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1. SCHOOL MANAGEMENT SCENARIO IN
INDIA AT THE GRASSROOT LEVEL
Presented By:
Dr. Krishna Kant Tripathi
Department of Education, MZU, Aizawl 796004

2. 1949 Constitution of India, envisaged Equality of Opportunity and directed
states for providing free and compulsory education to all children of 6-14
years old (then Art. 45)

3. EFA & Various Policies
2002 Eighty sixth
Constitutional Amendment
Act.
National Policy on Education
1986 (1992).
April 1, 2010 RTE Act
2009 came into force.

4. Is this Act sufficient to
assure free and
compulsory
education?

5. Continued
• Before RTE we had plans like DPEP & OBB at
national level and a few like LJ which are partially
successful……
• partially managed at local level…(decentralized)

6. •
Why to decentralize????????

7. It realizes human potential by responsibility
sharing.
It speeds up the process of decision making.
It increases the accountability.
Ideas and Assumptions behind

8. Why Decentralize?
To improve the operation of the education
system through-
•Increasing the efficiency in
allocation of resources and its
utilization.
•Increasing the match of programmes
to employers’ requirements.
•Use of information about issues,
problems or innovations.

9. Increasing public dissatisfaction.
Malfunctioning in program like
Operation Black Board.
Political concern of Democratic
Decentralization.
Call for Quality.
Public choice approach (Market
Efficiency)
Antecedents of Decentralization

10. Origin of new Decentralized Set- up
Taking cognizance of the 73rd and 74th
Constitutional Amendment.
Owing to emphasis of National Policy on
Education (NPE), 1986 (as revised in 1992),
Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE)
set up a special committee under the then Chief
Minister of Karnataka Mr.Veerappa Moily in
1993, to formulate a framework for
decentralized management of education
corresponding to the framework of Panchayati
Raj Institutions.

11. Consequently three tier system evolved countrywide and these
bodies are working since 1994.
Zila Parishad Standing
Committee on Education
Panchayat Samiti Standing
Committee on Education
Village Education Committee
(VEC)
((District Level)
(Block Level)
(Village Level)

12. STATUS of VEC in UP
• Chairperson - Gram Pradhan (village head)
• Secretary - School Principal (service senior)
• Members - Three parents nominated by Asst. BSA
(participation of one woman and one SC candidate is
mandatory among guardian members), (Gov. Uttar
Pradesh, 2006)
• (Active Women Self Help Groups should be invited to
participate in the VEC activities.)

13. Personal interviews were conducted to get
information from the members of VEC in 20
Gram Panchayats .

14. Results
• variations were found against the rule of the one
VEC in one Gram Panchayat .
• Members were not selected in open forum or
general meeting of Gram Panchayat.
• Most of the VEC members told the quality of
education low in the schools.

15. Results cont….
Reasons Behind the low quality of Education
•Teachers’ absence.
•Negligence by the teachers.
•Dearth of quality teachers in the
schools.
•Absence of students from the schools.
•Carelessness of guardians.

16. Mid Day Meal: MDM was found as the centre
point of conflict. Quality of MDM was too low.
Results cont….
STUDY

17. • No plan was prepared for Educationally
Backward Class (EBC) and the for the girls.

18. Reasons of Mismanagement
• A few members in the VECs were representing from
last five to ten years but their own wards were not
studying in the schools (validity).
• Most of the members in the VECs had education only
up to elementary level and a few were even illiterate
(no say).
• Members were not called in the schools; means proper
monthly meetings were not called in spite of
provisions of monthly meetings (secret).

19. Reasons Conti…..
• VEC members were not trained and made aware
about their roles and responsibilities.
• There was a trend of maintaining secrecy among
the teachers and other cluster and block level
resource persons and officers.

20. •Lack of awareness among citizens.
•Low educational level and illiteracy.
•Local elitism.
•Lack of interest on the part of political leaders and
bureaucrats.
•Dearth of human resources fit for the work.
Challenges before
Decentralization in
India:

21. •Rampant corruption in Indian culture.
•Loopholes in the policies adopted by states and local
governments.
•Lack of expertise in the planning.
•Gap between schools and local community/ societies.
•Lack of government initiatives in popularization of the law
and policy through different type of media.

22. Prospects of Decentralization in India:
• Increase in literacy and level of education automatically improve
the situation in some parts as the culture of participation and
vigilance emerges in the long run.
• This is the policy which has potential to foster democracy in
India and also gratify the much sought after concept of equity.
• This policy of ‘Democratic Decentralization’ is able to actualize
the concepts and systems like ‘Basic Education’ of Mahatma
Gandhi, wherein schools will have autonomy to adopt craft
according to the local culture, market, raw materials and expert
available.

24. Decentralization Defined:
• Decentralized Management denotes to
the transfer of authority, legislative, judicial
or administrative, from a higher level of
government to a lower.

25. Forms of the Decentralization
• Deconcentration is the process through which a central
authority establishes branch offices, staffing them with its
own officers.
• Delegation: decisions are made at local level, but power in
a delegated system basically rest with the central authority,
which has chosen to lend them to local one and can withdraw
at its own will.
• Devolution: powers are formally held at sub-national
levels, the officers of which do need to seek higher level
approval for their actions.
• Privatization: transfer of government functions to private
sector.
BACK

26. Why Decentralize?
continued
• Benefit the Central Government primarily, by-
– Relieving the Central govt. of external political problems
and internal bureaucratic head-aches.
– To increasing the political legitimacy of central govt.
– Reducing corruption at the national level.
• Benefit local government, by-
– Increasing revenues for education available to
local govt.
– Re-distributing political power.
BACK

27. Status Of Decentralization
• Results of the studies conducted on the issue in India as well
as abroad are contradictory in nature.
• Works like by Menon (1999) in Harayana, King & Ozler
(2000) in El, Salvador results positively in the side of the
policy. Menon found increase in student enrolments and
community participation in education management.
• On the other side works of Mukandan & Bray(2003) on
Kerala state, similarly Wankede & Sengupta (2005) etc.
reveals contradiction between ideology and practices.

28. • More over the study conducted by Banerjee and team in Jaunpur
District of U.P. reveals a :grim picture of the practices:
– i) parent did not know that a Village Education Committee
(VEC) exists, sometimes even when they are supposed to be
members of it.
– ii) VEC members are unaware of even key roles they are
empowered to play in education services.
– iii) only nine percent of headmaster (secretary, VEC) and
three percent of other VEC members realize that recruitment
of additional teachers like ‘Shiksha Mitra’ is a part of their
responsibilities.
Status Conti.