Community Participation & Special Focus Group Component:
The role of the community in school development activities has significantly widened through the RTE Act. The Act emphasizes that planning shall commence at the school level and the School Management Committee (SMC) shall play an active role for preparation of such plan. As per section 22, the School Development Plan (SDP) to be prepared by SMC will be the basis for the plans and grants to be made by the appropriate Government. Unless the SMCs are empowered and have been made professionally equipped for preparation and implementation of a worthy School Development Plan, the development of schools as per RTE will remain as distant dream. Considering the importance of community participation in school activities , the following activities are conducted Community Participation & Special Focus Group Component :
The focus areas under Community Participation:
Enhancing enrolment & retention in schools with the support of community & conducting programme like Utsav Vidyarambha;
School Management Committee:
In the exercise of the power conferred under section 21 of the right of children to Free and compulsory Education Act, 2009, the Governor of Assam is pleased to notify the norms for constitution as well as the powers & functions of SMCs as per Part V of Rule 13 &14 of Assam Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules,2011 vide notification No-PMA.627/2010/pt/149 dtd. Dispur, the 3rd August’11. SMCs of Govt. Provincialised schools are constituted in the state as per state Government notification no. PMA. 627/2010/Pt/149, dtd 3rd August,2011 under RTE state Rules,2011. SMCs are already constituted as per state RTE Rules. School Management Committees are statutory bodies. These committees re-constitute in every three years. Each SMC has 17 members as per notification No.E-334916,dtd 03.08.2023.
School Management Committee (SMC) is to play a crucial role for awareness and ensuring participation of community especially parents in school development activities. It has to work to create a conducive learning environment in the school, ensure active involvement of Civil Society Organization, putting in place an institutional mechanism for constant dialogue at the community level.
School Management Committee members’ Training :
Considering the importance of community participation in school activities, it needs to be identified the key areas/issues to be addressed through suitable SMC level interventions. Accordingly cluster level SMC members training have been organized on yearly basis for strengthening their capacities. Positive trend of enrolment and retention at elementary level, involvement of community in school development activities, Role & Responsibility of SMC members, Safety & Security including Cyber crime, POSCO Act, Girl child education & equity, Tabacco free school, Swachha Vidyalaya, Vidyanjali, Gunotsav, PM POSHAN, PGI, Convergence with Panchyat, proper utilisation of grants, single nodal Account, organising co-scholastic activities for children, FLN, NEP, Inclusive Education, Out of School Children, Early Child Care & Education etc. are few indicators that reflect the efforts made in this regard. For strengthening the function of the School Management Committee, SMC members are empowered in these areas.
Quarterly School Management Committee (SMC) meeting:
SMC is a statutory body. The committee is committed and accountable for overall improvement of the school. Different grant are provided to the SMC every year for developmental work of the school. SMC is responsible for proper utilization of such grant. Moreover, SMC is required to participate in various activities of the school. To ensure transparency of School Management Committee work, SMC meeting has been organizing on basis. In addition to monthly meeting, focus has been given on regular conduct of quarterly meetings. For quarterly meeting state has fixed agenda of meeting for each quarter and accordingly schools have organized meetings.
Best SMC/Mother Group Award:
Every year, a best SMC/Mother Group is identified from each cluster and awarded as a mark of acknowledgement of their performances and active involvement in the school activities. For selection of best SMC/MG some criteria have been fixed and as per criteria best SMC/Mother Group is selected for giving an award of recognition. The selected SMCs/MGs of the district are awarded with Certificate, memento etc. during Republic Day Celebration Programme.
Best SMC/Mothers Group Award Ceremony
Social Audit in School:
Assam is the first state to conduct Social Audit in school. In the financial year 2010-11 on an experimental pilot basis with the objectives of ensuring transparency, accountability and participation of community in school development activities, this programme was organised. The programme was mainstreamed to all Govt./Prov. Elementary schools in the year 2015-16.
During the year, 2022-23, as per MoE guidelines, Social Audit Society, Assam(SAA) is engaged for conducting social audit at schools.
Swachhata Utsav :
Swachhata Utsav is a programme to increasing awareness and understanding about the importance of hand washing with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives. With the support of UNICEF, WASH in school programme is being implemented in one and two stars schools of the state. As a part of WASH in school programme,
Swachhata Utsav was organized in all schools on October 15/2022, the Global Handwashing Day.
Community Festivals:
Assam is a state of diverse cultures. The people of the enchanting state of Assam are an intermixture of various racial stocks such as Mongoloid, Indo-Burmese, Indo-Iranian and Aryan. There are 18 major tribes, both plain and hills, viz., Boro, Dimasa, Chutia, Sonowal, Tiwa, Garo, Rabha, Sarania Kachari, Hajong, Tripuri, Deori, Thengal Kachari, Hojai, Koch, and others.
In most of the areas, children of different communities study in the same school together. As they study together, they need to know the culture and festivals of each other to create respect for each other community. Considering this, a programme viz “Community Festival” is organized with the objectives: to make the students familiar with the culture of various communities and their festivals, to motivate communities to participate in school activities, to increase regular attendance of students and to decrease dropout etc.
SC, ST,TG, Isolated and Minority concentration areas are focused areas for organizing this programme. The programme is organized every year involving various stakeholders like SMC, MG, Saturday Club, Teachers, PRI, Students etc.
Parent Awareness Drive on NEP:
NEP 2020 stated that universal participation in school by carefully tracking students, as well as their learning levels, in order to ensure that (a) they are enrolled in and attending school, and (b) have suitable opportunities to catch up and re-enter school in case they have fallen behind or dropped out. Hon’ble Prime Minister, India also emphasized to create awareness about the education of the child among parents so that they can contribute to the quality of education of their child.
In view of that parent awareness drive is designed for whole year and month wise activities are implemented. Activities like community meeting for achieving Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) & ensuring regular attendance, home visits for awareness generation / learning support, competition among parents to involve with children's education, holding parent -Teacher meeting , engagement of Mother’s group (MG) in school activities etc. are organised at school level to improve the parent’s involvement for ensuring quality education.
Utsav Vidyarambha Programme:
“Utsav Vidyarambha” is an initiative of the State to increase enrolment of children in school and motivate the community to send their children. It is an Enrolment Drive Programme, conducted in elementary schools with the help of SMCs, MGs, Teachers, Parents, Students, Alumni and others Community members Student Government etc. The objective of conduct of the programme is to enhance enrolment in schools and to ensure regular classes from the very first day of the session. Day wise different activity is organized at the school level. School cleanliness activities, Out of school children free drive, community meeting, RTE awareness campaign etc are conducted in view of the programme. Day-wise details guidelines also provide by the state.
Mothers Group Activities
| Title | Size | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Guideline - Utilization of Composit School Grant | 1.69 MB |  |
| Guideline - Quarterly SMC Meeting | 535.95 KB | |
| Guideline - Utsav Vidyambh 2023-24 | 792.08 KB | |
| Notification - Re-constitute School Manageme Committee | 1.19 MB | |
