TN school management panels get fresh lease of life with budget funds

The Tamil Nadu government, in its recent budget for 2022-23, allocated a significant share to the School Education Department. A sum of ₹36,895 crore has been earmarked to improve government schools. 

Soon after the announcement, the TN School Education Department swung into action and held awareness meetings statewide on March 20 for School Management Committees (SMCs) across 37,391 government schools. Nearly 50 lakh parents participated in this meeting.

One of the major issues the parents brought up involved bringing government schools on par with private schools, not only in terms of ramping up the physical infrastructure, but also in ensuring the holistic development of the children.

PK Ilamaran, president of Tamil Nadu Teachers Association, told The Federal that SMCs are useful because when parents are also involved in the running of government schools, it makes the teachers more responsible.

Focus on smart classrooms

Under the Perasiriyar Anbazhagan School Development Scheme announced in the budget, the TN government has allocated INR 7,000 crore to construct 18,000 classrooms. “While that may be sufficient only to build new classrooms, it may not be enough to achieve the state’s dream to ensure that each school has smart classrooms. That can be done only with the help of SMCs. Without depending on the government, the members of the SMCs should raise funds to build the necessary infrastructure,” said Ilamaran.

Also read: Slew of welfare measures in PTR’s maiden full budget for TN

According to Ilamaran, parents in private schools actively participate in parent-teacher association (PTA) meetings. Though government schools did have SMCs, nobody has showed any interest in the last 10 years, he added.

“Many of the parents were not even aware of the existence of SMCs. For the first time, after the importance given to school education in the budget, there is a renewed interest to revive SMCs. Holding an awareness meeting was a first step towards development of government schools,” pointed out Ilamaran.

Ramping up infrastructure to prevent school dropouts

The SMCs were launched in 2009 after the implementation of the Right to Education Act. Under the Act, it is mandatory for all government schools to have SMCs. The SMCs consist 20 members each, including parents, guardians, teachers, local body representatives, educational activists and self-help group members. They give sufficient representation to women and the differently-abled. The members are nominated by the schools for two-year tenures.

The basic objectives and functions of the SMCs include increasing the enrolment rate, preventing school dropouts, bringing dropouts back to school and developing the basic infrastructure of the school. The committees are required to meet once a month and take stock of various issues such as implementation of reservation, working of the school, preparing and recommending school development plans and monitoring the utilisation of grants and funds received from the government.

Pushed into oblivion in recent years

SMCs have been inactive in most government schools in the state. The lackadaisical approach by the committees did not help either. After the COVID pandemic, they mostly went into oblivion and most of the schools have not reconstituted their SMCs.

It was in this backdrop that the SMC awareness meeting was held in the state. It was decided that from this year onwards, instead of the school nominating the members, the members would be elected through a proper election. The elections would be conducted in the first week of April.

The Tiruvannamalai outlier

The Panchayat Union Primary School in Tiruvannamalai district is one of the rare schools that has set a benchmark for SMCs. Its headmistress M Vishali told The Federal many rural schools benefited from the SMCs. According to her, the SMC members were told to regularly visit the school to check the attendance of the teachers and students, the expenditures borne by the school to create some infrastructure, and so on.

Also read: Child labourers may be left in the lurch as Centre shuts down NCLP scheme

“When the school didn’t have enough space to create playgrounds for children, the SMC members chose an area and took it to the local body representatives and got the job done. Similarly, the classrooms were also renovated by SMCs,” added Vishali.

Further, she said, during the pandemic, 2-3 lakh students from private schools had joined government schools. This caused a shortage of space in classrooms and many schools had to conduct classes in village community halls. But now, many parents have decided to take their children back to private schools.

Vishali added: “In order to retain the children in government schools, sufficient infrastructure is imperative. It is the duty of the SMCs to raise this issue and bring a resolution to this effect in their monthly meetings. Similarly, they must ensure that the teacher vacancies are filled on time in every school and to achieve the 30:1 pupil-teacher ratio as envisaged in the New Education Policy, 2020.”

Reduction in takers for Tamil medium 

Welcoming the initiative taken by the School Education Department, a parent, Thenkanal Isaimozhi, said every parent wishes to admit his or her child in a ‘dream school’ and the SMCs could play a vital role in realising that dream.

The SMCs should focus on two objectives, he said — one, to boost the children’s learning skills and two, develop the infrastructure of the schools on par with private schools. They should have clean toilets, well-stacked librarires, spacious playgrounds, and classrooms with enough ventilation.

“When parents play a role as members in the committees, they can ensure their children get these basic amenities. That’s why the SMCs are important,” said Isaimozhi. He also noted that many government schools in urban areas are slowly shutting down the Tamil medium segment.

“For example, in the school where my daughter is studying, out of 800 students, only four or five students including my daughter study in the Tamil medium. When the government schools themselves start giving up the Tamil medium, it raises an alarm. Where will they go to learn Tamil?” he rued. 

A debureaucratised system

V Vasanthi Devi, former vice-chancellor of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, and president, Save School Education Movement, said: “The SMCs have debureaucratised the school education system.”

Also read: Students returning from Ukraine can do medical internship in India

The Right To Education Act has bestowed powers to SMCs and teachers and officials of the education department are bound to adhere to the decisions taken by these committees, she added.

“With more than 50 per cent of women participation, these committees have paved the way for decentralising the running of these schools. Today, it is the parents who decide what their children need in a school environment and ask for it and make the power centres answerable,” she further said.e Tamil Nadu government, in its recent budget for 2022-23, allocated a significant share to the School Education Department. A sum of ₹36,895 crore has been earmarked to improve government schools.