Asha for Education
Dear <Sir/Madam>,
The
government of Karnataka has the excellent scheme of ‘adopt-a-school’ to improve
government schools. Asha for Education,
A
particularly good component in the recent years has been the formation of SDMC
committees (School Development and Management Committee) for each school. It encouraged excellent community
participation, and we have seen parents get involved in the above schools. Community
participation is the essential first step in improving quality, reducing
dropouts, and increasing attendance in schools.
What was especially good about the SDMC committees was that the members
were elected from among the parents
whose children go to the school, with reservation for women and disadvantaged
sections of society. I visited several
of these schools recently and was able to see first-hand the impact of the SDMC
committees on the functioning of the schools.
It
has come to our notice that on the completion of the three year term of the
current SDMC committees, letters have gone to the school headmasters saying
that the list of parents has to be sent to the MLA, who will recommend the
members to be appointed to the SDMC committees.
We strongly feel this undermines the involvement of the community. The community knows best who is able to
conduct the SDMC matters well, and are best able to elect members
accordingly. It is impossible for an MLA
to individually know the parents in every village in his or her constituency and
select members appropriately. This new
approach is not democratic, and does not empower the parents like the previous
approach did.
The
value of democratic participation of parents in the functioning of a school,
without the interference of elected officials, can be seen in many places, for
example in schools in
We, members
of Asha for Education, would like to express our deep concern and urge you to immediately
stop this new approach, and follow the old approach for the formation of SDMC
committees for the next term. The
government has many wonderful schemes for the public to get involved, but if the
basic democratic rights of the villagers in the functioning
of their schools is not upheld, the entire scheme is undermined.
We urge
you to take necessary action immediately.
Sincerely,
Melliyal Annamalai
(Director, Asha for
Education, MIT/Boston)
(President, Asha for
Education,
Asha MIT/Boston
Asha Silicon Valley
Association of