School Management Committees in Himachal Pradesh

Elementary education is foundation for strengthening the social fabric of democracy through provision of equal opportunities to all. Various programmes have been initiated and implemented for realization of universalization of elementary education. But the success of any programme is governed by the organizational set up it has. In India, community has always been an integral part of educational organizational set up. Due to participation of communities in the educational set up, it is seen as the functional body in policy initiatives at national as well as international level. This has led to the formation of school monitoring committees, which include parents, teachers and elected members of the local authority as its members. Parents are involved as educators, partners and decision makers with the objective to make teachers and principals more accountable for education delivery which ultimately aims at better learning outcomes of students. The issues of academic and developmental activities of school are managed by these committees. The present paper focuses on organizational set up of elementary schools of Himachal Pradesh, their functions and duties. An overview of roles, functions and duties of school monitoring committees is also included as these are one of the key elements of the organizational set up of elementary schools in Himachal Pradesh.