ROLES AND FUNCTIONS OF SCHOOL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEES (SMCS) OF GOVERNMENT MIDDLE SCHOOLS IN DISTRICT KULLU OF HIMACHAL PRADESH: A CASE STUDY

The study is an attempt to understand the structure of the SMC, process of formation of the SMC, level of awareness and participation of the SMC members in school activities vis-à-vis the roles and functions envisaged in the RTE Act, 2009. The RTE Act, 2009 has come into force with effect from 1st April, 2010 in our country which is a landmark in the history of education. The said Act assigns immense importance to School Management Committees as a part of decentralized structure to ensure the effective and regular functioning of the schools and education center, and one in which the parents will have a preponderance. Essential provisions regarding constitution and functions of SMCs have been given in section 21 and 22 of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.This paper mainly aims at looking into the roles and functions of the School Management Committees of government middle schools. In this paper author studied the awareness level of Heads of elementary school, Chairman of SMC and SMC members, parents and teachers about their role & function in the school education as per RTE-2009 provisions in district Kullu in Himachal Pradesh. Local bodies and SMC have been given higher responsibilities and functions as cent per cent enrolment, enrolment of out of school children, retention till completion of elementary education, monitoring of school activities and preparation of school development plan. The study focuses on the functioning of SMCs constituted under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 and an effort for understanding and documenting the roles and functions of the SMCs of government managed upper primary schools in Himachal Pradesh.