRCs were constituted as ex-officio SMC members (members in advisory roles): This gave space for resource persons to guide SMC members and put forward their opinions and share best practices among the schools they monitor and support.
- Increased Window for SMC formation: What used to be a one-day formation event was spread out over a week of Sanjhi Sabha to enable schools to set timing accommodating the schedules of working parents across the state, so that they do not miss out on attending Sanjhi Sabha.
- Single SMCs: If there is any other government school like secondary or senior and they are located in the same place/boundary wall, then there will be only 1 SMC in them (apart from the primary school). This move will help build collaboration between middle and secondary schools while allowing them to work together to improve infrastructure and solve local issues.
- Monitoring: Officials from the district, block and cluster levels were mandated to support schools and monitor Sanjhi Sabha, appreciate and support schools. Along with this, it was also decided to conduct SMC meetings and training according to SMC members, so that most members can attend them. Along with this, it was also decided to conduct SMC meetings and training according to SMC members, so that most members can attend them.
- Involvement of students: In an effort to involve students in the Sanjhi Sabha process, they were encouraged to make invitations for Sanjhi Sabha.
- Provision For Replacement of Members: In case a member is inactive, this time the HSSPP has ensured an official method to replace such members anytime in the tenure of the SMC.
The underlying processes of Sanjhi Sabha are milestones towards building a robust and accountable public education system as it provides improved avenues for all stakeholders to meaningfully participate.
The Preparation
“Every time we go through training, we learn something new. The unique element in the training sessions this time was that everyone was involved from the district, block and cluster levels. I believe the clear guidelines given by the HSSPP and the training given to SMC in-charges in schools will have a great impact” — Surendra Kumar Arya, A District Project Coordinator from Haryana
To ensure there was role clarity and improved stakeholder capacity, the preparation for Sanjhi Sabha included the training of District Project Coordinators (DPCs), Block Resource Persons (BRPs) and Assistant Block Resource Coordinators (ABRCs). In these sessions, the process of Sanjhi Sabha was outlined and resources for the event were shared.
Samarthya supported the HSSPP in the design and implementation of Sanjhi Sabha. We helped in conducting these training sessions for around 1500 such officials in the span of a week. These 1500 officials went on to train a whopping 14000+ officials in their respective clusters, thus creating a ripple effect of change, progress and participation at all levels of governance. The training sessions enabled clear communications between different administrative levels and helped officials brainstorm solutions, clear doubts and build clarity on the many underlying processes of Sanjhi Sabha.
“HSSPP has supported SMC formation in over 14000 schools in Haryana. One person cannot reach all schools- we have district, block officials and ABRCs who stay with the SMC for every training and meeting. We have tried to reach everyone with our training efforts- from the top of the system to the bottom. We conducted training for BRPs and ABRCs for a week.” — Sonali Vohra, Project Coordinator, (Science) HSSPP
Having sessions with open dialogue and deliberation gave these grassroots leaders the impetus to get more people invested in the smooth conduct of Sanjhi Sabha. These officials were also advised to visit at least 2 schools to encourage, monitor and appreciate the efforts of schools.
SMC Portal
The HSSPP’s vision is not limited to just an effective SMC constitution process- it extends to the effective functioning of the SMC too. The department has launched a new SMC portal, which will capture data on school-level SMC member training and meetings.
Schools will have to upload the details of the members of the SMC, the date, agenda and minutes of SMC meetings and the topics covered in school-level training. This portal will give district and block-level officials an overview of SMCs in their jurisdiction and serve as a useful monitoring tool. After launching the SMC portal, Haryana has become the first state in the whole of India to have launched SMC portal to stay connected with SMCs. In resourcefully using technology in governance, the HSSPP is streamlining processes and building the capacity of leaders at every level.
“If an SMC member in a village wants to talk about the attendance of students/problems in the school, or if they want to say the teachers in the village are not taking classes properly, the portal gives a direct connection between schools, SMC members and department officials. The objective of launching this portal is to collate information and access information about schools easily, and for schools to easily surface any problems that they might be facing”
Sonali Vohra, Project Coordinator, (Science) HSSPP
Bringing the school and communities closer can be an uphill task, one which requires insight and initiative. The HSSPP has taken great strides towards bringing schools and communities closer through the design and implementation of Sanjhi Sabha.
