On Wednesday, the Union Ministry of Education unveiled new guidelines for school management committees, emphasizing that the chairperson and vice-chairperson should be elected from among the parents or guardians.

According to the guidelines, the school principal or head will serve as the member secretary of the committee, which will be structured to include two sub-committees: one focused on academics and the other on school infrastructure.

During the announcement, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan noted that while the idea of school management committees is not a novel concept and has been implemented in various forms previously, there is a pressing need to integrate these committees into the educational culture of schools.

The updated guidelines, which align with the National Education Policy 2020, replace previous recommendations concerning school management committees. Their primary aim is to enhance community engagement in educational settings, covering all grades from pre-primary to class 12. These guidelines will serve as a framework for individual states to develop their own directives.

As stipulated by the Right to Education Act of 2009, every school is required to form a management committee comprising elected representatives from the local authority, parents or guardians, and teachers. Notably, at least three-fourths of the committee members must be parents or guardians, with a minimum of half being women. The responsibilities of these committees include creating a school development plan and overseeing grant utilization and school operations.

The recently issued guidelines suggest that the size of the committee should be determined by the school’s enrollment figures: 12 to 15 members for schools with up to 100 students, 15 to 20 members for those with 100 to 500 students, and 20 to 25 members for schools with more than 500 students.

In addition to the elected chairperson and vice-chairperson, the committees will consist of parents or guardians from all student grades, elected representatives from the local authority, teachers, local education professionals, alumni, ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, and the school principal.

These committees will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of various educational initiatives, such as Samagra Shiksha, PM-POSHAN, and NIPUN Bharat, as well as mobilizing necessary resources. They are also authorized to undertake civil works with a budget of up to Rs. 30 lakh.

The election of committee members, initiated by the school head at the beginning of the academic year, will have a term of two years for those elected.