CHENNAI: One of the major problems that government schools are grappling with is the lack of trust among people in schools run by the State. The provision in the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, which mandates formation of School Management Committees (SMEs) with powers to monitor the functioning of schools, can help change that. The Act says 15 of 20 SMC members should be parents.
The formation of these committees, however, never took off in the State with only a handful of schools having active SMCs. This might change in the next few years as the School Education Department is taking initiative to spread awareness about the SMCs and reconstitute them through the Nam Palli Nam Perumai scheme. More than 23 lakh parents participated in awareness meetings on SMC held in 37,558 schools on March 20.
Currently, the reconstitution of SMCs is underway in schools in four phases. Chief Minister MK Stalin participated in a function to reconstitute SMC at Lady Willingdon School in Chennai on April 20. “Since the committees have not been functioning for a long time, it will take time to institutionalise them. Engaging parents in school’s activities will create a sense of community ownership, which would help improve school infrastructure,” said Samagara Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) officials taking the initiative to reconstitute SMCs.
“We are aware that the reconstitution of SMCs and making parents spend time discussing the development of schools will not happen overnight. Consistent effort by the department is needed for the next five years to ensure that the Nam Palli, Nam Perumai scheme is successful. We have now taken the first step towards it,” they added.
Natraj, who runs an NGO and was awarded by the government recently for spreading awareness about SMCs, said, “Taking serious steps to institutionalise SMCs could be one of the important measures in increasing the trust of parents in government schools. This becomes even more important now as enrolment in government schools has increased post-pandemic. We have seen how active SMCs have contributed to the development of schools. This is as important as spending crores of rupees on school infrastructure.”
For the first time, the State Education Department also conducted a digital Out of School Survey through an app, creating a centralised and transparent process wherein 33,791 surveyors, including teachers and Block Resource Teacher Educators (BRTEs), identified the children who have either dropped out or were never enrolled in any school.
The government also announced Naan Mudhalvan scheme under which career guidance will be provided for over 10 lakh students from Classes 9 to 12 annually. The government has spent `3.09 crore on the project so far.
This apart, the government is also focusing on improving facilities at hi-tech labs in schools. There are 10 computers in each computer lab at 3,090 government high schools and 20 computers in each lab at 2,939 government higher secondary schools. The government has now planned to create hi-tech labs for middle schools as well. “In the first phase, hi-tech labs will be built for 1,784 middle schools at a cost of `114.17 crore,” officials said.